Zambezi Paradise

Here comes the old cliché : "How time flies"!! I am not entirely sure how this happened, but it is more than 14 days since I updated my blog!

Our beautiful mini break to the Lower Zambezi feels like months ago already, yet the memories live on. When I'm feeling stressed, I now mentally remove myself to that perfect location!

Above is the Kazungula Ferry crossing the Zambezi, from Botswana into Zambia. We were off to re-encounter the Zambezi much further down, after a bit more travelling. How marvellous to escape over the border, armed with my new temporary passport - four whole pages of empty territory for zealous bureacrats to stamp on! Long may it last...

And this could be (?) maybe (?) the mysterious point of waters mixing, and countries glancing off each others' borders? No way of telling, but being in the midst of a vast expanse of water, knowing one is crossing all these boundaries, and river confluences is definitely an experience of some sort...

A few hours and a whole lifestyle away.. dreaming out of the window way up above the Zambezi Escarpment. The light aircraft drones its way over the wildest terrain, smoky plumes of the bushfires hazing the air. The broad Zambezi Valley comes into view...

From the airstrip we journey by boat down the wide reaches of the river, to the warmest welcome from our Lodge management friends. Here our beautiful destination is just visible on the other side of this channel, currently occupied by an elephant.

As ever, I am captivated by the bush bathroom experience ...

...and the elephants... peacefully browsing below the camp, on the shoreline. Me looking on from our verandah.

The Lower Zambezi National Park has an atmosphere of its own, with the highlands dominating the riverine environment.

Driving through the Park, we find an awesome baobab. Here I am, getting up close and personal with it (after the area has been thoroughly scouted by our guide, first!). Have a look at some more pics of this very baobab, over here...

The river is home to herds of elephants, seen here escaping the boiling heat of pre-rainy season October (Temperatures of at least 40 C or 104F and above are the norm at this time of year).

The crocodile population is fearsomely impressive! I managed to capture this enormous prehistoric beast lumbering its way off a sandbar, before disappearing into the water without a trace...

The sunsets are undeniably spectacular,

and the fly-fishermen enjoyed themselves thoroughly! A cold Mosi beer is never more welcome than at the end of a long afternoon's fishing out on the Zambezi..

These images may perhaps give an idea of the idyllic peace, but even more importantly, I didn't hear a phone ring or look at a computer screen the entire time, listening only to the cries of the African Fish Eagles in the background, the sloshing of wading elephants and grunting of hippos... I did not have anything To Do apart from going on a boat trip, or a drive, or swimming in the pool, or having a siesta, or lifting a wine glass! A real break, in every sense.

Flying downstream over the river, on the way home... Flowing broadly, and studded with sandbars, this part of the Zambezi is so very different to our section near our home. Interesting to think that this very same water has flowed past us, over the Victoria Falls and through lake Kariba to make it this far.

Back home, back into the chaos of the business world, but still in a beautiful location with plenty of elephants, hippos and rivers to go round! We have already been on two further speedy trips , clocking up a good few thousand km by road between our return and now, but I actually enjoy them, too. So, I'm not complaining at all, really!

The festive season kicks off for me today, as I am joining the kids from my favourite Daycare Centre on their boat cruise/Christmas party! The rainy season has just started, so let's hope it holds off for a few hours, at least...

I'll be back soon, but in the meantime sending happy weekend wishes to all reading this x

Zambezi Sunset - end of October

No time to write, as we are off again on a work trip already, having been back 2 days!

For now, just a couple of photos of a particularly lovely sunset out on the water last week on the Zambezi River... These don't really do justice to the colours, but here is the general idea!

4 Countries - geography lesson!

I decided to write a quick post about our intriguing geographical location, as quite a few people have asked about it.

Kasane is a small but rapidly growing town. Kazungula is the village just down the way, but the two are very much interconnected, with Kasane being more of the business centre, and featuring a town/river borderpost. Kazungula is where the road and ferry borderposts are, and thus is more of a trucking centre.

Here is an aerial shot that I took a couple of weeks ago, as we flew out of Kasane. If you can see the little red "x", that denotes the shopping centre where our shop is located. My yellow arrows show the directions of the Chobe river. Downstream to Zambia and the meeting with the Zambezi River, and upstream into the Chobe National Park. Botswana on this side of the river, Namibia on the other side.

Our latitude is about 25 degrees South, thus we are somewhere in between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Equator. It is a 1000km drive South from here to our capital city (Gaborone) and 500km to our nearest city (Francistown). This means that our nearest towns are, strangely, in other countries, as we are the ultimate border town!

Kasane and Kazungula lie at the end of the Caprivi Strip - a peculiar strip of Namibian land that evolved during colonial times, but that's another story. Here's a photo from Google Earth, with a red arrow showing the 4 country meeting point, right at the end of the Caprivi Strip.

Namibia is on the left, without a label, and obviously we are in the far north of Botswana!

Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia all meet up here at the confluence of the Chobe and the Zambezi Rivers... (courtesy of Google Earth once more).

Just for fun, this is my favourite self-explanatory 4 country road sign around here, which is worth re-uploading, I think! (previously featured in older post here)

This is being written in extreme haste, as we are off border-hopping once more! In fact, we shall be crossing the Zambezi today at that exact 4 country meeting point, into Zambia for a mini holiday... then up and away to a safari camp in the Lower Zambezi, where we shall be utterly relaxing - no work involved, visiting good friends in one of the wildest places around. Tiennie will be enjoying one of his favourite hobbies - 'catch and release' fly-fishing, in search of the magnificent Zambezi tigerfish!

I shall be back next week, no doubt full of photos, completely de-stressed and fabulously relaxed! Wishing all of you a beautiful weekend x

PS I did NOT win the lottery last week (no surprises there, really!)

Scattered Bordertown Musings

My mind is scattered, and unsettled at the moment. There are endless To Do Lists free-ranging through it, needing to be extracted and emptied out into my notebooks. Not to mention all the other usual ruminations constantly blowing through.

So here's a post of scattered thoughts and images, to go with my general demeanor!

Mostly, I'm loving being a family of 3 again. Zac is with us for another visit, which is always a pleasure. Having a 19 year old around always lightens things up! He's been incredibly helpful with the major changes and renovations we are carrying out in our shop, and has even kindly rearranged his bizarre teenage circadian rhythms to match our own diurnal habits here in the workaday world! He is full of plans and dreams, and we are all just waiting for feedback from various universities to see where and what he'll be studying next year...

Early morning coffee with Zac last week en route to South Africa. My special spot overlooking the waterhole at Elephant Sands, our habitual overnight stopover on the way South, and featuring in many of my blogposts.

Not even an hour later, on the road for an early start... we encountered a bleeding man standing miraculously alive next to his gruesomely smashed car. He had been there for almost an hour - a passing motorist had gone ahead to report the accident to the police. (No phone signal at the scene). We helped him pack up his things, loaded him into our car and took him to Nata, the next village. Absolutely no emergency services were winging their way to help him as we headed towards the village. He was in a state of shock, and disbelief/gratitude at finding himself still alive, and claimed he felt no pain although his one hand was in a bit of an awful state and he had a (luckily superficial) head wound. We were very happy to land him safely at the Police station so he could get the attention he needed. It was a sobering incident, and our little 2 car convoy felt vulnerable as we prepared for another day's driving south. Life is so precious, roads are risky. I often feel the presence of guardian angels on our side...

