When we arrived in Francistown sitting in the front of Miele’s pick up, it was a relief. Dad had contended well with being sandwiched in the front cabin with no air con and no ability to open the window and it must have looked slightly unusual to see Miele’s pick up and winch proceeding up the high street towing my father’s Honda CRV.


Miele took us straight to the garage that Solomon had recommended, neatly hidden behind the vast Francistown Prison . There we met the friendly Brian, the man in charge of the money plus Vint another mechanic. They had a quick look over the engine and then gave us a very reasonable bill for the tow. We then found out that it was a public holiday in Botswana and Miele had come down to Palapye to pick us up. We were impressed and not only that, but there was no holiday surcharge and then Miele lent us another pick up to use in the area. Very kind. It was obvious we were not going to achieve anything so we drove back into Francistown and checked into the Diggers Inn.


The next morning we were up early to extend that ruddy tourist visa that uncooperative woman on the border had given us. The reputation of visa extensions and in particular the Francistown Immigration office had, lead us to leave to queue at 7.00am. When we eventually arrived, there was already a queue down the main street and it looked as if we would be late to meet Miele . We had to sign our names onto a piece of paper which appeared to form the queue and we eventually entered the building with everyone else and climbed up the stairs to the waiting room on the top floor. There was about 100 of us crammed in there and I wondered what this would be like in the summer with the reported 45C temperatures. We sat down with everyone else and the large manageress came into the room. She spoke in Setswana and everyone stood up and suddenly the woman next to me broke into song. After a while, the rest of the room joined in as well in a sort of Gospel Music sort of way. I guessed it was a hymn. It was very impressive. When the singer had finished the manageress asked (this time in English) for a speaker to say a prayer, and another lady stepped forward. After an abridged version of the Lord’s Prayer she asked everyone to treat the staff as individuals and not to get angry with them. I wondered whether this strategy would help at Heathrow. Then everyone waited for the Manageress to leave and then rushed up to the counters. I headed for the Manageress, who immediately allowed me to jump the queue (lucky). Just one hour later we had our extensions for another seven days.


Back at the mechanics, we encountered the same problems as we had before. No fan belts that fitted and a realisation that we needed a new compressor. Of course, here lay the real problem, the lack of Honda parts in Botswana . After a long search and help (again) from Nicholas looking in Gaborone (as he had now returned home), we realised we would have to get the part from South Africa. It was also now after 5.00pm on friday, so it was clear that we could not do anything until Monday.


Miele again came up trumps and said we could take his pick up north to Nata and the Nata Bird Sanctuary, so we could see something a bit more exciting than the city of Francistown. We spent the rest of the friday night getting ready and transferring our gear to the pick up and we left after breakfast on the following day.


The Nata Lodge was on the edge of the Nata Salt Pans, some 150 kms north of Francistown on the way to (yet some 400 kms south) Kesane in the Chobe National park. The lodge was really in the middle of nowhere next to the sanctuary and the salt pans, on a sandy bank with a few trees. We were camping so we could make use of the luxury facilities (like pool and internet). The weekend was relaxed and we went to the Nata Bird Sanctuary and explored the local area for birdlife. We did not see too much as the rains this year had been huge, so the salt Pans were inaccessible and the birdlife had avoided the area as there was too much water everywhere.


We did manage to see some pelicans, herons, hornbills, storks, kingfishers and a Kori Bustard amongst others. Also I glimpsed my first Wildebeest. On the Monday we set about organising the part from South Africa which were shocked to find out would take a further four working days. We put our feet up at the Lodge, chatting with the friendly staff and visitors including a very interesting guide from SA called Douwe Vlok who gave us plenty of pointers for the rest of the trip.
Eventually DHL came up trumps and the part arrived in Botswana late on Wednesday. We left to return to Francistown to pick it up on Thursday morning. This time we stayed at a B&B with a local lady, which made a nice change from the last few days. We again had to get up early on the Thursday morning to return to that same Immigration Office for our second extension where we were greeted as old friends and granted another seven days in just 20 mins - surely a record.


The mechanics soon had the new part installed and we were able to leave Francistown. This whole episode could have been much worse than it was and the people we met were so friendly in both Francistown and Nata. However it was back on the open road again heading to Elephant Sands.


Elephant Sands is some 40 minutes north of Nata on the way to the Zimbabwean border. Douwe Vlok had recommended it and it appeared an ideal place where we could break the journey. Once we had passed Nata, the terrain became more sandy bush like. Evidence of Elephants was everywhere including ominous signs that said “Wild animals frequent this area, stopping places yourself and those with you at risk.”  “Good,” I thought, now we appear to be in the right place.


Elephant Sands was a glorified campsite just a kilometre away from the main road. It had several chalets (some under construction) surrounding a waterhole, plus a bar/pub and a swimming pool set almost next to the waterhole on a raised concrete platform. It was very sandy around the campsite with few trees offering little protection from the howling winds. Certainly not as luxurious as the Nata Lodge, but we were here for the elephants. None were there as we arrived, checked in and struggled to put up the tenet in the wind. I was actually concerned my father’s might blow away, so I decided it was best to ply him with beer so he would not notice.


As the sun sank behind the horizon, there was still no sign of the elephants. The temperature plummeted and it became apparent that the wood fired water heater would not be sufficient for a hot shower. “Its not the Ritz - is it?” my father remarked to other travellers who seemed more interested in the alcohol that the animals. The birds however were prolific, including some beautiful Hornbills.


Sitting on the patio of the bar at night we did see some elephants finally emerging from the darkness. They accessed the waterhole right through the campsite. Majestic and serene in the darkness, we were visited by both large herds and individuals over the course of the evening. Many of the clients were treating this like a circus, running close to the animals to have their photos taken, using cell phones and getting quite drunk. It was all sad and quite surreal.


At night in the tents you could hear the elephants in the campsite and close to the tents. As this was also lion country it made the midnight dash to the ablutions quite exciting. The wind howled all night.


The next day as many of the guests slept off their hangovers I managed to get some nice photos of the birds. Breakfast was cold and windy and Dad seemed pleased to pack up and leave on our six hour journey to Victoria Falls and the Zimbabwe border.


It was though fabulous to see the elephants, despite the circus, however I was convinced there would be many more sightings to come.