At one with the gentle giants

Saturday, August 20, 2016
Mababe, Botswana


A 7 + hour journey on Saturday along sandy and bumpy terrain from Francistown to Tshaa near the town of Mababe, is not the best part of one's journey to the bush but such conditions sure helps to keep out the hoards who have 2 wheel drive vehicles as well as those who don't enjoy the dust which seeps into every nook and cranny of your car and trailer and dehydrates you like a dried prune bringing on a thirst you just can't seem to quench . Temps outside were 35 deg and at 4pm we were still not in camp no 2. The big question on all seasoned campers minds about pre-booked campsites is , 'what if we get there and someone else is occupying our haloed ground'? 
We had visited this site a year ago on a previous trip to Khwai and after doing a thorough recce and checking ablutions and most importantly shady spots for our trailer/tents etc, we made a bee-line for the staff admin on site to get details for securing an exclusive booking at campsite no 2 for 2016.
Sod's law, and the last thing we needed to see - parked under a very big tree on the prime spot of our campsite - was a lone vehicle and camper trailer with two elderly folk sitting watching the river flow by with not a care in the world while the sun dipped low behind the tree line. Their tranquility was about to be horribly interrupted by four very excitable, hot, thirsty and tired travelers, eager to get the ball rolling with setting up the trailers before sunset.
Seeing the bombshell that was about to explode, the wife ducked away leaving her brave soldier to fight the battle! Boer vs Rooi Nek war was about to unfold!! Terry armed with his booking confirmation let Peter take first stare down with challenging questions in 'die regte taal van Afrikaans' . No way was Mr Boer backing off and no matter what was thrown at him, he was not moving! He had also booked this spot in Maun even though he had no paper trail to prove it. TK jumped into the car and sped off into the dust to find the caretaker.
Jabu, our caretaker for Xanakageia, finally relented that he had offered the couple accommodation at our campsite for 5 days and they were only departing on Monday the 22 Aug but if we wanted an exclusive campsite we could move to no 6 which was empty. On inspection we understood why it was empty - NO Trees = NO Shade!! We hot footed back to the war zone and promptly set up camp, commandeering the fireplace, ablution facility and spreading ourselves and vehicles to form a laager!! Exclusive camping rights to camp no 2 was a bullshit story from Tshaa Main Office and we subsequently had another little hiccup when on 22 Aug our unwanted neighbours departed without another word having passed between us, and low and behold another tour group operator spotted our shady site and tried to park off next to us . Peter and Terry were having none of it and this time the Group Operator had an ear bashing and sped away with his tail between his legs to occupy camp no 1! So the morale of the story is don't believe it when the officials tell you it's a prepaid exclusive campsite for your party - especially when some dollars or Pula changes hands.
 
During our four days and nights in camp no 2 we were surrounded by the gentle giants of the bush who co-exist with humans occupying their space, without aggression. They quietly come and go and one only hears of their presence when they rustle the leaves or put all their weight behind the trunk of a tree to shake the pods to the ground for a tasty treat. 
Never thought I would see Terry lying peacefully in the hammock while not even 5 meters away a male elephant was scuffing the ground but keeping a watchful eye on him. It is an awesome sight to see the force with which one elephant can lean against and shake a huge mature 20 meter camel-thorn tree to drop the pods to the ground without so much as a grunt or a groan .

 Not many of our city slicker friends would have sat quietly in their deck chair watching while a large tusked Ellie just happened to saunter 3 meters behind my chair with iPad on my lap and no where to run!!! Whew nerves of steel and a heart stopping moment for me! To think back to the time at BBC camp in Zim 3 years ago when I bolted into the car at the mere sight of an elephant 20 mtrs away, I have come a long way since those days.
 
G&T's, food and chats about how to keep our ice on the go especially when one bar fridge has packed up and the never ending checking up of solar panels & batteries to keep up with the power demand of our loaded freezers and fridges. Interspersed with the odd naps, leisurely game drives around our area and the heaven of a hot shower to rinse off layers of dust before the guys serve drinks on ice and fairer sex prepare the next meal, is what epitomizes a day in the bush! One can learn to become very lazy in three days and chilling is the name of the game! 
 
So far we have only heard the night calls of the hyena and hippos but the Ellie's have kept us awake by shaking the pods off the camel thorn trees within meters of our beds! Bird life is very active before sunrise and the cacophony of calls is deafening - even the vervet monkeys were allowed to ransack our camp rubbish un-noticed.
 
We have been told we are in for a treat with sightings of cheetah on our forthcoming trip to Kwetsani in Okavango Delta.  







Comments

Malcolm Stewart
2016-08-29

Bloody Vaalies - invading your spot on the river!

Jane Mallett
2016-08-29

What a coincidence - we also had campsite number 2, although I'm glad to say we didn't have to do battle with anyone in order to have it to ourselves! Just shared it with the ellies, as you say - a special spot.

roddelany
2016-08-29

So glad you were able to finally use the spot we all dreamed of! I can imagine the two girls standing in the background fists clenched... And the rest ....ready to do battle. Enjoy the days, fireside, drinks and chatter. Miss you all. Xx

Roger mason
2016-08-30

Awesome Blog, thank you ! See you soon! XXX

2025-02-12

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