In South Africa, very different types of scenery unfold.

Hills and winding roads are a novelty for us.

Back in Botswana, heading north once more - watch out for donkey carts!

The potholes shown last time we drove this route have now finally gone, replaced with a gravel surface now populated with rocketing long distance trucks who are suddenly able to get up a bit of speed. A new type of scariness has hit the road north!!

Elephants at the waterhole, during overnight stopover on the way home. We could actually do the trip from my inlaws' place in SA, to Kasane in one day but we have started to insist on taking overnight stops lately, for prevention of what I call accumulated road exhaustion.It seems Elephant Sands is becoming our second home ! I never get tired of photographing these evening visitors to the waterhole.

Botswana's general election took place while we were out of the country. During our return trip, we listened on the radio to the calm, civilised counting and listing of election votes - at the borderpost, in the shops and the petrol stations, and in the car.On and on it went until the absolute final result was announced. Simple, peaceful, no nonsense elections here, in stark contrast to so many other nations!

Back home, I'm slowly trying to regain some control over my displaced workspace, and my endless games of catch up! It is a delight to be home, where we found our garden transformed in the space of four days, canopied with foliage in different shades of fabulous green.

Some of the stunning green trees in our garden

The Paradise Flycatchers have returned (2 days late, by our reckoning) to nest and breed, and our resident frogs are cranking up their nightly chorus. I'm a stranger to our kitchen and far from being a domestic godess, despite numerous excellent resolutions to cook wonderful healthy and delicious meals! Seems our life has been steamrollered in so many ways at the moment, but there is light at the end of this particular tunnel, at least.

Regarding blogging, over the last month or so I have noted some new people reading, following and leaving comments here, and just wanted to say if any of you are reading this.. thanks so much for visiting, and I still intend to go round for return visits, and to say hello! I'm not rude, just a bit overwhelmed, that's all...

Typical of my fleeting ability to focus, I just received an email reminder that the UK Lottery is happening tomorrow, so diverted off there to quickly purchase 3 x tickets (one made up of special numbers, the others random). Hold thumbs. I don't do this much, but hey... I'm in the mood today! Lucky green weekend greetings to all reading this!!

Border Town Madness!

I realise this blog does not always reflect the true state of my life...when things are just getting out of control and I feel like I am Losing the Plot, the blog tends to end up at the bottom of the priority list! I've really been missing the blogosphere during the last two weeks,or however long it may be, having completely lost track of time. Not that I have not had access to the internet, but haven't had a spare moment to go online for anything unrelated to work and/or business!

Returning from the peaceful paradise of the Selinda Reserve (last post), and being plunged unceremoniously back into full Bordertown Madness was a rude awakening!! Every now and then I just took mental refuge, transporting myself back to that magical moment in the bush, watching those amazing lions lazing around under a tree. This sort of strategy seems to help me regain a bit of perspective, somehow. By the way, do have a look at Tiennie's pictures of these fabulous felines, over here.

It's difficult to define what I call Bordertown Madness, actually. A combination of various factors make it pretty trying at times! Typical October temperatures soaring to over 40 centigrade (104 F), then shortages at various different times of: power, water and fuel. A hyperactive buildup to our General Elections involved a crescendo of earsplitting hooting, and loudspeaker-laden trucks, emitting enthusiastic songs, speeches and cackling laugher! For somebody not feeling terribly relaxed, due to a few business and personal dramas, this has all added up to a very stressful, unserene, complicated couple of weeks, topped off by a sudden unexpected deadline by customs to remove our foreign registered car to South Africa, just at the worst possible time!

So, I'm writing this on our travels - not so many drive by-shots this time, due to doing more driving and less window gazing this time, and with no prospect of going online, I shall just publish my disjointed post once I get back home!

To end off, here are just a couple of tree photos, of which there are always several on my computer! One of my favourite trees on the way to work is this Mukwa tree.

The other day we stopped to collect a few of its pods, and the natural arrangement of the elephant dung, pod and green shoots just appealed to me.

All our stunning indigenous trees are bursting forth into greenery, which is one of the rewards of this time of year!

I'll be back during the week - a break (however odd) is always as good as a holiday, so it's all great! Looking forward to catching up and moving on...

Working Escapes and Fly-by Shots

Being in the IT and internet business around here has some interesting aspects, one of which is that we get to provide services in some beautiful and very remote places.

Last week, during the Independence holidays we flew out to the Selinda Reserve (previously visited at New Year 2009 - blogpost here) to sort out a few problems at one of the lodges.

Aerial view: fly-by shot, approaching Selinda airstrip

En route we had 2 hours to kill on the edge of a dusty, windblown bush airstrip in the middle of nowhere. We had the good fortune to share some shade with Moses, a safari guide, who kindly gave us a lift just to the end of the strip to check out a lioness and two young males resting under a mopane tree nearby! Personally, I've never been this close to wild lions before, and all I wanted to do was reach out and touch their beautiful, yet dangerous furry feline bodies! Sure beats browsing through the Duty Free shops while in transit, if you ask me...

Quick drive-by shot: from airstrip to lodge, featuring some grazing Zebras

I was generously invited along as more of a guest, but naturally I got involved with the work, specifically any unskilled, spanner-girl, manual labour type tasks! After some troubleshooting, one of our jobs was to replace underground cabling in a PVC pipe conduit. An active little mole with surprisingly powerful teeth had tunnelled straight through it all, on his mission to dig a completely level, uninterrupted burrow!

Even workers need a break.

The approach of sunset - in the Mopane forest on the boundary of the Reserve

We went on a drive with our charismatic friend and manager, Ishmael, and visited the historic meeting point of two water bodies, blogged about by Val at Monkeys on the Roof. A photo was taken, but it didn't really convey the interesting, tactile reality of one static body of water interacting with a flowing, dynamic one. Quite thrilling in its own way - you can tell we live in an arid country!

Just a couple more pictures to end off. Here is the early morning view from our room... Palm trees on the horizon.

... and from the deck a bit later, over coffee

In the evening, I tried to capture the waterlilies floating in the Spillway, in front of the camp.

Sadly the fireflies didn't come out in the photo!

Back home with a huge amount going on.. till later, and hoping that all of you out there are having a great week!

Border Town Taxis & Saturday Escapes

River Taxis criss-cross the Chobe River on a daily basis during the borderpost opening hours.

I enjoy the contrasting attitudes of the taxis when they are vacant...

...and when they are loaded.

Ferrying passengers and purchases back and forth between the two countries, these taxis are a lifeline for the dwellers of the remote Namibian islands and Caprivi Strip. Shopping is done on the Botswana side, and conveyed back over the river to Namibia.

