Hot, Dusty, Dry Season, Driving around the place...

Spring apparently lasted about two whole days, and we are suddenly into Summer! Last blogpost a couple of weeks back, we had been travelling 300km further south where the climate is more extreme, and gets influenced by cold fronts from South Africa - which will explain the un-Botswana sounding minimum temperatures I shared, while passing through that desert-like region in a strangely chilly mood around sunrise... Those were indeed the true temperatures though, for those who were very surprised! As soon as the sun rises, it heats up rapidly, of course, though!

Lately, however, driving to work in the morning is around 18 C ( 64 F) and in the afternoons it is already building up to the late thirties (over 95F). It will get hotter and hotter now until the blessed relief of the long awaited rainy season around November.

Apart from weather, there's not a lot to report right now, so once more making something out of nothing much, here's a virtual drive around some of our daily routes.

Just outside our office I found this family of warthogs almost using the zebra crossing!

I have witnessed them a couple of times doing the genuine Abbey Road impersonation, but at such times I am usually either driving, or lacking a camera!

We have't had much elephant traffic lately, but here's one who was just passing by as we drove to work the other day.

The baboons scatter madly in all directions as one drives past. I am hardly ever quick enough to get a decent photo of them, so here is one of my typical shots featuring rapidly disappearing wildlife!

My favourite baobab on the road to work, in the early morning. In its leafless state, a perfect symbol of the dry, dusty season.

After locking up our shop in the evenings, sometimes we feel the need to drag ourselves a few steps over the road to one of the riverside lodges - where we soothe away the day's stresses with a sundowner!

If we decide to skip this option and go straight home, our faithful cats greet us by rolling around enthusiastically in the dust. Due to this habit, their sparkly white areas are transformed at this time of year into a grubby brown!

Going for a walk alongside the orange orchard is an amazing experience at this time of year. Living right next door to a citrus orchard in full blossom is truly magical, with the masses of trees literally exhaling  the gorgeous aroma into the air around us. Perfumed September air - yet another advantage of living in a tiny rented corner of a farm, and enjoying the benefits without any of the hard work!

Many of the migrant birds are back, and our disappointing bright green bunch of bananas looks exactly the same as it did about 3 months ago.. Other than that, the overwhelming impression is of heat and dust!

I must now go and pack, because, yes, we are off on our travels once more! Heading south for a week's break. Early weekend greetings to all!!

Roadscapes in Late Winter

More than a month since I last checked in here! I expected to have lost all my 'followers' due to being an absent blogger, but hello to a few new ones, and thanks to the rest of you for sticking around! It has been the craziest, busiest month, and now without internet at home, I have not had a spare moment at work to even think about blogging... 

We've been spending a bit of time on the road as usual, as well as opening up our new shop, and enjoying a visit from Janet of Baked Beans Jubilee blog fame! I even have a half written blog post all about a special trip we did in mid-July, but I have not even been able to select any photos for it yet, so I thought for now I would post some impressions of our part of the world in late winter, seen mostly from the car window. More or less making something out of nothing much!

The beautiful golden grass at this time of the year...

Last weekend we took off to an old favourite location, Elephant Sands, escaping from our busy 'town' existence. It is a wonderful place to relax when not busy with tourists, and we enjoyed it so much we stayed another night, despite the conspicuous absence of any elephants this time round. We saw many waterholes along the road that are still full of fresher water, and this is first choice for them rather than the brackish  water here at the moment.

View from 'our' dining table, out towards the almost dry waterhole.

The thatching season has now begun, and the temporary thatch harvesting villages have sprung up on the roadside. After several years of driving through Botswana, it's interesting to note the changing society. Nowadays cheap japanese imported Toyotas mingle with the donkey carts at the temporary villages.

Due to our impulsive decision to stay on, we had to leave early on Monday morning,and arise horribly early for the 2.5 hour drive to get back to work, departing just before sunrise. This area has a slightly more extreme climate, and at the tail end of a cold snap emanating from further south, it was absolutely freezing outside. Our car showed minus one celsuis (30.2 F) as we left.

The roadworks with their eerie white mounds, are studded with surprising golden sunflowers, (presumably the seeds that fall off the transporter trucks from the sunflower fields further north). I had to stop and get out to photograph the brave yellow things, despite it being only 2 degrees outside (35.6F)!!

I find this road north incredibly beautiful, no matter how many times we travel on it, and love to try and capture all its moods. Here is a typical view..

Bushfire season has already started - those thatchers need to work fast to harvest all the grass in time! Here is a section that has now been burnt. As soon as the rainy season starts, this stretch of bush will burst forth in a profusion of green!

Below on the left is a statuesque, leafless Mugongo Tree, typical of this area - which we never seem to recognise in summer when they are covered in foliage! I still need to do some research on this interesting tree, and do not seem to get round to it! Bush fire in progress in the background...

A couple of hours, two degrees of Latitude further North, and we are almost home  - only a bit late for work due to a puncture! The car thermometer was already registering almost 20 degrees C (68F)outside at this point - extremes, indeed!

Have a look out of the car window, at the incredibly shaped branches of the Mukwa trees, which signify closeness to home...

Monday was already long ago, and another week has now flown by! I have to end of right away, as we are doing a quick overnight trip across one of our multi borders - this time to Zimbabwe.

Happy weekend greetings to all!

Zambian Mini-break (over the River!)

Around 2 weeks ago now, as usual feels like yesterday, I found myself being whisked off for a one night Birthday mini-break over the river, over the border - this time in Zambia!

