Location: Sedia Hotel, Maun
Date: 15th - 28th August 2001
GPS: 19d57'15''S, 23d28'43''E
Distance: 47,164km's
Highlights: Crossing into Botswana, Tati River Lodge, Debswana Diamond Mine, Orapa Game Reserve, Salt Pan of the Kalahari, the fan gives up the ghost, Sedia Hotel Camp-site in Maun.

Rich, who had been a witness at Neil's trial, had stood by us throughout all of the proceedings. In fact, I had become very worried about his safety after he had been approached by the other gang members and threatened. For Neil and I, we could leave Zimbabwe and never go back if we wanted to, but for Rich, he didn't have that option. But he was adamant that he wanted to help us. On our last night in Bulawayo, we invited Rich and his wife over to 'our place', well Bumble, for supper and we enjoyed a lovely evening at the camp-site, sitting outside with the light of the hurricane lamp. Rich had been considering moving to Botswana permanently to set up a business for Mr Naran and so when he asked if he could catch a lift with us the next day, to check it out, we gladly agreed. We reached the border post not far from Plumtree and were expecting to find the border as quiet as the previous time. However, we were met with huge long lines of people, men and women all dressed in white flowing robes. They were going to a meeting for their religious order and there must have been over a hundred people waiting to go through immigration. Costs to enter Botswana are as follows:

No Visa is required for most Commonwealth nationals.

Insurance: 10 Pula for 5 months

Road Tax: 10 Pula for 5 months

We drove into Francistown and said our goodbyes and thanks to Rich. We really do hope that things work out well for him and his wife if they move to Botswana. I think with the current political unease in Zimbabwe, for someone like Rich, who is an intelligent, hard working, career minded man, with a peaceful nature, Botswana seems a far better option. We wish him and his family all the very best in the future.

Botswana is an oasis of calm and economic prosperity amid the chaos of allot of Africa. It was a British protectorate until 1966 when it gained its independence and along with it, unbelievable wealth. Under British rule, Botswana had been left very much to its own devices. However, after independence, Botswana discovered 3 of the richest diamond mining areas in the world and this heralded a new era for the country. With the exception of South Africa, Botswana enjoys unrivalled non-racial policies, health, education and economic standards. It is a country of stability and progression, where the right balance has been achieved under black majority rule. One of the main features of the country is its policy of promoting high-cost, low-volume tourism. Not so good if you are travelling on a small budget, but it aims to keep the countries natural resources and assets in tact. With a tiny population of 1.5 million people in an area covering 582,000 sq. km's, with the majority living near Gaborone or Francistown, you can enjoy an unhindered journey through the countries Kalahari desert and Okavango Delta.

Francistown itself used to be a gold mining town, but today it is a fairly modern, bustling town with little for the tourist to see or do other than enjoy the feeling of being in a civilised country- a world apart from present day Zimbabwe. We stayed at a camp-site called the Tati River Lodge, which offered accommodation as well as camping facilities. It was a relatively new place and although trees had been planted in the camping area, it would be a good few years before they offered the kind of shade we needed. It was very hot. The cost for camping was $10 per night, very expensive but these were the sort of prices we were expecting in Botswana. GPS co-ords: 21d12'07''S, 27d31'58''E.

Our next stop was the Orapa Bush Club, in Orapa, home to Debswana; the largest Diamond mine in the world. When we had first planned our journey, we had written to Land Rover Clubs in the countries we were visiting and arranged to drop in and say hi. Orapa Bush Club was actually a 4x4 club and not specifically for Land Rovers, but hey, nobody's perfect. Debswana is a restricted area and we had to obtain special permits to enter. The Orapa Bush Club arranged this for us. Before, we left Francistown, we stopped off at a Land Rover garage and met Mike Reddin who serviced the Landies in Orapa. He saw Chaka in Bumble and asked if we had a pink form to allow us to move freely within Botswana. We said no and he told us we should go to see the vet and get the form otherwise we would not be allowed across certain check-points. We saw the vet who gave Chaka a quick once over, checked his vaccinations and gave us a pink form from the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Animal Health, Veterinary Certificate of Identity, Rabies Vaccination and Movement Permit for Dogs and Cats. It turned out to be a vital document as it was also a certificate permitting Chaka to travel through Namibia and South Africa. We had heard a few conflicting stories about getting Chaka into South Africa. Some people said that he would have to go into a 2 week quarantine, others said they took their dogs in and out all the time with no problems. The main difference seemed to be whether you travelled by road or air. Those who had entered South Africa with a dog by road, seemed to have no problems, however those who brought dogs in by plane, encountered a different story. With this document, we seemed to be covered, which made us feel allot happier.