Passing by the taxis on Saturday, we also crossed the water for an escapist mini break to our friends' riverside lodge in Namibia. This is one of my favourite places in the world, (blogged about earlier here) so I gladly sacrificed valuable square centimetres in my almost full passport for the oversized Namibian immigration stamps!

Listening to the sounds of the rapids late at night after a perfect dinner, enjoying a nightcap on the breezy verandah high above the river, I again realised how a simple afternoon-evening-morning break can be a gift, feeling just as long as a real holiday!

The lodge's white beach appears through the riverine vegetation

Another working trip sends us off again for a couple of days, flying out into the bush this time to attend to a networking problem in another gorgeous location. A good way to spend the Botswana Independence public holidays - far away from our bustling holidaymaking town.

Till next week, from a slightly less dusty, spotted with strangely early raindrops world! x

Drive-By Safari

I had a pretty uninspiring week lying low under a desk full of problems and paperwork, so I decided to post a pictorial record of the previous week's typical journey. This is more or less the road back up north, as seen from my viewpoint out of the car window(s).

Leaving Johannesburg (last post) in the dust, we overnighted in Gaborone city, where I needed to apply for a new passport. That done, only 1000 dusty kilometres lay between us and home... It's hard to describe the longing for northerly latitudes that is present at this point!

Donkey carts now become part of the highway traffic

Always a huge sigh of relief as we cross the Tropic of Capricorn (you will notice that this is a cheating photo, as I actually took it earlier in the year when all was green and beautiful!)

Traffic circle entering Francistown, our nearest city - only 500km to go, can you see the first elephants? Even if only on a billboard, they still are a heartwarming sight!

Out of the city and onto the open road, passing through rural villages

At last! Baobab country - Dukwi veterinary gate. 360km to go

September is the month for bush fires.

This is the main highway to the North, after Nata. 300km to go!The tar road is so potholed that, as you can see, nobody even bothers to drive on the tarred surface anymore.

Happily this road is finally being fixed, and I must add that this is not typical of Botswana roads, as they are usually in excellent condition elsewhere.

A very welcome overnight stop at Elephant Sands - here I am, checking out my favourite waterhole!

Some more potholes and dust, next day...

Makeshift villages spring up alongside the roads at this time of year, in order to harvest bushels of golden thatching grass.

As ever it is a joy to get back to our riverside town. Naturally we couldn't wait to get back out onto the water. Here's a photo taken from the river, showing another type of traffic. For some perspective - just over the road from here is the shopping centre where our business is located.

Having finished this I realise this is possibly an overdose of drive-by shots! *Incidentally, I adopted this great terminology from Rob, fellow blogger and fan of drive-by photography, at Inukshuk Euro Adventure!

If you are still in the mood for reading, after ploughing through all this, have a look at a this post by Val, of Monkeys on the Roof, who did a similar treatment of her trip through a different part of Botswana!

And that's it for now, time to wish you all a great week ahead, from my dusty, smoky hazy world x

Is this the right blog?

Yes, I know - not the usual scenic drive-by shot that you would expect to see here.

We've just returned from a speedy round trip of 3000km (1800 miles) to below the Tropic of Capricorn, and back!

Jozi scenery - amongst other destinations

Merely a few hours of Johannesburg's (or any city's) streets is more than enough to make me long for the road north, and thus I'm delighted to be back in my little corner of the world, despite all the catch up work I'm currently overwhelmed with.

Of course today now feels like Monday, so the reality of Friday, is quite a bonus...

Happy Weekend once again, to all reading this x

Baobabs Revisited in the Middle of Nowhere

Last weekend we headed out to a favourite location, previously identified in this blog as The Middle of Nowhere. I love the remoteness of this area, and the further into the African bush we can get - the better.

The road to the middle of nowhere. The dusty, dry season is in full swing.

Ordinarily, one of the first highlights en route is the wonderful Kanini-Kanini General Dealer and High Life Bar in the village of Mabele. It's usually a great place to buy a cold beer before venturing deeper into the interior, as well as having loads of character- and being quaintly photogenic (see photo in earlier blog posts, linked in further down!)

However, confusion followed by astonishment set in, as we first saw an empty space, then a giant pile of Kanini-Kanini-coloured rubble lying on the ground! It seems it has had to make way for the brand new tarred road... The tiny rural village is frantic with road construction and demolition. Further down the road an entire Chinese village (flagpost and all) has materialised alongside the river, while hard-hatted surveyors are to be seen all over the numerous road detours. Please don't get me wrong: in Botswana we never complain about progress and development of the rural areas, but I always have a private moment of nostalgia/sadness for old places that have to vanish... that's just me!

Having overtaken the roadworks zone, we found our way out to the little baobab island in the middle of nowhere. It has now evolved into a charming, environmentally friendly, tented bush lodge.

We were amazed by the transformation in less than a year. Have a look at MyBlog Post from last year. As always, I'm struck by the contrast between the dry and rainy seasons in our world.

The 2 trees on the baobab island, last seen in full greenery on an empty piece of land, now frame the new dining/lounge area with their bare, wintry branches.

The white arrow in the photo above, points to a tiny blob - that's me curled up in the baobab. This is the exact same tree as featured in my older post about Tree Hugging. Other specks dwarfed by the beautiful baobabs are Zac, (younger stepson) and a couple of Irish wolfhounds.

Of course there's no escaping a sunset shot here! A breathtaking end to a hot, dusty day...

Next morning, I decided to try and capture the atmosphere of the tented accommodation. Here is the outlook from the bathroom. Almost outside in the wilderness, but not quite! It's a lovely, relaxed place, perfect for escaping the weekly routine.

Life seems to be rushing along with not much time for blogging! We are presently enjoying a too short visit from Zac, and then we are going away at the weekend. There is always a pile of business that is saved up for trips to "civilisation", but I'll be back this time next week. Spring/summer greetings from this half of the world x

Springtime Walks, and the Scent of Orange Blossoms

In our world, we have always privately regarded the 15th of August as the end of Winter, and this year has been no exception!

August is always a special time on the farm, as the orange trees in the orchard are covered in blossoms. At this time of year, driving home on the dirt track along the blossoming orchard in the evenings, we are enveloped in air that is warm and perfumed.

The similarly scented, soothing essential oil of neroli is a favourite at home - thus to drive by an entire orchard exuding that neroli scent in the golden evening light feels most uplifiting!

I like to take the dogs for a walk on the farm every evening. As you can see, it's difficult to catch all three of us looking vaguely photogenic, or at least looking at the camera at the same time! I can't resist getting up close to the orange blossoms to inhale the scent and find it fascinating that each of these tiny green inner globes should ultimately become an orange fruit!Looking back towards the sunset during our evening walk:Our home is on the other side of the orchard. Then on the other side of the fence (not very romantic) is the landfill site. This has been recently properly upgraded to stop the wildlife from getting in, but elephants and hyaenas still visit the area and and we hear them at night just over the fence...

We do consider ourselves fortunate to live here, renting our eccentric little spot in a corner of a farm, without any of the associated stresses of doing any actual farming! Home for us is a real haven.

