Mid-winter Zambezi Meanders

Last wekeend was all about the River. Our renovated boat engine needed testing, so on Saturday evening we puttered around below the rapids. Now that the water is dropping back to normal levels, the sound of the rapids almost drowns out the noise of the traffic on the main road nearby. As we floated down with the current, I noticed silent elephants materialising on the riverbank just next to us. 

They were here, in the evening light.. sadly I did not manage to capture them on camera.Contradictions of our riverine settlement:  we can be floating in the quietest part of the beautiful river, watching elephants arriving for a drink of water, while still hearing the trucks passing by on the road along the river.

Putting my small foot inside a giant elephant footprint while launching the boat....

 The water in this section of the river seems puzzled and confused, and is being thrown about every which way by the emerging rocks. We came past this area of leaping water in an otherwise smooth, swift current..

A final test on our boat engine was required, so on Sunday morning, we loaded up the holidaying kids, picnic gear and passports for a day meandering around in the channels between the Chobe and the Zambezi rivers. Due to our our multi-country location, one has to leave Botswana and enter Namibia to do this.

Once legally in Namibia we set off into the Kasai Channel, all the way down to where it meets the Mighty Zambezi, as it is so often named. This mother and baby hippo launched into the water as we passed by. Thank you Zac for the photo!

The waters of the Zambezi are fast flowing and the first view of this huge river at this flooded time of year often gives me the shivers and a feel of great vulnerability - it seems hostile and powerful, and I'm all too aware of the massive Victoria Falls about 80km downstream from here!

This couple in a traditional Mokoro dugout canoe (you will probably need a magnifying glass to spot them) turned their small craft into the current and prepared to cross the river shortly after this! The river and channels are a way of life for these folk.

Having crossed over and paid a quick visit to the Zambian shore of the Zambezi, we retreated to Namibia and the sheltered channels closer to the Botswana side, in search of one of our favourite sandbanks, which had been submerged by the floodwaters for a while.

Happily we found most of the beach out of the water again. How to describe the beuaty of this place... You are on your own out here. Geographically not too far away from the busy town and tourism and trucks, but light years away in atmosphere. Sheltered by the papyrus channels, you will seldom meet another boat here, and the only sound is of the wind whispering in the reeds, or birds in the papyrus, flying or fishing in the river. Waterlilies grow in the sheltered bays...

Here is a view from our beach, over on the other side, separated by several other channels, you may just see our home town up on the ridge on the far shore!

The white sand is prisitine, fine and squeaky, washed for months by the pure, clear flood waters rushing along.  When you step into it, under the icy, clear water, it sinks below you, and enfolds you in all its squeaky glory. Quite an addictive feeling and better than any foot spa! Here are the kids giving their feet the Treatment!

NB, it is not a good idea to hang around too long here, and one must always keep a very strict eye out for our reptilian co-habitors of the riverine world - the crocodiles.

I could not resist another photo here of the sand and the clearest, most beautiful water. Words are just no good here, but it kind of makes your heart sing a bit!!

Sadly we had to pack up and say goodbye, in order to meet the border closing times - leaving only our footprints behind us, we gave our little beach back to the birds to cover our footprints with theirs again. Till the next time!

Leaving our sandbank behind..

This weekend is mainly about work for me, and a very busy week coming up, so I will sign out now, and wish everybody a wonderful week, wherever you are...

It's a Beautiful World out there!

FireByrd's new blog Beautiful World is up and running, and I just thought I would mention it here along with a link so that anybody who is interested can go and have a look at the diverse photos from all over the world that are being posted!

It's good to have a reminder every now and again that planet earth is still, amazingly, a beautiful place...

My waterlilies discovered last Sunday (above) can now be found on Beautiful World blog, and in time, I'll contribute more...my pics will usually be tagged with a Botswana tag, as well as a subject related tag, if you want to find me!

Gone Fishing.. and Back Again!

I have really been missing blogging. Not only have we had no internet at home, plus a very busy time at work, but, as my title would suggest, we've been away covering Southern Africa with our tyre-prints once more.

