After such a memorable Delta safari it was somewhat of a shame to return to Maun and seek some attention for my painful back. In Maun there was no chiropractor, but Hilary, from Hilary’s Cafe recommend a physiotherapist and I booked myself in there for a rapid course. Richard, from Zimbabwe turned out to be great and after four treatments both Dad and myself were ready to start travelling again.


In the meantime, we had moved into the excellent Discovery B&B in the north of Maun so I didn't have to set up a tent . This place was run by a Dutch couple, Maria and her husband who had built several traditional thatched houses and added mod cons, plus outside showers. The place was incredibly friendly and extremely comfortable. We also spent most eating times in Hilary’s cafe.


We did also catch up with KG our guide from Savuti who lived in Maun and with Frog several times. After three days we left for Tsodilo Hills. This journey involved skirting the Delta and then heading north alongside what is called the Okavango Panhandle until we reached Tsodilo Hills area, which was on the border with Namibia. I intended to camp at the Tsodilo Hills camp ground, but was quite unprepared for the lack of signage in Maun plus the proliferation of wandering cattle and pot holes, which all conspired to delay us by several hours. Eventually after four hours driving we reached the turn off to the National Park. However, with an hour of daylight remaining and the prospect of another 90 kms on dirt roads (we had been warned about sand on these roads) before we reached the campsite, we both agreed to look for an alternative .


We spotted a sign just after the dirt road entrance proclaiming a luxury tent site at Shekwah Lodge and we headed towards that - not expecting much. We arrived at what was to be one of our best camping experiences on our entire trip. It turned out that Shekwah Lodge had been designed and built to be the top lodge on the Panhandle, with deluxe ablutions, a private bar and kitchen for the campers and various other amenities that are usually just reserved for those staying at the lodge itself. The amount of investment was substantial, but the previous management had obviously not cared a hoot and the poor reviews on trip advisor were testament to this. Two weeks prior to our arrival, Marc and Diane from Belgium (the new management team) arrived to kick the place into shape and we were one of their first clients.


With a campsite on the river banks, next to the “beware of crocodiles” sign, it was a pitch with a view and grass too! dad wanted some shade for his tent, so i felt the shade provided by that sign was adequate . The lodge itself was five star complete with affordable food and a chef from Brescia. Dad and I immediately decided to base ourselves there, rather than the no amenities National Park site in which I had planned to camp at Tsodilo Hills.


Part of Marc’s new strategy to change the clientele (from Botswana Civil Servants on a jolly to sports fishermen and birders) currently frequenting the lodge and this involved hiring a well known local birding guide, Richard. As soon as Dad and I had met him, we had booked two Panhandle excursions.


First things first, and that was to complete our trip to Tsodilo Hills. The road was not half as bad as some of stories the South African guides we had net on route had told us and we completed a successful navigation of the dirt road early in the morning. The problem was what was remaining at the end. Tsodilo Hills is a UNESCO world heritage site and a site of “huge historical and spiritual significance to the whole of Southern Africa”. The five hills at the site are named after a family (mother, father, son etc) and it is the mother that houses some of the regions oldest and most artist rock paintings, some dating back to the “late stone age”. To access these painting you need to walk on a circuit around the Mother Hill with a local guide and herein was the problem . We paid at the gate and completed the last 12 km by car relatively easily arriving at the museum and start of the walking route. The problem was that there were no guides, after the site admissions officer at the gate had told us there were plenty - “waiting”. We visited the interesting museum, but still no one arrived and after an hour I went to look for one. Unfortunately I could only find a pregnant lady watching TV in one of the staff huts. She was unable to offer any solutions.


After we had eaten one of our packed lunches from Hilary’s Cafe, we were about to give up when a VW van arrived in the car park. Josh was from Quebec was travelling solo around Southern Africa and he too was rather put out by the lack of guides. However after a little while he disappeared off back to the local village where the entrance was, only to return with a local lady and soon we were off. My father was pleased we were not camping here, if their standard of tourism facilities matched the camping, but Josh then informed us the campsite was closed anyway . The trek around the huge rock started well with many painting visible, some in great condition and some high up. Animals painted with red soil dye and white ostrich egg paint adorned the rocks, some great, some not so. The lady guide seemed relatively good and Dad kept pace well.