Crossing the Zambezi by boat, we arrived in Zambia mid-morning. Our fellow tourists crossing the border were vuvuzela-toting World Cup visitors, in between matches and quarter finals! They were fitting in a couple of trips to neighbouring countries before dashing back to South Africa to watch the rest. We encountered other tourists in the border post offices, enjoying half price Zambian visas, by showing their world cup tickets - this was a great gesture on behalf of the Zambian authorities, and I have to say I have seldom seen them in such a good mood!

Here is a car-wash, Zambian style - right in the Zambezi river! (Botswana can be seen on the other side).

The David Livingstone Safari Lodge is a beautiful place, right on the banks of the river, and within view of the awesome 'Smoke that Thunders' - the fabulous Victoria Falls being just downstream from here.

In the next picture you can see the "Smoke" in full spray. Who can look at that and not imagine what it must have been like to catch sight of the Falls for the first time... This is the view from the deck where we had lunch.

After a most indulgent riverside luncheon and lazy afternoon, we boarded the 'Lady Livingstone' for a sunset cruise upriver. With the Falls behind us, we settled in with the ridiculously attentive staff materialising with drinks and snacks seemingly on tap.

We were intrigued about the fact that one of our fellow travellers on the upper deck of this boat just happened to have a camera crew trailing him, and that a few people were starting to appear, asking to be photographed next to him.

Apart from the fact that he was extremely gorgeous looking, we had no idea what sort of a celebrity he was, so I had to find out... our ignorance of all things American Football related was duly revealed, and we enjoyed a great evening with him and a couple of others - all in mid-World Cup festivity mood!

For him, it was his last day before starting his serious training and strict healthy regulations were due to kick in. For me, it was the eve of my birthday. For everybody else it was an excuse to order strange concoctions from the obliging bar staff, and generously distribute them among the group. Weirdly, as the sun went down we all became keen Chilean soccer supporters despite being a bunch of South Africans, Americans, Canadian-ex-Africans, and Estonians! I know the Chileans were on board somewhere but I don't think I actually ever met them on the boat trip?!!

Yes, couldn't resist a group photo. Maybe some of my blog readers are less ingorant than us!!

A wonderful dinner for two was had after our mad boat cruise, and the next day I was very touched to be delivered with a special birthday cake by the staff at breakfast. The upstairs restaurant has a beautiful view out  over the river.

This tall Mopane tree was spotlighted by the morning light.

I have to confess that I had really grand intentions of getting up really early and going down to the Falls and wandering around, as we have not actually been to the Falls for a couple of years. However, the accumulation of the hilarious boat cruise (Vamos Chile!) and the dinner and late night seriously put paid to these lofty ambitions, and we elected to relax (recover?)until it was time to head back over the river.

Here is a veiw of the ferry arriving on the Botswana side. We avoided the ferry, and went on a private transfer instead.  It is amazing how a one night visit can restore and refresh. I am a huge fan of the Mini Break, which in our rather crazy and fast paced life always feels like a full on holiday! 

Back to the 'real' world, and a frenetic couple of weeks have ensued, due to being fascinated by Wimbledon tennis, World Cup soccer, and very involved in the (happy) madness of our business life... No time for blogging, alas, till now.

I am extremely ready for another mini-break, as ever, and no doubt will share some more of our travels pretty soon! To all reading this, I wish you a wonderful weekend, as ever!!

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!

Time.......Flies..........

Time Flies. Boring statement of the year!  I'm making an effort not to continually express surprise at this phenomenon, as I feel that  the only surprising thing here is my surprise itself... This is just the way it is, I must adapt accordingly!

Since my last notes here on the 15th April (feels like yesterday) the river in flood is still my favourite obession. The sunsets over the water are outrageous at this time of year... it really does one's soul good to occasionally drop in at one of the riverside lodges for a chilled sundowner on the way home from work.. 

Note my favourite semi submerged palm tree featuring here again.

Boat-drive-by shot of  the same palm tree from river level, looking up at the deck which is perfect for those sundowners!

Observe the Pole Pole Beer Gardens, below. A little bar that sits on the Namibian shore

Right now it's under water, which seems to be an annual liability of its location. It will be back to business as usual when the water drops! Crossing the river from the Botswana side to buy a beer does make you technically an illegal immigrant, of course! 

Here we took a boat drive right around the back of the Pole Pole Beer Gardens -normally dry land here. 

The astonishing thing  is that this huge mass of water is flowing - fast! This very water will thunder over the incredible Victoria Falls, not far from here, since the Chobe forms part of the Zambezi river system.  

Here the river rushes past the golf course... wildlife visitors can be hazardous on this course!!

One whole year ago, (feels like last month), we were holidaying in the Northern Hemisphere, saying hello to my parents, and attending Jessie and James'wedding in th UK - here is a year old photo of a totally different watery vista - my mum and me looking out towards Corbiere lighthouse in Jersey.

Fast forward 12 months: this place, the surroundings and seasons are reassuringly familiar. So much feels the same, yet much is different. Life here is as full as ever and there is potentially so much to write about, and so many images that I sometimes get overwhelmed with the overload. If I wanted to record it all here, I would have to do a blogpost everyday, or else my irregular monthly offerings would have to become 100-photo posts, and I would risk boring you all out there to death!

In case I'm in danger of doing that right now, I'm going to sign out, and wish everybody a wonderful weekend, wherever you may be! I'll be drinking a glass of wine on a deck overlooking a stunning watery sunset, in just about ten minutes' time...