Mini Botswana Road Trip Part 3

Day 3 & 4 - Boteti River Camp and back to Planet Baobab

Day 3 - all about decadent idleness, as we did not have to pack up camp - this is one of the things we learned about our bike/camping trips. Commissioning and decommissioning camp every single day is simply exhausting and eventually if done too often, the joy evaporates! Thus, we made a rule - every third day on the road, we just stay put wherever we are for two nights. No early wake-ups, our laundry can be done, and we can just relax. 

Our rest day was perfect, the only effort involved moving our chairs around, following the shade of the trees in our bush campsite. Wherever we are, depending on network coverage, I am always on and off in touch with work, staff, customers - this might sound strange, as part of a holiday,  but I never have a problem with that, as it liberates us to travel, knowing that everybody is still being taken care of, and I do not need to be glued to my desk in the office!

Boteti bush campsite

It was HOT in our campsite, and we could see the washing on the line drying out in front of our very eyes! Eventually we just moved ourselves along to the pool for most of the afternoon!

Eventually, the sun set, the earth cooled off, and we enjoyed another peaceful Boteti evening under the stars around the campfire with our beautiful Owls (and Owlets) in the background! I have to admit to a Domestic Goddess fail moment, where I brought out some fabulous happy anniversary Lindt dark chocolate.. as I opened it up, it was, of course, the consistency of soup - a lake of chocolate contained only by its delicate foil covering, and had to be handled with teaspoons in a highly messy and inelegant sort of fondue!

Lindt dark chocolate (fondued), with bonus touch of shredded teaspooned foil!

PS For the Owlet fans: Both the Pearl Spotted Owlet and African Barred Owlet were around both nights!

Day 4 - to Planet Baobab

To start off our 150km of backtracking to Planet Baobab, we sailed confidently through those patches of deep sand in the village. Early in the morning the sand is cool, and just that slight new familiarity with the route out of the maze, translates to no hesitation and no subsequent loss of momentum! Before we knew it we were crossing back over the Boteti river...

At the junction back onto the A3 - the open road ahead... always something very appealing about this!

I spotted this group of black crows keeping to one side of the National Park Boundary, no doubt feeling safe on their "No Hunting" sign!

I absolutely love the palm trees along this road... over the years I have photographed them thousands of times, but never from the back of a bike, until now!

Here is an idea of the impressive lakes of standing water on the side of the road - flooding due to the local rainfall.

After a completely uneventful and scenic ride, we reached the turnoff to Planet Baobab. Here the bike poses with the iconic giant anteater, one of our favourite landmarks.

After covid check-ins at the gate, the Planet Baobab reception is a welcoming and cool space. So typical of the unique style of this place...

 

Thanks to covid, we discovered the usual campsite was closed, and there were now only 3 campsites in use, in the "overlander" section so we were quite glad to have pre-booked one, as between us and our neighbours, a German couple in a Landrover - we had booked out two thirds of the current campsite!

We co-incidentally found their travels on Instagram, and realised they were actually the same people who were camped next to us, and now we are following their long journey @stahlroth1

Overlander campsite for bikers

The ablution block in the overlander campsite sports the funkiest wall art!

Ladies  .....        and    ......     Gents!

At this time of year, afternoons are still incredibly hot and our campsite not being very shady, we spent the time enjoying one of our most favourite spots in Botswana. It used to be advertised as "The Coolest Pool in the Kalahari", and in pre covid times you could expect to find this whole huge pool filled with overlanders.

The Coolest Pool in the Kalahari - yes, absolutely, always!

It was amazing to have the pool entirely to ourselves...

Let us never forget the magnificent Baobabs dotted around this property, that give the Planet its name..

Magnificent Baobab with me in the foreground, for some scale....

 Several years ago we went through a stage of annual visits here for our wedding anniversary so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane once again!! I have blogged about Planet Baobab over here, and again here, in the past! We treated ourselves to dinner to celebrate, and it was good to see a couple of other tables set for visitors.

Day 5 Planet Baobab to Eselbe Camp

Just a short ride of just under 100km to our friend Rupert's Eselbe Camp on the banks of the Nata River. On the way in, we have a landmark spot where the bike gets parked on the Last Outpost - a patch of firm ground, where I summarily get off and walk (wade!) the last 300 metres through the most ridiculous deep, thick sand. We have tangled with this Eselbe approach sand one too many times, until the final insult one day, with in me being flicked unceremoniously off the bike and deposited in a sand drift! Since then, we don't even bother fighting with that sand anymore, and I do my Biker Chick duty to just walk it, shedding layers of heavy gear as I make my way through the sand, (usually in the heat of the day) and arrive just a while after the Biker Boy!

