Monday, August 8, 2016

Third Bridge Campground, Moremi National Park, Botswana

Our last full day here at Third Bridge

Josh and I went on another game drive, this time we had the car to ourselves. We saw lots of birds, impala and buffalo.

Then, we saw a group of game drive cars in a clump of trees and went to investigate. It was a young leopard.  We parked almost directly under it:

Another good morning.

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Third Bridge Campground, Moremi National Park, Botswana

I've decided that my tiredness is dehydration and am drinking lots more water. I'm feeling much better.

We took a game drive this morning. That's where a bunch of people pile into an open car and a guide drives us around looking for wildlife.

Today we saw a pack of wild dogs that had just killed an impala. The guide said they were the same ones that came through the campground 2 nights ago. We were just 50 feet from them.

Then, we went off in search of something else. We found a lion. It was stalking some warthogs from deep grass and then moved out into the open:

The warthogs moved away, so she moved on. We followed her and, after another failed stalk, she was just walking down the track with several cars following. At one point, we got so close that I couldn't see her feet because the hood of the car was in the way:

The shadow on the left side of the picture is from another car. It was maybe 20 feet away from the lion.

It was a good morning.

The rest of the day was spent around camp watching the birds attack the mirrors on the campers and copying files from cameras.

Saturday, August 6, 2016

Third Bridge Campground, Moremi National Park, Botswana

It was a slow day with some excitement. I was very tired, so I stayed in camp while Josh took a boat ride to see wildlife. While he was gone, I had an adventure.

I had finished filing my beanbag with rice when I heard a noise on the other side of the camper. One of the compartment doors was open and a baboon was rummaging around in it. I shoo'ed him away and he ran around the camper, went straight for the table, grabbed the other bag of rice and ran away with it.

We were visited by all sorts of birds:

Friday, September 5, 2016

Third Bridge Campground, Moremi National Park, Botswana

Map

It was a hard day.

We left Drifters and headed back into Maun for some supplies we had forgotten and then started for our next campsite – Third Bridge in Moremi National Park. This is in the heart of the Okavango Delta.

It was a hard drive. The first part was OK – pavement. About 15 miles outside of town, the pavement ended and we were on a sandy road. It was very wide, but the center was very washboardy and the edges were deep sand. 30 mph was about the best we could do. This went on for another 20 miles or so when we got to the park entrance. After paying our entrance fee and having lunch, the real driving began.

The next 30 miles or so was spent mostly in 2^nd gear. We would get in deep sand and then it would improve to a hard packed surface. It was always bumpy. We nearly got stuck several times. 15 mph was about our average. The maps had the road going directly to the campground, but there were many forks and other roads. Several wrong turns were made. We did see wildlife, though:

And, too far to photograph were zebra and a crocodile.

Around 4:00, we made it to the campground and got set up.

We hadn't been there long when, from behind some trees came a wild dog, and then several more. They went right past the edge of our campsite. We scrambled to get the cameras and managed a few photos:

Later, an elephant and her baby went through the next campsite:

Finally, just as it was getting dark, baboons climbed the trees in our site.

Safe to say, we're not in Kansas anymore.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Maun, Botswana

Today was a travel day. We left Ath's house at around 7:30 and got stuck in rush hour traffic. It took around 2 hours to get to the airport. The plane left at 11:45 and we arrived in Maun around 1:15 with no trouble.

We were met at the airport by the Bushlore people who we had rented the campers from. They went over how to work things and dealt with the insurance. After finalizing how we were to return them when the trip was over, we were on our own.

We found a grocery store and, after stocking up, went to our first camping place – a resort outside of town. After making a wrong turn and getting the GPS out, we made it.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Johannesburg, South Africa

After a 15 hour flight from Atlanta, I made it here. I arrived after dark yesterday and, except for the line at customs, the airport was pretty deserted. I got some cash from an ATM and got a taxi to the house of Josh's friend, Athele. It was pretty much get acquainted and off to bed.

The house is in a fairly well-to-do neighborhood. All have gates and fences with spikes on top. The windows are all barred. It all seems to be very security conscious. The back yard borders a small stream. Athele puts out fruit for the birds and some showed up:

This morning we went to a botanical garden. It was full of exotic african plants and birds:

There is a waterfall with 2 eagle nests in the cliff face.

We climbed the trail to the top of the falls and waited. We were rewarded with quick glimpses of the eagles leaving.

Then it was lunch and over to a bird hide on a small pond in the gardens. There were ducks and African darter also called the snake bird.

Tomorrow we fly to Maun, Botswanna and pick up the campers.  I don't know when the next update will be.  Probably not for 10 days until we get to Victoria Falls.

July 14, 2016

It's just over 2 weeks before I leave. Lots has been done to get ready and most of my questions have been answered.

The details around Johannesburg have been worked out. I'm leaving here on August 1, arriving in Johannesburg on the 2^nd. Josh will be arriving a few days earlier and staying with a friend. I'll stay there for 2 nights and, on the 4^th, we'll both fly to Maun and pick up the campers.

The trip will end with us staying with Josh's friend on September 17, return the camper on the 18^th and fly home, arriving on the 19^th.

I've gotten the first stage of the vaccinations and get the second stage a week before I leave.  They also prescribed anti-malaria pills and some antibiotics in case something happens. 

The campers and plane tickets have been fully paid for.

I've got the camera gear decided on. I bought a new body and a new lens.

I've got maps on the computer and GPSs and paper maps.

For water safety, I've gotten a filter system and purification tablets.

All of my stuff will work on 220V and I've gotten the proper adapters.  I'm taking both the laptop and tablet.  The tablet is mainly for videos and such for the long flights.

Visas are bought at the border.

For now, it's practice with the new camera and wait.