We headed out to Orapa which lies 225km's to the West of Francistown. It sits on the northeastern edge of the Kalahari and yes; it was hot, hot, hot! We arrived at the restricted area border post where they telephoned through to Gordon Perry from the Orapa Bush Club who verified our visit and said he would come to meet us at the gate. He had very kindly organised for us to stay in an air-conditioned trailer in the Orapa Game Reserve and with temperatures soaring, it was greatly appreciated. Chaka would dive out of Bumble, up the steps to the trailer and sit, puffing and panting in air-conditioned splendour until the cool air took affect. Bliss. Orapa itself is a strange little place. You feel as though you are entering a lost city, totally cut off from the rest of civilisation, but completely self-sufficient. The local Spar was the best supermarket I had visited since leaving Europe, with items that I hadn't seen for over a year. There were allot of people working for the mines and the community in varying capacities, many from South Africa, but also from England. You forget that to make a community like Orapa work, you need not only the people working directly within the mining industry, but also teachers, to teach the children of the families working there, doctors, nurses, the list is endless. It is a self-made community and one that works like clockwork.

We visited the tourist centre for the Diamond Mine and were given an in-depth talk on how the diamonds are sourced, mined and valued. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to organise a trip into one of the mines, which would have been interesting.

We joined other members of the Bush Club that night at one of the picnic areas in the Game Reserve and enjoyed a braai and cold beers under the stars with the odd hyena chuckling in the background.

The next day, we took a drive around the Orapa Game Reserve where we were told that Cheetah's resided. They are however, extremely elusive and are one of the most difficult of the big cats to see. We drove around the Reserve seeing Giraffe, Zebra, Wildebeest, Gazelle and then as we rounded a corner, there sitting straight ahead of us, under a tree was a Cheetah. It saw us and sloped off into the bush,  we stopped and watched it for a while until it disappeared completely. We didn't manage to get a photo as it all happened so quickly, but it was great to see it.

The following day, we had been invited by the Bush Club to join them for a Braai at a Salt Pan about a 40 mins drive away. We stocked up and headed off in convoy with 4 other vehicles. The Salt Pan is quite magnificent and if you chose your time of year carefully, you can quite happily drive around and around its expanse to your hearts delight, which of course is exactly what Neil did - guess who was ushered out to take the photo's.

Only one problem, whilst at the Salt Pan, the engine temperature started to rise. Neil checked the fan and established that the fuse had blown. After much testing, changing around a spaghetti mess of wires he concluded that the fan motor armatures were burning out – Oh joy, out here in the middle of a salt pan surrounded by the Kalahari. Without a fan to cool the engine, Neil reckoned we could make progress if we travelled at the coolest part of the day and kept our road speed up for natural ventilation through radiator, at worst we could turn the heater on full blast.

Whatever we decided would have to wait, for now we were enjoying being at the Salt Pan. Along with the other guys, we made a fire and set up the braai and enjoyed another evening out in the wilds of Botswana. As we sat around the fire, we were very careful to ensure that Chaka always stayed close by, as Hyena's were lurking not far away. We heard of a terribly story of a group of people who were camping out and one of the children had gone to bed in one of the tents. Suddenly, they heard allot of commotion and realised too late that a Hyena had dragged the child from the tent and killed the child. The parents were frantic, but were told by an experienced member of their party, that there was nothing they could do once the Hyena had got hold of the child, other than shoot it. It was a stark reminder that we must respect our surrounding at all times and not take any risks. Neil and I along with another couple, decided to camp there the night, and as the others left and the chatter died down, we were submerged in the sounds of Africa by night.