The river is so tranquil here and has permanent pools, even in the height of the dry season when the main river downstream is dry. Find them on Instagram @eselbecamp

Upstream, Nata River

We enjoyed the luxury of not putting up our tent, and we always love the backpacker accommodation here - one of my favourite features is the recycled bottle bathroom wall in the chalet! A labour of love, hand created by Rupert. I am sure many of us helped him over the years to empty the contents of these important recycled architectural features!

Recycled bottle wall

After a great late evening catching up with Rupert and Silvia, we stayed up even later with our instant new Canadian friend Petrena, as one does in backpacker places!  She is a travelling Youtube video blogger, (Petrena Schell) and I was quite intrigued about the world of vlogging, where videos, voice-overs and the odd subtitle take the place of my word pictures and photos.

Next morning, the last dash home was a 300km standard ride, where we always say "we are back home now" as soon as we spot the first elephant on the side of the road!

The few days we were on the road felt like a month, and we are more than ready again by now, to do another mini break to fit in with our newly redesigned covid restricted lives! As I always say, watch this space and thanks for reading all the way to to the end :)

Kasane to Boteti River Camp and back - 1180 km round trip

Mini Botswana Road Trip Part 2

Day 2 - Nata Bird Sanctuary to Boteti River Camp

Today, about 300km lay between us and our destination, Boteti River Camp.
I started the morning in the campsite office with some coffee, sorting out work tasks needing attention, and also applied online for our inter-zonal Covid travel permits as we were crossing into a different Covid zone. Armed with permit screenshots, we hit the road and headed towards the Boteti River!

I could get used to this office!

Kalahari Sand....
Having scrutinised the route and map, not to mention the odd glimpses of the campsites via the website photo gallery, I was convinced that the last few kilometres would consist of our nemesis - deep, thick Kalahari Sand! The bike, especially when heavily loaded, is definitely not made for this stuff. In our past adventures we have had varying antics in the fathomless sand that seems to insist on making up the access roads to places we visit! Needless to say, I was alone in my dramatic predictions about this road, and I was told to relax, wait and see...

As we turned due west onto the A3, we had to first get through the degraded section on this route. At some point, it is more potholes than tar and others (much better) the official road surface has actually been removed, which leaves a potholed gravel road of sorts. Biker boy as usual enjoyed dodging potholes and craters, as he always explains the bike is so much more nifty in between any obstacles and we whizzed through, leaving the unfortunate 4 wheeled cars ponderously negotiating their bulky bodies through the craters, one line of wheels at at time! No beastly sand here, and with the odd pep talk from the flight deck, I'm getting pretty good at handling this type of gravel road experience.

On either side of the road lay masses of standing water, as far as the eye could see - this area is prone to flooding from local rains. On previous journeys through here we have seen flamingos and pelicans on these roadside waters. Not this time, although a good selection of other water birds were enjoying the temporary lake! On this section one is very aware of the presence of the great Makdgadikgadi Pans on the left, and every now and then the road crosses safely over a "finger" of salt pan, a very treacherous surface at this time of year..

After roller coasting our way through the off-road section of the A3, we stopped at Planet Baobab to have some lunch and to book our campsite for the way back on Sunday. After a really hot and quite tiring stretch, it was wonderful to flop into one of the quirky cowhide chairs with an ice cold drink, while waiting for some of the best burgers in Botswana!

Taking it easy -  Planet Baobab

Back on the bike, the next section transits through the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park with a speed limit of only 80km/h, so there was ample time to look around and chat, and for me - to think about that Big Sand! 

Spot the Giraffe!

In order to supposedly lighten up the bike for my suspected Big Sand adventure, we had debated the virtue of making a significant dent in our mobile wine supply the night before! Of course in this day and age there has to be a bit of balance and planning due to the ever changing and capricious nature of Covid related liquor purchasing restrictions! Currently one can't buy wine over weekends, so being a Friday, we had decided to stop in at Nata village en route and restock, adding a bit more weight on to the poor bike, despite my sand worries...

