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Our journey to
Ghanzi was basically an extremely dull 521 kilometres, until the last 3
which were on sand and what can only be described as rock! I took back
everything I said about the road up to Düsternbrook Farm only a few days
before, this was far worse as it was constant from the minute you left the
main road.
We stayed at
Thakadu Bush Camp, run by Chris and Jeanette and a Bat Eared Fox called
Basil! We really enjoyed staying here for a couple of nights, well one
night and one early morning after the Sharks beat the Bulls in the Currie
Cup!
The second day we
went to meet one of the San Bushmen who now works on the farm, tending the
cattle. He was a medicine man and along with three of his numerous
children he took us on a bush walk to show us some of the different plants
they used for healing. We took a translator with us, although we would
have probably managed without one as the bushman's sign language was both
comical and easy to follow, especially when he was showing us the plants
that help with your "plumbing!” He also showed us the goat’s milk plant,
which he must eat a particularly large amount of as it helps fertility!
Back at the
Rampant Aardvark, the bush camp pub, they have a waterhole where we saw
several Ostriches, some Elands, a few Springboks, female Kudus, numerous
birds and a Yellow Mongoose.
That evening we
met some of the locals who frequent the pub, which is where we watched the
rugby, and stayed up ridiculously late drinking with Chris, Jeanette, plus
their son, Laurie, and two of their friends, Adrian and Sharon.
The following
morning after watching the Springboks lose to the All Blacks we set off
for Drotsky's Cabins.
The journey to
Shakawe was eventful to say the least, 485 kilometres, only the first 3
and last 3 on sand and rock, but two particularly hair-raising events
along the way!
The first was a
huge bushfire that we had little choice, like a few other vehicles we
passed, but to drive through. Also, we had no idea where else to go and
as two or three cars had passed us we decided it must be manageable! It
was over 30 kilometres long, at times really thick smoke on both sides of
the road and we nearly hit two young idiots running around on the road in
the smoke! If someone had been coming the other way at the very least
they would have been seriously hurt as they would have had nowhere to
run! They were very obviously not trying to evade the fire incidentally,
but watching it and playing around near it! The smoke was visible for
miles before we actually got to the fire, we just didn't realise until we
got closer what the "mist" was, as it didn't smell smokey.
The second
incident was a group of young kids running around in the road trying to
cause havoc with the cars passing by. They are extremely lucky not to
have one dog less, as I was concentrating on watching what they were up to
one of their dogs just bolted out in front of the car! I slammed on the
brakes, but refused to swerve and luckily for the dog just stopped in
time! We have passed many an ex-animal in the road and quite a few
ex-vehicles that have met them!
The Drotsky
Cabins are located on the banks of the Okavango. Apart from fishing there
isn't much to do and at the price they charge it would just about be
cheaper to buy your own boat! If you are into birding this would be a
great place to come and relax because there are loads of them here. We
had to move chalets the first night due to a huge hornets nest. The staff
obviously went and tried to move the nest after we told them, but all that
did was mean that they followed us to the next chalet! Thankfully, the
following morning they came and got rid of all of them!
We chilled out
the first day just watching and listening to the sounds of the Okavango.
Later in the day we went to Xaro Lodge, fifteen minutes down the Okavango
River and owned by the son of the owner's of Drotskys. This camp was
beautiful and we both agreed that, although we had enjoyed Drotskys, we
wished we had stayed there! Whilst we were there we saw a huge nesting
site for White-Fronted Bea-Eaters and watched another gorgeous sunset,
this time straight down the Okavango River, whilst enjoying a beer in his
bar!
After we returned
to Drotskys and had dinner I finally got to do something I had been
looking forward to for a long time! We went night fishing for Tiger
Fish. Although we lost two just before netting them, I did manage to
catch a couple! Their teeth were every bit as ferocious as the Piranhas
we caught in the Amazon.
Our second day at
Drotskys we spent the morning watching the Cape Clawless Otters playing in
the river in front of our chalet and the Vervet Monkeys playing above us
in the trees! Thankfully this time I didn't get peed on like I did in
Peru! In the afternoon we went for a boat ride on the Okavango where we
saw various animals, including a Sitatunga and a pair of African Fish
Eagles.
Back across the
border again, this time to Katima Mulilo, 380 kilometres away through the
Caprivi Strip. We took a short gravel road diversion through Mohangu Game
Reserve just north of the border where we saw the usual commonly
sited game, but did see Hippos and Impalas for the first time this year.
The only day we
had in Katima didn't start too well! Firstly we had no running water in
the room, the previous evening we did have water, but only cold water that
looked like it was second-hand toilet water that had not been filtered!
Secondly, nobody told us that Katima Mulilu doesn't work on the same time
zone as every other town in Namibia! Bonkers! This meant that we turned
up for breakfast fifteen minutes after it finished, even though we thought
we were well in time! This really causes havoc for businesses, as they
lose up to four hours a day when they cannot communicate with the other
towns in Namibia!
It was lucky we
found out at breakfast as we were picked up at 2:00pm by Strijs Coertzen,
who owns Tutwa Tourism, to take us fishing on the Zambezi! After a short
trip to his mates fishing club we boarded a fishing boat and sped off down
the Zambezi, yet again becoming illegal immigrants by crossing
international borders without our passports! Apparently people cross the
river from Zambia to Namibia all the time, the Zambian guys then fake
birth certificates so they can get jobs in Namibia!
Anyway, the story
of our afternoon was that we had a great time with Strijs, a few beers,
plenty of laughs, some amazing scenery, oh yeah and a gorgeous, four
kilogram Tiger Fish! Check out the photo! It made the one I caught in
Shakawe look like a tadpole! Unfortunately for Angela, she managed to
hook one, but literally as she brought it alongside the boat it escaped!
After apparently totally ignoring six bull elephants on the riverbank as
we got back, we shared a beer with Doug, who owns the fishing club and
headed back to the lodge. A massive thanks to Strijs for a fantastic
afternoon! |