The sun rose brightly on what was quite a chilly morning. But as always in Africa, the sun quickly warmed us and the day promised to be pleasantly hot. Stephen and I were up early and after a quick breakfast we headed for the waterhole. Giraffe were approaching and two jackal were stalking a small potential meal, but a vehicle from the Leopard Research team stopped and the giraffe turned back when a couple of fellows got out. When Paul and Petra arrived, all was quiet at the waterhole.

It was now time to head north. Soon we passed the board announcing that we were now in the real Central Kalahari Game Reserve. We decided to not turn off to the various campsites, but kept going. The narrow track alternatively led through thick bush and pans mostly covered with tall grass. The Troopys started to get their first scratches and at this stage it still made us cringe! This really made us feel like pioneers. We enjoyed morning coffee at one of the campsites along the way. Soon after this we found a full solar shower lying in track (a black storage bladder with a hose and a tap to put on the roof of the vehicle to warm up - simple technology!) Some unfortunately lady was not going to enjoy a shower for a few days! We picked it up and kept going on the narrow track. At times the bush was so thick, it was like driving though a green and very scratchy tunnel. Very fresh elephant spoor as well as fresh dung appeared on the track and we also saw lion spoor. The animals were there, but we just could not see them. We passed the Gugamma San settlement which seemed to be deserted. It was now getting pretty hot and it took us a while to find a suitable spot on the track which was also in the shade for a lunch stop. Further on we got lost at the Bape settlement, but the residents showed us the way and seemed very friendly, although some kids had obviously been spoilt by tourists handing out sweets. The huts were still made from natural materials and these San were obviously still living close to nature and some of their old ways, but there were water tanks and everyone was dressed in normal, but ragged clothes. They had cows and goats and plenty of chickens. It was these animal tracks that had obscured the bypass turnoff, as we had found so often before. Hunting was a thing of the past, yet these small settlements were a remnant of early life in the Kalahari and the people were the ones that refused to leave when the Botswana government tried to get them all to leave the Central Kalahari. With Ssyril now in front and back on the main track we made a couple of stops and then arrived at our gorgeous Bape campsite at about 16h00. It was a lovely site with wide views around us. We looked around and and were surprised that there were no facilities whatsoever and it was wonderfully wild. We got our customary fire going and since it was still early and warm we enjoyed a shower, using our recently found camp shower. It worked very well and we said thank you to the unfortunates who had lost it. (It also provided us with almost 20 l of extra washing water). There had been some very negative reports on Bape, but this would be one of our favourite campsites. We braaied our Lobatse wors (sausage) and spent time enjoying the stars and the absolute silence. The almost full moon was very bright, and it was very special to be able to sit around the fire watching the flames. It wasn’t very cold – this would come later – and we turned in at about 22h30. Stephen saw a jackal almost face to face before he came to bed, but animal sounds were strangely absent.

Geschreven door Leartravels