Eventually we made it to the junction where we turned left onto the B300 for the final 50 or so km - a road we’ve never actually ventured on before -always exciting! We headed through the village of Motopi, and here we crossed over the Boteti River. This is a big deal, as most years this river does not flow at all! Very lucky to experience it flowing.

Crossing the Boteti River

After the village we felt a sense of the remoteness we were heading into, and we were also aware of riding alongside the river, noticing the treeline demarcating its course on our left.  The type of Botswana roadside scene also started to change, and we noticed quite a few guys on horseback, cowboy style! One pair made me laugh so much, as they raced along next to the bike, two up on their steed just like us, wearing identical Adidas T shirts, and waving wildly - smiling their huge white standout grins! We continued to wave at each other crazily, until we eventually outran the aididas cowboys!

Two kids on a donkey - not quite the cowboys!

Being my ridiculous self, I started trying to observe and critically rate the white sand on the left hand side, for thickness and depth. Getting my mind ready for the Big Sands to come!

At this stage, Boteti River Camp was very well sign posted so we had no fears of getting lost! 

As we entered Khumaga village, knowing our destination was somewhere in there, the signs to the lodge suddenly diminished into mini strips, of which four or five would have fitted into one of the large road signs shown above! Somehow riding around looking for signs and turnoffs on the bike is different to doing so a car, so huge signposts are definitely a help! The tarmac abruptly vanished, and we were in a typical Botswana village maze of little sandy roads... how MUCH sand was still unknown. In general, I am in charge of looking for physical road signs as we navigate through towns or villages, and it can cause highly fraught situations when I issue a navigational instruction and it’s too darn late!! Then very inconvenient bike U turns have to take place in the sand or traffic or whatever type of road is involved..

Despite my best efforts, the miniature signposts showed up in my field of vision just that bit too late.. and unfortunately resulted in two such U turns in the village of Khumaga - one in some respectably deep, white Kalahari sand! Almost immediately after that, however, we suddenly and unexpectedly found ourselves slap bang on top of the entrance gate of our destination,  Boteti River Camp! No dramatic sand road to struggle through!! I really had the wind taken out of my sails on that one.. and was glad we had not compromised on the weight of the mobile cellar due to my over active imagination! I deserved the "I told you so" that humorously came my way!

As we set up camp, I was ecstatic to hear the call of one of my favourite birds of all time - the crimson breasted shrike. Not only one, but three of these beauties frequented our campsite our whole stay! One of them decided to sit still for about a minute, thus I managed to capture a paparazzi shot at the top of a very high tree, protected by the thorny branches these birds seem to prefer. Not great conditions for photography but I just have to share the photo, if only to just celebrate this absolute perfection of crimson-ness! Viewed from the back, amazingly, this is a pitch black bird. So beautiful.

We bought some firewood and various provisions from the camp shop, to try and support their business a bit, as we were the only guests there.... Around sunset, we went up to the deck, and viewed the Boteti river with the National Park on the opposite side. A bit further downstream we watched the Boteti ferry moving a Toyota land cruiser over the river from the village into the Park. This is a lengthy process, being a pont, pulled across manually. On the other side of the river bank, we thought we could just make out a herd of kudus in the shadows, but were not that sure. As we sat pondering the mysterious twilight kudus, the land cruiser shot out of the ferry docking zone, roared up the cliff-like approach, and rocketed along the riverbank at high speed, causing kudus to show themselves, jumping out of their skins due to the sudden arrival of the rattling, roaring beast. After it vanished leaving the kudus in the dust, we watched them cautiously coming down the cliff to drink peacefully from the river, right in front of us. This is a terrible photo below, but what it shows is the Boteti river with its green cover of aquatic weed and waterlilies! I should have taken a photo downstream for a more conventional watery river view, but was more interested in watching our beautiful kudus.

We enjoyed our evening by the campfire in this interesting riverbank location. On the one side the camp is part of the village while also being right next to the river, with the National Park over on the other side. The usual weekend village noise died down early, due to Covid curfew time, so we could enjoy the night sounds of the bush... lions roaring from across the river, as well as hyaena and jackal... I have to mention the amazing owl population - during our 2 nights, we identified 6 different owl calls, including the Giant Eagle Owl and a full house of the local Owlets!

We looked forward to yet another day and night relaxing in the same spot...

To be continued in Part 3

Mini Road Trip - Part 1

We took a 6 day break for a mini road trip last week, having decided we needed to do something to commemorate our 26th wedding anniversary, The quarter century milestone last year was a non event due to the looming lockdown! So with an official reason(excuse) in place, we hit the road for our mini holiday a little in advance of the actual date.