More painting past as we started a slow climb, including whales and penguins (strangely), illustrating trade with the Namibian coast plus a famous dancing group of men in an “excited state”. By now the path was quite steep and Dad managed very well, however the most testing phase was to come - the rapid descent. Actually, unbeknown to either of us the 12 km circuit involved a climb and descent of the 1380m Mother hill. Dad actually coped remarkably well and when we finished he was exhausted.


Tsodilo Hills was interesting, but not perhaps as earth shattering as I had hoped, but worth the effort. Dad slept well that night. The following day was the first of two of our excursions by boat up the Panhandle with Richard. These two trips turned out to be amazingly memorable. After what we had witnessed in the Delta and Savuti, I was not sure whether anything could match those spectacles but over two days these trips certainly did. The first day was the best, where our highlights included close ups of the Giant Kingfisher, the Pied Kingfisher and a Bee Eater colony. We also saw the Goliath Heron, many cormorants and other wading birds. The most memorable bits were the spotting of one of the rarest owls in the world, the almost extinct Pells Fishing Owl. A beautiful creature with gigantic big black eyes and light brown and creamy coloured plumage. We saw two and I was staggered by their size. We also saw plenty of African Fish Eagles, but the key moment was watching two dive down and catch their food. The sound, the speed and rush of wind is something that will stay with me for a long time, as we were not so far away form the action.


On the second day we returned to see Pells Fishing Owl again, this time just spotting one asleep on a brach, high up in a large tree. We also photographed the small beautiful Malachite Kingfisher, watched a Pied Kingfisher attack a Water Monitor as it tried to raid its nest. We also had the unbelievable luxury in seeing a feeding Fish Eagle fish again.


All in all this was spectacular and Richard turned out to be one of the best guides I have ever experienced. At night we started to frequent the camps kitchen when we ran out of Hilary’s food. Most of the time we were the only ones in the camp site, so we could listen to pod casts at night, looking at the lodge’s reflection on the Delta waters. Occasionally and when the satellite TV allowed we watched the World Cup. This was great stay and it was a shame to leave. We wished Marc and Diane all the best, they will have their work cut out as there were obviously several staff issues and management problems to correct, but I hope they succeed.


Finally on the 2nd July we crossed the border into Namibia, and proceeded along the narrow Caprivi belt right up to the border post with Angola and then down into the vast interior of Namibia. I was not expecting much of a difference between the two countries (Namibia & Botswana), and indeed there was little. The roads were somewhat better in Namibia, but the internet even more unreliable. Having entered Namibia at the Caprivi Strip we now had to drive a 600km round route to get a town called Tsumkwe (just some 150 km from Tsodilo Hills as the crow flies) because the roads were only suitable for a 4x4 with good clearance. This round trip was hot, flat and pretty boring, but we made it to Grossfontein in just one day after crossing the border - so that was good.


After such a long trip, we decided to B&B it rather than set up tents and we stumbled on Louis, an Afrikaner and his Stone Cottage guesthouse. This was so welcoming and such good value we quickly forgot our arduous car trip. Louis was ultra friendly and soon had coffee on the boil for us and started to regale us with his theories of “the dinosaurs really co-existed with mankind and many archaeologists know little of what really happened.”  Dad seemed to enjoy this banter, but I had noticed the creationist books on the shelf, so backed out quickly.


With such a wonderfully friendly B&B it was a shock to discover that the internet seemed not to work in the entire town (making the booking of accommodation at Etosha difficult) and that the local cuisine was so dominated by large piles of fried overcooked meat, with chips. Just trying to find anything green was a struggle. My nephew would love it. Any way we soldiered on with the help of another friendly cafe, a ‘Hilary’ style cafe called the Purple Fig.


After a day off trying to organise next week’s visit to Etosha National Park, we set off for Tsumkwe (back on the border with Botswana) and the San tribe Bushmen. En route we did stop off at the Hoba Meteorite, the largest meteorite ever to fall to earth. Nestled in the grounds of a Namibia farm, this large 54,000 kg piece of space was unfortunately rather uninteresting. Dad was puzzled as to why it did not appear to have made any crater with its impact. But rather than debate this with him, I thought I would left him discuss this with his new creationist friends.