Wishing you all a wonderful week...

Serial Sunset Snapper

It's irresistible! Thanks to the Chobe river on our doorstep, and its associated (glorious) sunsets, I am compelled to snap away madly, thanking my lucky stars for digital technology all the way!

This was the sunset shortly before full moon, viewed from the river.

By swinging around to face the opposite way, a completely different atmosphere is evoked by the "other side" of the same sunset, dominated by the moon....

Homeward bound after work last week, a hasty roadside stop was necessary to try and capture the blazing orb hovering over the river. A bit blurred, but I almost missed it entirely due to the speed with which the sun sinks below the horizon!

Last but not least: taken from the boat last Sunday.

If anybody is interested in seeing yet another version of a Chobe Sunset, go on over and have a look at one Under the Botswana Sky.

Happy weekend, all!

x

Wooden Bananas

A week or so back, (see previous post here) we went out to the lovely Muchenje Lodge to sort out a few problems with their internet and printers.

This view from the Lodge out across the Botswana/Namibia border is always breathtaking. In fact, anywhere in Botswana with even a slight increase in altitude produces incredible views out over the flat, flat land..This was a blustery late winter morning, which explains the river's cold, silvery mood, way down there on the floodplain.

The pod-bearing tree in the photo is quite a special one in this area, known to us as the 'Wooden Banana Tree', to others as the 'Mountain Mahogany'. Just to prevent any possible disputes, it also boasts the impressive botanical name of Entandophragma Caudatum!

The Wooden Banana fruit is most intriguing. Apparently the pod splits open with an explosive cracking sound, to end up looking like a strange, carved, brown, peeled banana dangling from the tree!

The Lodge staff had gathered up some of the wooden bananas from the tree pictured above, and they were displayed in this bowl.

I do love this part of our multi-border world. For a previous post, including my favourite road sign, have a look over here.

Sending you all warm, southern, springlike wishes for a lovely week ahead

x

Watery Sunday

On late Sunday afternoon, drawn back like a magnet, it was time to re-bond with the magnificent river on our doorstep.

Down at water level I took a few photos to show how the river has subsided since the floods a few months back... It seems almost inconceivable that when we were motoring along the vast sheet of water captured in this earlier blog photograph, we were actually floating over the TOP of these reeds here ...

.. and beyond the reeds, this entire floodplain lay so far below us, temporarily a great lake...

... now terra firma once more!

Further downstream, the moon floated photogenically above the rocky islands at the start of the rapids.

A few hippos kept a beady eye on us from the safety of this pool, emitting sudden snorts and the occasional splash, just to remind us of their presence. I hope this photo is enlargeable, as they do seem rather speck-like!

Perhaps it was a calmer state of mind that allowed the force of the river to feel soothing and serene once more. No longer at odds with the watery element, this was an essential, renewing start to the week.

I decided to let you all off the compulsory sunset photo this time, but wishing you all a lovely week from this corner of the world x

Winter Road...

We seem to spend numerous hours in our car, and one of my favourite occupations on a road trip is to take photos through the windows...

Here is a typical July scene - the lush greenery of past months has now given way to a slightly more parched look, and the roadside grass is pale and wintry. These pictures were taken last week during a business trip, on the road from Kasane to Ngoma.

This tarred transit road cuts through a section of the Chobe National Park, and is a very appealing drive through indigenous teak forests and grasslands, ending up on a ridge overlooking the Chobe floodplain and the Botswana/Namibian border crossing.
On the way we passed a camouflaged herd of zebra under shady trees on the left, and watched a magnificent sable antelope galloping across the road. Ground hornbills and baboons are usually dotted around on the tar road surface, or busy foraging around in the grass, and this was no exception.

We have also encountered wild dog, and even a lioness on this route before! As ever, in the bush, I'm very aware that we only see a small percentage of what sees or could potentially see us...

On Turning 40...

My 40th birthday occurred on the 1st of July, and this seemingly coincided with my dropping off the face of my blog! We actually spent the time with my family in law on a stunning 2 night Chobe Riverboat stay, yet at times, in some enigmatic, dark, aquatic/cancerian way, I felt like just dropping off the back of the boat, and vanishing under the moody, chilled waters of the Chobe. If indeed life begins at 40, this is very welcome timing, as my fortieth year happened to be an unexpected deviation from the placid course my life had been meandering along lately. Having said that, the positive thing is that I shall enjoy this phoenix-like 41st year of my existence, and look forward to floating serenely in the metaphorical calm, tropical turquoise waters that my crabby cancerian soul really longs for! I'm moving on... enough of the 40 theme, now.

My mum wrote to me the day before my birthday, saying how the current TV coverage of the 1969 moon mission took her straight back... I can just picture the two new young parents sitting together in their lounge with this 3 week old baby girl, on a freezing South African Transvaal winter night - all of us listening avidly to the radio coverage of the amazing moon landing! No such technology as TV in the sixties in South Africa, of course. I'm not sure I understood the broadcast, being only 20 days old, but you never know! We were to be a family of 3 for another two years until my little sister came along. A seventies kid, not honoured with being part of the Swingin' Sixties!

Here's a photo of the three of us at my christening, sometime in 1969. I love the fact that my demure looking mother was actually wearing an extremely tiny and fashionable little 1960s mini dress!

I've always felt some sort of affinity for the moon, and family legend has it that I was almost named Diana after the moon goddess, due to the timing of my birth... I really yearned for this name some years later, as I found people just could not pronounce my Karen name properly! Although it is spelled identically to the other version, in mine the "a" sound is supposed to sound like "car" as opposed to the short sounding "a" in "cat". I'm sure there is some phonetically correct way of expressing that, but that's the best I can come up with right now! Happily, with the passing of time I have come to terms with it, and now answer to both versions if necessary.

This is not really one of my usual posts, just a lot of rambling about myself, today. No travels, trees, moonscapes, sunsets or elephants! I was actually weighing up whether to delete or publish it. So, do watch this space for a more scintillating post soon!

Chobe River Elephants

All I have time for today are these two photos taken on the river yesterday.

These are typical Chobe National Park River scenes, where herds of elephants come down to the water to drink in the late afternoons...

No sunset pictures today, but I assure you there will be plenty on offer next week, when we will be spending some time on a houseboat!
We have a slightly mad weekend coming up, involving a couple of thousand kilometres of driving, just for a change!

For now, chilly, rather frozen weekend greetings to all reading this - from the post-solstice southern hemisphere!

Midwinter Madness with Family & Friends

There's not much time for blogging at the moment... Lots of visitors, plus both kids at home, and the business also needing attention!

By the end of the working day, this is all I'm fit for...

Here we have Zac (younger stepson), Michelle (visiting friend from England) and me at Chobe Marina Lodge after work the other day.

Tiennie, kindly posing for the camera and doing some kind of wine tasting ritual?!

Actually, this photo was taken especially for our friend Lesley, as the vast glass of red wine at the same establishment suddenly reminded us of her, last time she was in Kasane!