Day one was a 300km hop to our overnight campsite - Nata Bird Sanctuary. This special part of the world is memory lane material for us, being where we first met and spent the early years of our lives together! 

Typical tranquil scene - Nata Bird Sanctuary

Not even an hour into the journey, we were saved from an incipient tyre drama by an alert from the tyre pressure monitoring system, just a few kilometres from our friends' lodge - thank you Universe!! For once, repairs could be done in the shade under a tree with an ice cold drink nearby, and not in the blazing sun on the side of the road!

Roadside repairs luxury style, at Touch of Africa, with Troy the dog in attendance!

Not being able to carry a spare wheel opens up major vulnerability to Tyre Dramas, and over the years the onboard anti tyre drama arsenal has been gradually perfected, after some costly experiences! A valve was replaced, and with the bike back on two good as new wheels, we hit the road with no time to lose, and made it to our campsite in time to hastily throw up the tent...

.. then jumped straight back on the bike to ride to the lookout tower on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. Having never done this section of terrain by bike before,  I was extremely apprehensive about these scary off road conditions, but had no choice other than hold on and trust, or miss out on the highlight of the trip!

Some of the water obstacles we had to go around

These mini lakes of water had me worried, and I have to say the Biker Boy humoured me by allowing me to get off when I felt uncomfortable (not because he needed me to!)  I still need to get my head around the fact that momentum/speed is what keeps the machine upright, so when I feel we should be crawling cautiously for obstacles, we speed up for them! However, I know my responsibility to stay still and not create reactions that could throw the bike off balance, so I have managed to perfect this skill - despite whatever inner turmoil might be going on!!

Bike and fun terrain, one of the times I was humoured, and permitted to get off!

While I was freaking out/sitting quietly/learning how to adapt to this latest outrageous mode of covering ground, I randomly heard the word "Gnu" floating into my head over the intercom, which was a bit surreal. I looked over right next to me, and saw a beautiful scene - a small herd of wildebeest of various sizes/heights peering quizzically at us out of a sea of tall savannah grass.  I could only see the tops of their heads and their bizarre horns in semi silhouette. They were not fussed about the bike, unlike other wild animals, but just stood statue-still and stared, as if they were analysing us and scratching their heads about this strange thing whizzing along past them in momentum fuelled bursts! I could almost see question mark thought bubbles hovering. These chilled gnus made me laugh out loud, and for some reason reminded me of a scene out of Gary Larson's "Far Side"! Unable to take a photo for obvious reasons, I decided to sketch them later in case my word picture is not good enough. They looked something like this, only cuter:

It was totally worth the panicking pillion ride, to get to the shoreline of the salt pan, currently a gigantic lake due to abundant rainfall this season. We had our pre-sundowner glass of wine up on the platform overlooking the water, with not another person or vehicle in sight - very special. In later months, flocks of flamingos will move in here, but the water is still too deep right now.

Me in my element!

So much water!

Unfortunately we couldn't stick around for a spectacular Makgadikgadi sunset, as the prospect of flying through the off road section in the dark seemed a bit foolhardy, so we skimmed back to camp through mini salt pans and lakes in the fading light. To my delight, we underwent some more sessions of Gnu scrutiny by a couple of groups of my new favourite antelope hanging around alongside the track!  I had to admit I actually enjoyed the flying ride this time, and didn't even offer to get off!

Our evening was magical, in the white sand campsite, under the tall mopane and leadwood trees. Only one other campsite had occupants so we had the place pretty much to ourselves. The stars here are spectacular due to the lack of light pollution, and despite the looming thunderstorms, we had a break in the cloud cover most of the evening, for a gorgeous view of the heavens.  After this day one, so thoroughly removed from sitting at my office desk, I already felt I had been away for a week and could probably go back home happy...

However we were still on holiday so after attending to my emails and messages the following morning, we set off on a further 290km to the west, destination Boteti River!

To be continued in Part 2...

Freedom on 2 Wheels!

Several years ago (somewhere around the time I abandoned this online journal) our lives took on an unexpected new dimension. To my eternal surprise I fell headlong into the unknown world of motorcycling! The beginning of all this is a longer story, but the condensed version is how I, the ultimate inexperienced rookie, agreed to take a giant leap out of my comfort zone, onto the back of a huge, intimidating adventure bike - and loved it! 

