Source: www.visual.ly |
Thursday 28 August 2014
Wednesday 27 August 2014
Follow Me Tour: Nata Lodge Overnight
Upon arrival at Nata, I was reminded
that we were going to sleep in a tent. With everything going on, I
had completely forgotten about that part.
It is a permanent fixture, more so than
the usual tent for camping. The tent is erected on a wooden platform.
There are two beds with mosquito nets (an essential for sleep) and a
nice bathroom. But the best of all? The outdoor shower! Man, did I
enjoy that after we had dinner.
Francois took a shower before we had
dinner while I was sorting out my stuff and getting this post
underway. A few minutes later he waltzed in completely out of sorts.
He was already dressed, and smelled
nice and clean, so I wondered what had happened.
He replied with, “if you have a
self-image problem don't take that shower outside.”
I went, “Huh?”
“Yes,” he deadpanned, “those
birds you heard just now? They were laughing at me while I was stark
naked out there.”
I was hysterical. The birds he was
referring to are commonly called katlagters in Afrikaans.
(Minas in English) They literally sound like cats laughing at you. He
just shook his head, but eventually gave out.
Wild animals we saw along the road:
springbuck, warthogs, blesbuck
and kudu.
Birds we saw along the road:
Yellow-billed hornbill, minas,
armour falcon
Follow Me Tour: On the Road
Crossing the Limpopo river between SA and Botswana |
On our way to our overnight stop we drove behind a small
truck with a bull, a cow and a small calf on the back. I don't know
where the people went when they turned off, but I couldn't resist a
few pictures as the animals moved around and upon occasion faced
backwards, right at us.
When I opened my email, Google+ told me
there was a Google+ Awesome picture. Curious, I opened the
application and burst out laughing. I took several pics with my
mobile phone today, but it picked one of the cattle on the back of
the small truck! Awesome indeed :)
And boy are there animals to look out
for when you driving this way. Goats, cattle and donkeys. Yep,
thousands of them, with the number of donkeys only slightly less.
I had fun with Francois' GoPro camera
on the road. He told me to put my mobile phone away and use the
GoPro. I took about ten video clips starting from the border crossing
to Nata Lodge.
We will charge the battery overnight
and then I can play some more tomorrow.
Travel tip #4: Unless you are an
experienced driver on bad roads (read bad potholes and uneven
surfaces) avoid the George's Bridge/Martin's Drift border crossing if
you are driving into Botswana from South Africa. Francois has a 4x4
and is a competent driver, and yet it was not easy to drive on this
road. I would imagine that sedan type vehicle drivers had a nightmare
driving this road today. It can be done, but you need to be extra
careful not to cause damage to the tyres or the car when you drive
too fast for the road conditions. The bad part is about 92 km from
the border crossing to Palapye. Thereafter the road (the A1 main
road) is much better, with only the animals and heavy trucks to look
out for.
Follow Me Tour: We are on our way!
Today, our first day of travel, was a
really long one that started at 3.30am this morning when we woke up.
We left home just after 4am and arrived about twelve hours later at
our overnight destination, Nata Lodge.
While we were still in South Africa we
came across a quaint little place, called Proe-i-Biekie outside
Baltimore. I didn't know we had a town by that name!
We decided to stop and have a belated
breakfast/brunch. The owner, Ina, was very friendly and the food and
coffee very nice too. Imagine our surprise when we saw espresso on
the tiny menu. This type of coffee is seldom available in the remote
rural areas of the country. And I had a chocolate muffin with my
espresso! Francois rolled his eyes at me, but you have to have
chocolate for breakfast at least once in your life, right?
Ina also offers overnight
accommodation, if you are travelling in the Northwest province. She
offered advice on alternative roads to travel to avoid the
frustrating road works we had to deal with that resulted in our trip
taking an additional 45 minutes.
Travel tip #1: Coming from
Johannesburg/Pretoria - if you want to avoid the roadworks on the N11, take the N4
route via Nylstroom, and Melkrivier over Marken to Baltimore. It is
15km longer (about 20 minutes driving time) , but there are no delays
on route. Thank you, Ina!
Travel tip #2: Bring a spare roll of toilet paper with you. Yeah, I know you are laughing, but trust me. The restrooms on the way are clean, and there is running water to wash your hands, but alas, the necessary is a bit lacking at most place we stopped. Nad yes, we had spare :)
Travel tip #3: Hand sanitising wipes, or waterless hand cleaner will be helpful, in case there is no soap in the restrooms. Happened at two of the places.
Tuesday 26 August 2014
Follow Me Tour: Botswana here we come!
Yep, it is time for one of those again! But this time I am not travelling for work, nor am I travelling in my own country. Nope, Francois and I are going on holiday in Botswana, one of our neighbouring countries.
When he came with the idea of going on a Photographic Safari, my first thought was, yeah, so?
You have to understand, he does this ALL the time. A weekend here. A week there. Drakensberg. The Rigtersveld. Clarens. You name it, he has been there, and got the photographs to show for it.
Arching my eyebrows, I had to ask...and?
The succinct reply came, "do you want to go along?"
That was unusual, since he knows how I feel about watching photographers in action. Boring!
But this time will be different - I get to choose and use my own gear too. Surprised? So was I.
To make the pulling teeth exercise short, we are going to Botswana.
He wanted to fly (having received a sizeable bonus from his employer last year) and I said...no. I want to drive.
Sorry, there was no argument, but I won it anyway ;) I have never been to Botswana, and while flying might have been fun, I won't get to see much of the country in the process.
So we are packing our gear: cameras, toothbrushes, fresh underpants, and if there is space left, some more stuff.
Here is your invitation to follow me, while I tour a country I have never been to before, and living the experience with me on this safari!
You can read more about Botswana here.
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