On Friday, Joe (senior stepson) breezed into Kasane for an impulsively arranged, and much welcomed visit - only one day after his 21st birthday! Naturally his younger brother dragged him off to the pub for the sort of ritual 21st celebration only one brother could inflict on the other...

Next day, we watched the rugby match between South Africa and the British/Irish Lions, in our indoor/outdoor lounge. With two rather vocal British girls in the house, it was a rather hilarious business! Here I am with the boys, and the Brits. Joy is my dad's god-daughter, visiting Botswana all the way from Somerset...

It seems there's any excuse for a celebration right now, and we have more family members arriving shortly. I'm not getting all that much work done, needless to say!

Here's another beautiful Chobe sunset for now, and I'll be back again one of these days!

Sunset with Friend

I didn't want to leave my blog reflecting a big moan about the weather, since it (weather) is now back to its lovely normal self! I thought I'd post a few pictures taken yesterday evening.  

Our friend Michelle made it safely from London to Kasane, (though without any luggage!) and to celebrate her arrival, she and I went for a sundowner.  Here she is at Mowana Lodge, overlooking the Chobe River and Namibian floodplain.

Tiennie and Zac happened to be fishing on the river, so they dropped in for a drink with us, then left again in their boat...

Life's beautiful on the Chobe River, and, according to Michelle, our winter is feeling distinctly summery by UK standards - so warm southern winter wishes to all this weekend! x

Sunshine and Operation Mop Up...

At last! Here is the office tree with some better looking sky photographed yesterday - partially cleared up, featuring some dainty cloud patterns! I now feel worlds more cheerful when looking outside.

One of the joys of a mostly outdoor existence is that if you don't have conventional walls, doors and windows, your home is rather vulnerable to the elements. If you know it's the Rainy Season, you are prepared for this. However, if  you are under the misguided impression that it is the heart of the Dry Season, and you are in the midst of replacing your gauze "windows', it becomes interesting when a violent rain and hailstorm rips through the vacant openings at night!

You may just find that instead of enjoying a cosy wintry evening with a good book, consoling yourself for being home alone, you will be wading through the icy melted hailstones and water of your newly acquired kitchen floor lake! You could find yourself valiantly attacking this body of water with a mop, while leaves swirl around in the water and glue themselves to your ankles. If you still have your sense of humour intact at this point, you may even manage to laugh at your cats disdainfully paw-shaking and splashing their way to their distant food bowls for a bit of urgent comfort eating!

Then you could learn a lesson, and stop being complacent about traditional weather patterns, whose predictability seems to have gone forever!

Well, at least the timing of this elemental havoc has been kind, as our friend Michelle flies in tomorrow from the UK, and Botswana weather should be back on its best behaviour in her honour! The lounge furniture ought to be back inside and most of the foliage out of the living area. The lawn still looks as if it is made of overlapping leaves at this point, but that's what weekends are for! 

Sunny, slightly soggy greetings from the southern hemisphere, and I'll be back whenever I can...

Winter Rain - Unseasonal and Unsettling

It's June in Botswana... this is not meant to happen! My beloved blue skies and sun have been replaced with moody greyness and rain.

I've just taken this photo of one of my favourite "office trees" -  the now almost leafless white syringa tree (kirkia acuminata), which would normally be starkly outlined against a deep blue background... 

Perhaps this has something to do with the full moon? Whatever the cause, it leaves me feeling unsettled and unnerved - this is just my personal reaction to rainy weather. As hard as I try, I can never really shake it off, and to make matters worse, I'm going to be home alone for 2 nights. In The Rain! 

This morning the rain triggered "summer" in my brain, and despite the fact that we are only weeks away from the winter solstice, I arrived at work inadequately dressed for winter, and had to go home to find more layers!

X marks the spot - under a blanket of cloud!

Putting my personal feelings about it aside, rain certainly is a lifegiving blessing for semi-arid Botswana, and for that I am always grateful. Our currency is named Pula, meaning rain in Setswana, and although I've never actually found it in the Setswana dictionary, legend has it that the meaning of our Thebe coins is raindrop...

Walking in Giants' Footprints

I have an ongoing fascination with elephant footprints - crinkly, wrinkly ovals in the soft sand, replicating the contours of their foot soles.

Last time I wrote about this, there was no scale to show the size of the prints, and people were curious, so I've been needing another photo opportunity...

A couple of weeks ago en route to one of the weddings, we overnighted at Elephant Sands Lodge, near Nata.

Footprint maker...

Elephant visiting our favourite waterhole (last seen here) for a reflective late evening drink.

The elephants covered the vehicle tracks overnight....

Even though the sand was icy cold at six on a cold May morning, and I had no shoes on...

...I stepped inside one for a photo. (My foot is about a size 5 UK shoe size, if that helps!)

It's an awesome feeling to take a walk in their tracks, and I like to attempt striding from one footprint to the next, even if this does result in some fairly undignified leaping behaviour!

On the way out, we saw miniature, perfectly formed baby elephant footprints, but we couldn't lose our momentum in the thick sand, so I was unable to capture them this time. Watch this proverbial space!

Warm African weekend greetings to all reading this x

Blog Award Wednesday - Splash!

Having said that the next lot of awards would be next week, I've found that writing one of my more usual type of blog posts just doesnt' seem to be coming together at the moment! There is work to be done, and the French Open tennis seems to be commandeering my "free time"...

Thus, I'm going to delve into my virtual vault of treasures and withdraw another award, polish it up and distribute it to no less than 9 bloggers!

Once Upon a Time, way back in March - Bella, one of the world's busiest readers (Bella is Reading blog)  gave me this lovely Splash Award, which is given to "alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive and inspiring blogs".  Thank you very much, Bella!

My usual blog award pep talk to my awardees is that you have no obligations at all to display it, or pass it on or even to blog about it if you don't want to, but here it is, you have all been splashed! 

Ngorobob House - Life on the Hill

Fire Byrd

The Gold Puppy

Monkeys on the Roof

The Times of Miranda

Aglio Olio & Peperoncino

Lori times 5

Letters from Usedom

Life at Willow Manor

Fleeing Muses

Here is the official info:

1) Put the logo on your blog/post.

2) Nominate up to 9 blogs which allure, amuse, bewitch, impress or inspire you.

3) Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4) Let them know that they have been splashed by commenting on their blog.

5) Remember to link to the person from whom your received your Splash award

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Blog Award Tuesday

I think Blog Awards are fun, and fabulous, as well as a great way to spread the word about one's favourite blogs! I've had some of these in the virtual trophy cabinet for some months now, but, elephant-like, I never forget...

Going back into the mists of time: I picked up this quirky Coffee Award from Dumdad who inhabits 'The Other Side of Paris'. Actually, it was a sort of a self service award table, featuring 20 names and 2 different flavoured awards, so I helped myself to this one! Thanks, Dumdad!

Some blogs you need or love to read first thing each morning, much like that morning cup of coffee - and if they are freshly/often updated, all the better, for that comforting coffee-like boost!