From the outset I knew spectacularly nothing about bikes, biker gear or jargon, not to mention the technique required to be a good pillion passenger, but the bug had bitten, thus began a steep learning curve.

The rest is history. Since the arrival of the first bike in 2016, "Biker-Boy Tiennie" and I have travelled many thousands of kilometres, through various countries, and experienced a multitude of adventures together!

February 2021, dodging thunderstorms during covid times, with Bike - BMW 1150GSA.  

I now consider myself slightly less of a novice, though it seems I have to overcome fears at almost every new experience, but the minimalism of this travel lifestyle and the sheer freedom of the open road have become addictive!  I started writing bike travel journals for friends and family, featuring our trips and destinations, as well as my observations, thoughts and experiences during our escapades.

I'm now moving the journal online, and my new travel blog will be coming up soon, again watch this  space...

More Sunshine than Rain

A break from incessant rain inspired a sunrise walk on the farm before work.  Memories resurfaced from the mists of time... I had forgotten how rewarding it is to be a morning person!

For the first year ever, I declined to go official with a list of NY Resolutions,  my line of thought being that life improvements will just have to progress organically. Watch this proverbial space!

Red Tent in the Forest

Last weekend we went camping - a tiny getaway to an exquisite favourite spot, just 60 km from home.

 A ray of sunlight illuminates this magical corner of indigenous riverine forest...

.... while our campsite's woodland window reveals the Chobe River floodplain.  

Golden late afternoon light - looking out over to Namibia on the other side.

 

View from tent, while receiving morning coffee in bed.  Never mind the star treatment, just waking up completely surrounded by trees and birdsong makes me extraordinarily happy!

We are privileged to have special places to ourselves at the moment, sadly due to the pandemic that has taken away tourism.. Popular and usually bustling with tourists, Muchenje Campsite and Cottages is a unique family-owned place. I just love the way this riverine forest environment has been preserved and regenerated over the years.  Still hoping,  along with our friends here and all the many affected, for the better times that we know must come.

Waiting Around

It's exactly one week into February, and my hopeful start to this year is getting slightly frayed around the edges. Perhaps there was just enough of the Unknown around in January to keep all that optimism going!

At the start of the pandemic, the sudden demise of our tourism sector at the very beginning of the busy season was a gigantic shock. In a tourism based region, we are all economically interconnected, so the effects are felt by all. The thousands of confirmed international bookings started to go through a process: firstly postponement by a few months, then as reality set in - postponement till 2021, and so on. The latest part of the process seems to have now arrived: Cancellations. Now it's down to mostly domestic tourism and the few very determined international travellers!

We are into our third alcohol ban, and also a night curfew. Both of these have just been extended for a further month - another blow for the restaurants and hospitality businesses that have been trying to stay open and get by. We have now started to notice permanent closures of a few businesses around town. Others are completely mothballed until international tourism revives. In a small town and community we are all trying to support each other's businesses where we can, and to keep our own ones going as creatively as possible!

As per New Normal life, we have been through a variety of restrictions with differing degrees of severity since this all began. The balancing act between public health and economy goes on, and so we just hang in and keep waiting for better times or signs of improvement and change!  On 1 February the Covid deaths were sitting at 168 - we are a sparsely populated nation, yet we do not have a highly developed health system that would cope with an exponential increase in serious cases, so our government is being strict and cautious. Businesses have had some help from the government with wage subsidies and various other interventions, which is something to be very grateful for, but the outlook is still rather bleak. Sometimes I wonder what happens if this is how it's going to be for a long time to come?  However, we have somehow survived thus far, and need to just keep up the momentum and the positive attitude.

We are also very fortunate that we can escape to beautiful, peaceful places very close to home for a dose of sanity and attitude resetting! After our spectacular rainy season this year, our wild places are looking incredible. Forests, rivers, floodplains and wildlife are good for the soul!

Wild Flame Lilies hiding in dense foliage

 Wishing anybody reading this, a positive and peaceful week!

New Normal

The New Normal. Such a cliched phrase lately, but I can’t really find any better description for the current situation!

The ripple effect of the pandemic in our northern corner of Botswana has been absolutely dramatic. Our tourist town that used to bustle and burst at the seams with a constant stream of visitors is now a strange half version of its former self.