In the morning, after a lazy start, we set off back to Orapa and took another drive around the Game Reserve. No Cheetah this time. We had decided to stay on a couple more days so that we could speak to the Human Resource personnel on the Monday to see if there were any openings for Engineers at the Mine. We thought we would start to put feelers out as we were nearing the end of our journey and reality would kick in with a bang. However, we were told that there were no vacancies at present and preference went to qualified Botswanan people. I think it was very much a case of who you know or alternatively, to apply outside of Botswana.

I had also been suffering from continued asthma and various swellings, which would suddenly manifest themselves. I had been getting heat lumps over my body since Uganda, 4 months previously and they had continued to come and go during that time. I was taking anti-histamines on a regular basis, which was making me drowsy and I needed to find out exactly what it was that was causing it. Whilst in Orapa, it took a turn for the worse and without warning my lips would suddenly swell to about 4 times the size. Not only was it uncomfortable, to the point where I couldn't talk properly, but it was also very worrying because it seemed to be getting worse. I tried to think of all the things I had eaten or drank, but there didn't seem to be any pattern to it at all. Neil had suffered from Urticaria many years before which is a form of histamine reaction and we thought that maybe that might be it. But what was triggering it. Neil's Urticaria had only completely gone away after having his appendix taken out and I thought that was a bit extreme for me.

We left Orapa and headed NorthWest towards Maun. We were now well inside the Kalahari and with the heat rising and no shade, just dusty savannah, we pushed on, keeping a watchful eye on the temperature gauges. We reached Maun and looked for a place to camp, expecting to pay $10 again at the Audi Camp, only to find a sign saying Sedia Hotel and Camp-site, $1. We couldn't quite believe our eyes and after spending a few hours driving through the Kalahari, we thought it might have been a mirage. But no, it said $1. We pulled in, checked it out and stayed 7 nights. GPS co-ords: 19d57'15''S, 23d28'43''E. It turned out to be a great little find. The camp-site was a pretty dusty patch behind the hotel, but it was a large area with mature trees, good showers/toilets, use of the hotel swimming pool and bar/restaurant and with a liquor store and an Internet Cafe on site. What more could you ask for? As we drove in, who should be there but Benno and Kirsten, the German motorcyclists we had met in Nkhata Bay. They were with a friend of theirs from Kenya called Ilan who was also on a motorbike - a KTM. It was great to see them, and we set up camp alongside theirs and enjoyed many evenings sitting around the campfire, reminiscing about places we had visited and things that had happened along the way. 

Whilst we were there, an Austrian guy called Thomas arrived one day in a standard Discovery 1994 with 200TDI, with virtually no luggage, spares or equipment, just a sleeping bag, a spare tyre, a few bits and pieces of cooking gear and a dog. We got chatting, thinking that with so little gear he must have been travelling around Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. But no, his actual route had been:

Tunisia, Algeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Chad, Cameroon, Gabon, DR Congo, Angola, Namibia and now Botswana.

We couldn't believe it. When we looked at the gear that we had compared to Thomas's it was ludicrous. Did we need it all, we asked ourselves? Thomas had some hair-raising stories to tell of his travels such as the time he was driving through Angola, behind his friend, who was driving a Land Cruiser, when suddenly there was a loud explosion and his friends car was engulfed in flames and smoke. He had hit a land mine. Thomas looked on helpless, sure in his mind that his friend had been killed. But as the flames and smoke died down, he realised that his friend was alive. The land-mine had exploded by the side of the road, triggered by the vehicle passing by and the force of it had blown the side window in and caused damage to that side of the vehicle, throwing it of course and into the vegetation. But his friend was fine, albeit, shocked. He also told us of the dangers of the police in Angola. The ones he met spent most of their evening’s drunk and were a bit trigger happy with the old rifles. He said it was crucial to get on the right side of them otherwise, in a drunken stupor, things may not go your way. Angola is still in a state of civil unrest with warring factions controlling the North and South of the country. A major issue has been US involvement and support of UNITA, with huge financial funding of the regime in conflict with the communist regime of the MPLA and its subsequent support by the USSR. Alongside this was the FNLA who were against a communist take-over of Angola. As you can see, it has been a hot-bed of political, civil and military unrest. Another issue has been the continued exploitation by the US of Angola's oil reserves, which has continued throughout the hostilities.