5 recipients are needed for this, I would really like to pick everybody (perhaps some of you have received this one before) but here goes: and, no obligations at all to display it, or pass it on or even to blog about it if you don't want to!

Inukshuk Adventure

Looking2Live

100 Words from Dublin

Candy Sandwich

Family Affairs

More coming up next week...warm, wintry (southern hemispherical) coffee flavoured greetings for now x

Homely Weekend and Over the Moon about Award..

It's a beautiful novelty to spend a lazy weekend at home, with my two men. Watching tennis on TV, and spending a little time in the kitchen...

It's citrus season here, so I've been making fresh orange juice and feeling nostalgic while using the truly ancient orange squeezing machine bought by my mum (second hand!) in the 1970s!

Fresh Kasane oranges from Chobe Farms!

This started me off reminiscing in a stepmotherly way with Zac...when the boys were little, it was necessary, due to brotherly competition, to strictly share out the orange juicing tasks. One was on orange slicing duty, and the other on (most wanted duty) shoving the fruit onto the revolving squeezy part! I was naturally on cleaning-up-the-mess duty. I do love the idea that this good old machine has already featured in two generations of childhood memories, and still going strong!

Secondly, I am feeling warm and happy due to receiving this beautiful African flavoured International Reach Out Award, from homesick African Tessa. Not only is her Aerial Armadillo blog most beautiful and vibrant, but it is also a caring place full of love and compassion.

Tessa's award theme is Bloggers Building Bridges - I think it's a wonderful idea, and am delighted to have been included. Anybody who hasn't visited her blog yet, should definitely go over there and have a look!

Hoping that all of you out there are also having a peaceful and restful weekend...

Leaving Work Yesterday Evening

I am currently embroiled in dreary, routine month-end admin for our business.

In addition to this, our endless wanderings have finally caught up with me... I'm courageously mountaineering through some himalayan stacks of paper, whilst ice-picking my way down through the fearsome electronic pinnacle of my email inbox! Hoping to reach base camp at some point early next week, but still suffering from virtual altitude sickness at this point...

After a tiresome day yesterday, we found ourselves driving home through one of the renowned spectacular Chobe sunsets! At the top of the hill I insisted that we pull over and photograph the sun setting over the flooplain.

This is the photo I took with my small camera. Actually, it does not do the scene much justice, failing to adequately capture the bright red ball floating over the plain...

No matter! I felt like dancing and singing on the side of the road, in any case!

Rivery Magic

The need to get out on the river was extremely compelling on Sunday, so, throwing aside any well meaning ideas about a day devoted to (much needed) catch-up work, we spent most of the day out on the water.

As we launched our boat, I placed my small human footprint in the squishy mud next to a huge elephant print, and the slightly smaller indentation of a hippo, before wading bravely into the shallow water to release the boat from its trailer - all the while under the critical observation of a gang of small boys.

Smiling sweetly, they unhelpfully yelled "Crrrrockkkodiayallll" at the tops of their voices! Happily they were crying 'wolf', and the fact that I am sitting here typing my blog shows that I have lived to tell the tale!

The day on the boat was pure heaven... I will just let a few photos tell the tale, again.

An amazing feeling of freedom!

The Mighty Zambezi River

We stopped in here.. for a quick business chat!

The sunset was so exquisite,I could not stop photographing it..

This last picture was taken just before we took the boat out of the water. More wading in purple tinted shallow, sun-heated water.. Just beautiful!

Surprise, surprise - we are off again this weekend, to attend another special wedding, this time in the same continent, at least. We shall be driving south to Limpopo province, South Africa. I shall be back in the middle of next week, and as ever I send love and warm autumnal african greetings to all reading this x

Blog World Meets Real Life in Kasane!

On Friday, Val of 'Monkeys on the Roof' blog, appeared in my Kasane office straight off the ferry from Zambia, and we went together to meet Lori of 'Lori times 5' blog - in the flesh! Lori, husband Chuck and sister Lindy had actually detoured off their planned trip to include a couple of nights in Botswana, especially to visit the Daycare Centre in Kazungula (quite famous in my blog, by now, and loved by blog friends! Last write up appeared here)

Lori took these children to her heart, all the way from California, and embarked on a project to create a special gift, made with love, for each individual child. Here's her own story about this.

It's a slightly weird feeling meeting a person in real life, after becoming friends online! However, as I saw Lori materialise on the pathway in the gardens of Kubu Lodge, I recognised her immediately from her blog. As expected, she is just as lovely and genuine as she comes across in her writings... A beautiful, ethereal, soft-spoken person with an aura of something very special about her...

Although the three weary travellers were straight off the road from Zimbabwe, via too many global airports to count, they were whisked straight into the world of the little vulnerable children they had travelled so far to meet. Teacher Emeldah gave them a comprehensive tour, and the slightly sleepy kids responded to all the warmth and love.

Lori (seated), Val (right) and Lindy (left) are shown the kids' schoolwork by Emeldah, while chaos reigns - the exhibitionists in the foreground!

Songs were sung, schoolwork was inspected, and as we got down to floor level with the kids, Lori's and my eternally fascinating locks of caucasian hair were siezed upon and either lovingly stroked or enthusiastically yanked, while 'high fives' were administered by tiny hands with resounding force and gusto!

Each child was given their own soft and cuddly animal-themed knitted hat, and the teachers received some thoughtful goodies for the school, kindly carried around in luggage through the countless airports!

I had to laugh at myself, actually - having immediately gone into boring stereotypical mode (you're a boy, you will have this blue hat...), I was intrigued to hear from Lori that lots of the little boys in her part of the room went straight for the vibrant pink ones - being allowed to make their own choices! Hmm.. how we learn a little more about ourselves and others, every day!

Lots of photos were taken, and I am quite sure Lori will post her own impressions and images of the Daycare once she returns, so I shall stop here.

Group picture, just before saying goodbye

Later that evening we drove out to Elephant Valley Lodge, to join Lori and family for dinner. What a magical setting - with elephants of all ages and sizes congregating around the illuminated waterhole, providing a continuous backdrop and soundtrack for our chilly outdoor barbecue!

At one point, Lori and I stood next to the open the fire together, looking up at the magnificent constellation of Scorpio shining down over the elephants, and we agreed it was a surreal but wondrous experience!

To complete the crazy blog-theme, Val also rang Geli of 'Letters from Usedom' blog, while we were there, and we all spoke to her, to make up for the fact that she couldn't be with us all... certainly not through lack of wishing, though!

I know that Lori was a very, very tired person by the end of the evening, but I hope she will agree that it was a tremendous pleasure to meet up, and I found it a very renewing, worthwhile and happy experience to connect with somebody on such a level, from halfway across the planet, having only ever trusted to and communicated via the written word up till now... Yes, I do love my blog friends, and the new dimension that blogging has added to life!

Back to My World

Still no time to write anything, but here are just a few of my "out of the car window" photos!

We have travelled a long way... 

From this, oh so beautiful English/Welsh roadside scenery ...

... all the way back to this very African road in Northern Botswana.