Fly-fishing holiday ahead! who cares if the signpost is skew..

After a much too short, but wonderful ten day visit from my long-distance mother, we dashed down to drop her off at the airport in Johannesburg. On the way she was also able to catch up with the grown up grandchildren for a couple of hours before flying back too far over the seas again... sad for us, but that is life...

Here we are, looking out at my favourite elephant waterhole - always the perfect overnight stop on the way down, and a last goodbye to the wilder parts of Africa for my mum.

It was great fun actually, driving around in South Africa during the build up to the World Cup! One couldn't help getting caught up in the atmosphere. On the way home we detoured for a few nights in the trout-fishing haven of Dullstroom - one of our favourite places, and relatively close to home. When I say that, I mean that it is not as far away as most other places on our fishing travel wishlist! I think we did a round trip of about 3500km (about 2175 miles)

The more southerly Winter is fiercer than ours, so I had to pack accordingly. Please note, in this photo I am proudly wearing my warm bamboo yarn hat, which was made specially for me by blog-friend Lori all the way over there in Califorina (loritimes5 blog). thank you Lori!!

I don't fish, but enjoy reading, administering the hip flask, photographing the fish before they go back in, and generally absorbing the beautiful places where fly fishing tends to take place. The little stone cottage up on the hill is where we stayed. Just perfect!

The chilly air in the rolling mountains just demands log fires and lots of sherry, to counteract all that brisk outdoor activity. Cosy little pubs and restaurants in the town also beckoned strongly - it is little wonder that we decided to stay another night, and let our business carry on without us back home!

Fortunately there is always the mobile office while away from home! I think we badly needed a holiday, as we were in a state of utter disorganised chaos for various reasons, but had the greatest time anyway - maybe sometimes it's a good thing to let go of the inner control freak, and let the chaos be...

A few drive-by shots as we drive north on the long road home. Wintry-looking baobab here:

 I restrained myself from uploading the photo of the zebra's rear end disappearing fast out of my photo, so here is the field full of sunflowers which signifies only 100km to go!

Back home, it's been a mad mixture of  trying to open up a new shop with a thousand African setbacks, running the chaotic current shop with same setbacks,  lack of internet at home, and too much tennis and now soccer to watch on TV.  Due to all of the above, I have really cut back on personal time online. I also made a decision to deactivate my Facebook account about 3 months ago, which has been a rather strange experience, having been on it since 2007. Now, we have a temporary connection back at home, and due to the internet drought, I now feel the need to go online and try to read every post written on all my favourite blogs for the last month!

Other aspects of life go on... the cat reconciliation program has resulted in an uneasy truce between  sworn enemies with the odd territorial battle. The bananas mentioned in one of my last blog posts were all eaten, predictably, by those fiendishly clever baboons. A newer, bigger bunch is in now progress, and we are hoping to come up with some sort of strategy to protect them once they start to turn yellow!

Our river is still pretty high, although the water level has dropped significantly. At the golf course Hole number 2  has re-emerged, and the rapids are starting to run white over the rocks again. Herewith a photo of  the now much less submerged palm tree, taken as a measurement. The trunk/stem has emerged quite far out of the water, as you can see by the lovely reflection drawn on the water surface.

Due to the dry winter season, the elephants are very much around the top hilly area of town, and lately we've also been stopping for small groups of impala antelope as they nervously cross the tar road. The town warthogs are still all over the place, and are extremely photogenic as ever! I have to just point you to this blogpost with a few great mug shots of the young hogs outside our office, back in the marula days.

Coming up..school and university holidays in South Africa means visitations from the kids - this time younger stepson and his girlfriend. Always so great to have them around.  The weather has taken a turn towards the very chilly, in honour of the upcoming solstice. We of course are completely unprepared for such coldness, but it warms up beautifully during the day, and the days are generally glorious, I have to say.

Before I make this the longest blogpost I have ever created, I will  leave now and wish everybody reading this a most wonderful weekend, in advance!