One year ago we anxiously followed the emergence of the coronavirus on international news.  Observing the proliferation of red dots on various graphs and world maps, it was a time of uneasy uncertainty, knowing the virus would most certainly be arriving in our country…just a matter of when.

One year later, so much water under the bridge… we now find ourselves following the emergence of the vaccines on international news, still observing the associated data on graphs and world maps, and waiting to see what effect it will have in those countries who are administering it.

Somehow our business is still afloat, for which I am extremely thankful, and although several covid restrictions are in place, we actually have plenty of freedom at the moment, compared to what other countries are experiencing. I am incredibly grateful for the open spaces, and the fact that we can move around within our regional zone. The opportunities we insist on creating, escaping on even the smallest of camping getaways, are still a critical part of maintaining sanity!

Nobody has been left untouched, and with the brutal loss of lives, livelihoods and lifestyles going on all around, the situation started to feel very overwhelming. I am not sure at what point some kind of normalisation set in, but right now it feels like a mental holding pattern – trying to keep negativity at bay, and figuring out what’s next and how to cope with it. Each new covid related development no longer has the power of shock and awe that it used to... I believe there are lessons in here somewhere, to be carried over to that hopeful future that is on the distant horizon! For now, it’s maintenance and survival mode, and still counting of a multitude of blessings, in spite of "it" all!

Hope

Of all the traditional high days and holidays, New Year is always my favourite - appealing to my naturally optimistic nature! This year I woke up on 1 January with one word on my mind. Hope. 

Having survived a shocking 2019, followed by all that 2020 had up its sleeve, I distilled my usual ambitious NY resolutions down to just one decision: not to allow the prospect of 2021 to get me down!

Sunset over our beautiful Chobe River, October 2020

2021!

Today I revisited my blog... There I discovered my last post dated December 2015 - featuring some cute warthog piglets, and a promise to return to updating this space. I acknowledge spectacular failure regarding my mission statement as I find myself here just over 5 years later, in January 2021!

Despite the passing of so many years, I'm still here in the exact same place!  I'm resisting the urge to post yet another photo of this season's identical batch of warthog offspring - the descendants of those 2015 piglets.. Looking back on my past blog entries, it's somehow reassuring to observe in these uncertain times that nature's cycles are still pretty much predictable and timeless. Living close to nature as we do here, is still one of my inspirations and consolations!

So much has happened in the intervening years, it would be extremely difficult to write any worthwhile summary of all our highs and tragic lows..  so the new blog will just evolve in its own way.

Wishing anybody who might come across this, all the best for whatever 2021 has to offer us. As usual I live in hope and optimism!

 

Back.. late 2015

Hello world.. I seem to be back – a bit surprised to see how long since I last posted anything here, but the time for notes and musings from the border town was just not right for a couple of years...

Any regular readers who still remember this blog will also remember the warthogs, so to show that not much has changed, here it is – it's the time of year where little families of piglets are to be seen all around town, trotting along after their mothers!

 

I'll be writing about our travels again, and I shall return soon, with the usual collection of words, roadscapes, drive-by shots and the like!

Full Circle - a Year in Photos

A simultaneous Hello and Goodbye to 2013!

I investigated my photos, attempting to figure out what happened during 2013, and discovered that not only did we travel a lot, but we also seem to have spent just about every non travelling Sunday out on the river. The passing of the seasons seems to unfold through my river scenes...

I intended to pick one picture per month for this post, but that sort of minimalist discipline appears to be beyond me... Since I haven't been around for a whole year, I'm hoping a 34 photo blogpost is forgivable - after all, anybody reading this may well have an entire year in which to plough through it!!

January 2013
The first post of every year traditionally features images of glorious Flame Lilies growing untamed in the Forest reserve...

The entertaining warthog piglets are a highlight at this time of year in Kasane!

Stormy skies denote our rainy season, and the cloud formations add drama to sunsets.

This was a sad year, as we had to say goodbye to our two very old and much loved dogs - what faithful friends they were, and are still missed. This is one of the last photos taken at the end of an era.

February 2013
We hit the road south for a wedding in South Africa, and our annual fix of oceans, mountains and all things non-tropical...

Our beach self portrait at Jeffreys Bay.

These exquisite Proteas were the floral theme of Pete and Sharon's wedding, a beautiful ceremony, in a stunning location.