Shortly after this, we had to stop for the elephants to cross over! 

Home, Sweet Home.

Sometimes it's good to go away, to appreciate just where we are. 

It's a pretty special place we live in, and I'm counting my blessings once more!

Very Not Botswana

A few pictures are worth a thousand words!

My mum and me at La Corbiere lighthouse, Jersey

Freezing cold, but loving the bluebells in Herefordshire!

Tintern Abbey - one of my favourite places!

Enjoying the Northern trees (0f course!)... with Michelle, in Bath

Today is the wedding day of the lovely Jessie and James, and tomorrow we shall be heading slowly south of the equator - to be back at work by Monday morning!

So to all reading this, a chilly, happy weekend from the UK, and I will be back in touch next week xx

Whirlwind Sabotages Blogging for a while...

I'm finding it very difficult to even read a blog post, let alone write one, at the moment! Life is certainly a bit of a whirlwhind or maybe even a cyclone at present.

Heading off for an impulsive and speedy holiday to the Northern Hemisphere, wonderful! Trying to absence-proof own business for a 2 week break, stressful ... not to mention time-consuming! Screaming round the bends, summits and dips of the emotional rollercoaster theme park of my life lately, bewildering...

But a holiday.. makes it all worthwile, especially to kick the African dust off for a short time, just for a change, just for fun!

I will leave you with this slightly Autumnal photo of a beautiful indigenous White Syringa tree... Autumn is not as dramatic here as in other places, but I still love it!

Happy holiday greetings and love to all reading this

xx

Sensational Salt Pans - Sun/Moon rises..

Barely awake, I glanced out of the tent door at eye level - straight onto a flat, grey, moonscape of a beach. A line of shiny gold water marked out the shallows of the shoreline, and beyond this, rippled grey waters stretched out to the edge of the bay. Up above, a solitary white star hung in a coloured sky streaked with orange, yellow, purple and deep blue. Alien shapes drifted around in the shallow waters, amidst the constantly changing colours. For a minute, I wondered exactly which planet I was on...

Pre-sunrise, with star and flamingoes

... until I noted a thoroughly earthly cowpat on the ground in front of me, and I remembered that this was pre-sunrise, Planet Earth, Easter Sunday. As the sun came up, a terrestrial cup of steaming coffee and a squished chocolate easter egg took the chill off, while the view over the flamingo-dotted water took my breath away!

Easter Sunday Sunrise

The day before, we had done a bit of work away from home over the Easter weekend, and had decided to camp in the bush - right on the edge of the great and mysterious Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. The pans are a magnificent relic of an ancient super lake, now a vast expanse of white/grey flatness, offering varying degrees of accessibility and deceptive treacherous surfaces. Not to be ventured onto without extreme caution!

In days gone by, when living in the area, this particular spot used to be one of our favourite haunts for a mini break. Not much more than half an hour away from a busy main road, it's a little enclave of utter nothingness, only really frequented by local cattle and herders. During the dry season you can cross white, crusty bays of salty surface, but at this time of year these bays are usually filled with water, and assorted water birds.

We picked a spot on the shore, overlooking the water and the flamingoes, parked our tent on the crusty surface of the salt pan, then just experienced the slipping away of the day into a clear, chilly autumn night. Flamingoes flying past at sunset...spectacular yellow moonrise... erie lunar-synched jackal cries ... swishing of wading flamingoes feeding in the shallow waters... slow drifting constellations up above... a general sense of oneness with the great Universe...

Moonrise

On the way back to the tar road, passing these tumbleweeds blown up against the fence, I couldn't resist photographing them. Strangely, I often feel a little like a tumbleweed myself...

Westward on the water...

Last Saturday, we found ourselves hitching a ride on an impromptu boat trip... heading west over the new lake currently covering our flood plain. We could have just kept going for miles and miles, in an illegal immigrant kind of way, over what is supposed to be dry land! Sadly though, we eventually had to turn around and come back home under the light of the half moon...

Staying with the water theme, here's another flood photo, especially for people who know this part of the world. Viewed from the river, this is the Sedudu Bar in the campsite at Chobe Safari Lodge. Now merely a part of the great Chobe River/Lake!

Since it's a long weekend, I shall be away for a couple of nights, camping in the bush - enjoying the stars and the full moon!

Sending love and happy Easter wishes to all reading this

xx

Magical Termite Mounds, Baobabs and more..

I realise this blog has been rather quiet lately. Last week I was being incredibly (and unusually) disciplined. Thus, sadly, had to prioritise other tasks. But here I am, continuing the tale of the weekend before. Images actually seem more expressive that words in this case, and I hasten to add that all but one of these were taken by Tiennie, not me!

The amazing Planet Baobab orbits peacefully on the edge of Botswana's Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, and marking the turnoff is this superb Anteater - all the better to tackle those giant ants inside the anthills mentioned in last week's post!

Seriously, I should really have named them properly as Termite Mounds, which are fascinating mini-civilisations in their own right. I was also asked about the topic of anthills a few months back, after posting a picture of me sitting on a very differently shaped one, during our most fabulous New Year Break (see older post here).

I have now come across a great website about termite mounds and how we humans could learn from their technology and engineering. It really does make for fascinating reading - have a look here: www.sandkings.co.uk.

Here, the old Planet Baobab (Kalahari Surf Club!) signpost soars atop a tall anthill/termite mound, reminiscent of the planet inhabited by Le Petit Prince.

Here's the new look, new image signpost, which also helpfully includes GPS co-ordinates! It's close to the village of Gweta, for any Google Earth fans.

*Some more useful/useless info here: Gweta is where the Mma Ramotswe Ladies No 1 Detective Agency movie was shot.

We stayed in a traditional Bakalanga Hut, set amongst Terminalia Prunoides trees (purple pod terminalia). You can possibly make out the rich purply-maroon pods on the left.
Or, we could have also stayed in these huts...
This immense, ancient, mysterious, stunning baobab just blew my mind. Apologies for the profusion of adjectives, but it can't be helped! Regular readers of this blog will know that in this photo where I appear merely for a bit of scale - I am, of course, preparing to hug the tree!

A secluded sandy clearing on the left is home to a couple of double-sized hammocks which swing invitingly under the lower branches. I would probably never have left that spot, if we hadn't already paid for some perfectly marvellous accommodation just next door!

Truly an otherworldly experience, to live among the baobabs...
The beautiful fountain and bubbly water at the far end of the pool, under a cool thatched roof...

Same scene, taken from the opposite end of the pool, with gorgeous baobab in the background. The shadowy presence is me on the other side of the fountain, blocking out the sun and enjoying the spray.

In the late evening we ordered sundowners, and retired to this offbeat concrete lounge, complete with elegant painted carpet. Here Tiennie humours me by posing on his comfy concrete sofa!
As the sun dropped and twilight colours softly glowed, we watched from our special sofa as the pool fountain died down, and the night lights winked on. The crescent moon showed its dainty sliver in the sky, and also in the undisturbed surface of the pool below.
Eventually darkness and dinner lured us away from the beautiful concrete lounge suite, until we ended up enjoying a few too many night caps at the bar counter, for just as long as we could stay awake...with its quirky ambience and soulful African music, we found ourselves quite unable to leave!