We hunted around Maun, all it’s garages, scrap yards and car parts stores for an electric fan. The best thing we could find was an 8" diameter unit of an air-conditioning condenser – no chance. We had to make a decision about the fan and contacted Pacet in the UK. They immediately said, 'no problem, we will DHL another one out to you a.s.a.p.' What fantastic service! So, we asked if it could be sent to Maun and after checking with DHL, they confirmed that it would be with us in about 5 days time. This was fine by us, as the campsite was cheap and comfortable and it was nice to relax for a few days.

Maun is the centre of the tourist industry for the north-west corner of Botswana, where you can book flights and boat trips to the Okavango Delta, the largest inland delta in the world and Moremi Wildlife Reserve. The Delta is a maze of lagoons and islands and is full of wildlife. Benno, Kirsten and Ilan decided to take a flight over the Delta and we said we would join them - only one problem, Chaka! We debated various options but realised that a trip was not going to be possible. After their flight, Benno and Kirsten very kindly said that they would look after Chaka while we took a flight, and we set off for the airport to enquire. Unfortunately, there were no available flights that day, so we had to give it up as a no go. It was a shame because the flights are very good and you get a great idea of the magnitude of the Delta. Benno, Kirsten and Ilan were due to leave the next day so we had a last evening together and said that we would no doubt meet up in Grootfontein, Namibia, in a few days time. They were heading towards the Tsodilo Hills to the northwest of Maun before crossing into Namibia.

Packed up and ready to go:

Later that day a coach arrived full of 'slightly more mature' people - I want to be politically correct in describing their age so as not to offend anyone - I would say they were in their late fifties onwards. There must have been around 30 in the party and as they disembarked and raced to find the best spots to pitch their tents, some of which were very close to us, we thought they would be quiet, law-abiding citizens and not like the big overland truck companies who are infamous for their partying and rowdy revellers. Five women were erecting a large tent plus 2 smaller ones next to us and it was carried out with military precision and allot of laughing! Neil and I listened on as they conversed with 2 men who had pitched single tents along side them. I can't repeat some of the things being said and the innuendo's going back and forth, but suffice to say, that when one of the ladies set about blowing the air mattresses up with a foot-pump and the conversation turned to blow-up dolls, I had to cover Chaka and Neil's ears! No sooner had the tents been erected, the wine and beers started flowing. Is this what the over 50's do on holiday? By the time they left 3 days later, we were exhausted through lack of sleep. Each morning they would be up at 6.00am, to have breakfast and board the coach for the day’s activities. Did they get up quietly, thinking about the other campers on the campsite? No! All we heard was, 'morning, how are you today, did you sleep well'? And all said at the top of their voices, laughing and joking as though they were the only campers there. On their last morning, they were up at 5.00am, yes, 5.00am and guess what we were privileged to hear that morning - a man playing an accordion to serenade the others whilst they packed their tents away. Unbelievable. At least they had a good time.

After 5 days, we duly checked in with the DHL office, to find that the package was no where to be seen, nor was it logged onto their system. We called Pacet and found that it was still in the UK. We wanted to move on from Maun, so asked if it could be sent to Grootfontein in Namibia, our next destination and somewhat surprisingly, they said yes. We were surprised because it all seemed too easy. Watch this space!

Sue - enableafrica.net expedition team

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