On the way back north, we detoured to a highland destination that has always intrigued us. Rhodes, often quaintly described as a 'mountain hamlet', is a remote fishing destination, located high up in the mountains just on the South African side of Lesotho. It was everything we had imagined, and more - solitude, crisp mountain air, crystal streams, freezing weather and interesting local characters, should you choose to visit the local Inn and make friends!

Here I am, freezing cold, perched up on a rock in the early morning....

... observing the hardy and dedicated fly fisherman in the stream below...

March 2013
Back home in the tropics , we spent our wedding anniversary at one of  our favourite places across the river on the Namibian side - Ichingo Lodge. Here is our beautiful deck overlooking the river, with the sound of the rushing rapids always within earshot.

We visited this famous Baobab on the island, used as a lookout post by military in times gone by. It provides an impressive view of the four-country meeting point, and the Chobe/Zambezi river confluence,  if one can conquer the ascent up its sheer trunk, and maze of branches above. 

April 2013
The most beautiful time for sunsets over our Chobe river, in my opinion... the water levels are high at this time of year due to the seasonal flooding, and it's a magical experience being afloat on the river.

Our 2013 involved numerous road trips, up and down the country for work and personal city-trips...

After an overnight stay at Elephant Sands, I took this photo at the junction with the main tarred road, it reminds me of the closeness of elephants and humans in this unique spot...

May 2013
At this time of year, the river is in full flood, and moving fast... The days become chillier and I love the huge, blue cloudless skies, moving into winter..

We enjoyed a quick visit from Zac, Nix and Buggs - getting away from their city lives and into our world for a while...

As the bush gets drier, more wild animals show themselves around the town - these gorgeous wild dogs are always a special sighting.

July 2013
On the way back from a weekend in Zimbabwe, we encountered this herd of buffalo near the borderpost, silhouetted against a wintry sunset.

More beautiful Sundays on the river - I just love that late afternoon golden light.

August 2013

Summer arrives almost overnight around here, just about halfway through August.

Here are our twin nephews enjoying sunny Kasane. Their family having moved to Zambia during 2013 means we have been able to see much more of them this year!

Hippo Roadblocks..lower river levels mean that resident hippos tend to congregate around our usual areas, and their heads pop up and down, dictating where we may or may not proceed..

...up closer, the heads are much more intimidating, and are very evidently finely attuned to our every movement. A U-Turn is certainly indicated at this point!

Our beautiful white, squeaky sandbanks start to re-emerge as the river levels drop - the pefect spot for a private sundowner.

September 2013
Our latest rescue puppy, Impi. In a household of five felines, she has had to learn how to treat them with the admiration and royal respect that they demand!

The hot, hazy days of the summer months make it a joy to escape to the river.. we are still lucky enough to have 'our' spot where other people seldom venture.

Thirsty elephants come down to the river through town during these months..

October 2013
At the extreme height of the dry season, elephants of all shapes and sizes enjoy the waterhole at Senyati Camp, an oasis for them in the midst of the dusty and hostile bush.

November 2013
A work trip to Ghoha Hills in the Savute area. Our previous visit was in the height of the dry season, and this view was an expanse of barren brown wilderness. The contrasting lush greenery of the rainy season is always remarkable.

The annual graduation ceremony at the Kazungula Children's Ark Daycare is always a familiar year-end milestone for me.  Many of the previous years' students were in attendance, all grown up in their big school uniforms!

December 2013
Another trip over the border -We visited Lokuthula at Victoria Falls to, meet up with good friends for a long overdue catch up!

I enjoyed the view of this waterhole in the middle of the bush, with separate thunderstorms slanting down to the horizon. Somewhere off the edge of this photo, the Victoria Falls are thundering away unseen!

Once again, new litters of young warthogs grace our streets.. Have I ever mentioned before, how adorable warthog piglets are???? Just look at this little Zimbabwean fellow.

 

The skies over the river are now heavy with storm clouds, and we often need to scramble for cover under overhanging trees to dodge rain storms!

Just to complete the circle of my blogpost, here is a wild-growing, January 2014 flame lily - taken two days ago.

When I signed off my last year's blogpost, I had no idea what sort of a year we were in for - a hectic, accelerated roller coaster ride, in which we have had to undertake and process voluminous quantities paperwork and bureacracy, and have experienced two-steps-forwards, one-step-back type of situations all year long! I genuinely believe 2014 will be a vast improvement, with a bit more spare time available!

Wishing all who read this a wonderful 2014 and hoping to be back here before January 2015!