Here is a photo of the bar counter. The framed art behind the bar features a reflection of the awesome chandelier - made of old green beer bottles.
Well, all journeys must continue, and later next day it was time to head back north to the floods and the elephants, but at the same time feeling rested and calm, having found serenity in this magical place. I have to confess that I am already counting the days till I can somehow get back there...

To the Desert, and back

Back home, after a four day/two thousand kilometre journey - a long road trip out west across the country to wind up at yet another flooded river, followed by a sojourn in the world of pale grasslands, salt pans, baobabs and towering white anthills. A beautiful antidote to our watery shores.

Anthill / Signpost - Planet Baobab

So, it's just a few photos for now, as all the rememberings and impressions swirling around in my mind can't be sorted into any sort of order just yet...

Baobab at sunset with fruit

Baobab & swimming pool reflection

It was definitely a magical, renewing and refreshing journey... The last couple of months have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster in many ways, but, as ever, I felt the emptiness and the trees and the wild places working their healing magic...

Sherlock inspects an anthill for clues about the meaning of life?!

Blue skies and blue water everywhere (still)

It certainly seems that our rainy season has finally ended. All the grey clouds have vanished, and without their protective insulation blanketing us from above, temperatures have dropped signficantly.

I really do love this time of year, with the dazzling blue skies and the edgy chill in the morning and night air. Days are still hot, but there is the promise of Winter to come... and then after that we start again with the waiting-for-rain game around October!

Leaving you with one last watery photo for now - we took this from the road on the way to work yesterday. The wide blue river closest to us in the photo is the main channel, which we can see from opposite our office. This is the usual Chobe river, which is currently spilling over its banks. Everything blue going back all the way towards the horizon, is supposed to be a green floodplain, and instead is a sheet of water...

Just for interest, if you feel like scrutinising, otherwise do skip - in the foreground bottom right, you can maybe make out a palm tree. You can see the same palm tree in the Saturday photo just above the hippo pictures, in this earlier post.

We are off on a weekend getaway combined with a little business, but sadly our planned stay at Ngepi Camp in Namibia had to be postponed till later this year, as the lodge is underwater... So, until next week, and love and early weekend greetings to all reading this!

Sunsets in the Flood

Last night we drove up to a spot on top of a hill, and looked out over the floodplain. As hinted at in my previous post, here are a couple of examples of the sun setting over a reflective, inundated landscape...

I have to just mention right here that we should also spare a thought for those villagers who have had to evacuate their settlements along the Caprivi strip both on the Botswana and Namibian sides of the border, and a couple of people right here whose homes are close to the river, and who have had to take refuge higher up. Some lodges are either already affected, or could be soon...

Let's just hope that the waters start to recede sooner rather than later. I am always in awe of Nature in all her power and beauty, and counted a good few blessings once more, to be lucky enough to be sitting safely on top of a hill just looking on at the sheer masses of water.

This elevated vantage point is almost in the middle of the town, but the road to the top is wild, and criss-crossed with elephant tracks. The scents of elephant dung and crushed wild basil linger in the evening air, and, despite the feeling of remoteness, the streetlights of Kasane are visible down below, and road traffic can be heard passing by. Yet another example of the curious juxtaposition of wilderness and civilisation in this place we call home!

As the sun disappeared, I felt the first sign of an Autumnal chill in the air, despite the still-warm sand under my feet. It seems that our rainy season might have have finally come to an end, and that the seasons are changing at last...

Floodplain views - the rising river

Every day, en route to work, we choose to take the scenic road down the hill and enjoy the view out over the beautiful Chobe river floodplain.

View from the top of the hill, just before descending to river level. Neighbouring country Namibia is on the other side.

I find that a good start and mood for the day is highly encouraged by simply appreciating this beautiful view (and baobab) while driving down to our destination at river bank level.

Right now it's time for our annual floods to arrive, and it seems that exceptionally high levels are expected this year. Huge amounts of water are coming down from Angola, and other catchment areas, as we are part of the great Zambezi river system.

The Chobe river suddenly transforms from a meandering blue ribbon, obediently following its channel through the green floodplain, into massive sheets of water which spread out and cover the flat basin with a shimmering, reflective surface. As one can imagine, this watery sheet has the ability to take on any number of colours and moods, according to the state of the sky above it, and this makes for some incredible sunsets. More on that in future posts, I'm sure!

Last Sunday we took a few photos of the advancing floodwaters entering the floodplain.

Above is last Sunday's photo of the floodplain. Below is today's photo (Saturday) from the same spot.This water seems to have appeared almost overnight, and it is still rising!

On Sunday afternoon, we also took a walk along the river's edge at Chobe Safari Lodge. While marvelling at the high water level, we heard a loud water spraying sound emerging from some partially submerged trees right nearby.

Soon afterwards, a long, dark, submarine-shaped body emerged vertically from the water - followed rapidly not by a periscope, but by a pair of flapping hippo ears! Two hippos were in the area, so we stayed around to take some photos of them - one of which graced my previous blog post.

Hippos are fascinating creatures to watch in the water. One minute a hippo is there, and the next, it's gone. While they are underwater, you are never entirely sure where they are going to surface next, and this can be slightly alarming!

I have the greatest respect for these animals, as they can be extremely dangerous, and I've heard it said that hippos account for more deaths in the African river enviroment than crocodiles. Even though they are vegetarians, their sheer size and power, coupled with the most enormous teeth means that they can cause a lot of damage. Apparently the big hippo "yawn", is actually a sign of aggression! Even though we are surrounded by wildlife here, we never lose sight of the fact that they are completely wild creatures in their natural environment...

Hippo in the very wide, flooded river near submerged trees

Watch this space for more flood images in the not too distant future, and in the meantime, happy weekend greetings from my grey, cloudy, watery world...

Hippo Ivory

I'm afraid I just don't have time to actually write much at the moment, as I'm drowning under a pile of paperwork, once again...

Instead of words, here's an interesting photo taken last Sunday, featuring some ferocious looking teeth in the mouth of a Chobe hippopotamus. NB picture by Tiennie - I can't take any credit for this one!

Giant Footprint & Monday "Bluesies"

Today I feel that I just have to send you over to the latest post by Janet (Under the Blood Red Sky). I really loved her photos and words on a subject which fascinates me - that of elephant feet! I so enjoyed reading it... Here's my contribution:  an elephant footprint photo, taken a couple of weeks back.

While driving to work this morning, I found myself stuck behind a very, very, very slow car - not elephants this time, alas! Namibian National Radio was keeping me company, and the friendly presenter played a Celine Dion song, to blast away his listeners' Monday "Bluesies". He had decided, most endearingly, that he'd rather use the diminutive, so as not to drag us down too much on this Monday morning! Well, I figure that any self respecting bluesies would not dare to show themselves after Celine's angels and love that came soaring through the airwaves... so, celestial Monday greetings to all out there today!