Safari Day 17: Leaving the bush and rejoining civilisation

Moremi to Maun (Botswana)

So that's what you get for being cocky. Woke up at 12:15 am to a silent tent. I mean absolutely quiet. The gentle whisper of @Mac's machine was absent. And I couldn't hear a sound from @Mac either. Madly sought my torch and was relieved to see a lump on his stretcher. Our excitement at the 4 blue lights on the battery was short lived. It died at 11.30 pm after just 3 hours rather than its expected 16 hours of life. A very long night for @Mac who stirred awake abouto every 60 to 90 seconds. 

It was almost a relief to for him to have an excuse to get out of bed at 6:30 for a final pack up and breakfast. Hot delights served with a smile and shared nighttime adventures including an elephant free camp site. That extra fire worked a treat.

Getting ready for "fond farewells"

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS:

All too soon it was time to say farewell to @Joseph and @OT who were so generous with their laughs and hugs. Everyone got the big bear hug and @Joseph topped it off with a second round with each of the ladies by lifting them off the ground and taking them air borne in a joyous circle. These guys exude happiness - they are thoughtful and kind and have on every day made the effort to join in conversation and to make connections in the group.

Absolute characters! Go @Del

When I talked with @Joseph this morning he expressed his sadness that he meets new people and then they move on. I try to reassure him by saying his next group of "new" friends would arrive in a couple of day. His response 'You are not new friends, you are now family." Accompanied by another big hug and his reassuring pat on my back. Definitely, as @Jude had included in her itinerary blurb, long term memories and fond farewells.

Last morning in camp

In the vehicle with all our gear on board and on our last game drive at 7.45. Headed straight to the river and encountered lots of familiars in the water under the clearest of blue skies in extremely chilled conditions - cold enough for @Shimmy to be wearing long pants.

We have learnt so much on our drives with @Shimmy. He is extremely supportive and has explained to us that our drives are a game that we can all play. He encourages us to spot and guess the animal, celebrates when we spot something elusive, laughs warmly at our tree stump fails and provides a new little detail to help us distinguish each animal. This morning it was the detail around the paw prints of the lion and the differences between the male and female pad. Yesterday it was the differences between male and female elephants that didn't involve smelling and tasting dung. We are such novices in comparison with his lifetime of experience, but he takes great pleasure in our small steps towards a growing understanding.

Not much in the way of "roads"

The trees are perpetually twisted and gnarled - so much so that no two trees are the same shape. The elephants just savage them - scrape the bark off the trunks, strip the leaves off in a delicate motion and crack limbs of all sizes. Some survive - some don't but it seems that the cracking destruction by the elephant is an essential for the continuity of this ecosystem.

Cats and dogs. Cats and dogs. Cats and dogs. That's what we wanted to see but I can assure you, it was not raining cats and dogs here today. No luck at all. 

First stop was back at the entry gate for a toilet stop and a check in with the other guides on possible sightings. Armed with not much positive news. we continued to prowl the park until 11am before a final tea and coffee stop and bushie bushie under @Shimmy's watch. Reluctantly, we had to concede, it was time to give up on those cats and dogs and to give thanks for all the sightings we had made and to head to the Southgate, lunch and then to Maun.

We were now headed towards the Southgate for a last sweep and then exit from the park. Interesting as we progressed, the mopane tree got taller and less mangled, the undergrowth thickened and the piles of elephant dung became almost non-existent.

We kept pushing forward because now we were on the hunt for our "two legged animals" for the lunch meetup. There was not much spotting going on along this corrugated track and as rough as it was some of The Crew caught a few zzzzs, no doubt dreaming of hot showers, clean clothes, a rendezvous with @Louis and some connection with family and the outside world. 

The day warmed up for the trip but we were all still rugged up in layers in the middle of the day to accommodate the wind chill factor in the open vehicle as the speed increased.

Hit the gate around 1 pm and after our hot breakfast and then our waterside morning g tea we voted unanimously to push on to get to Maun and the showers. Made it a quick stop, got up close with the elephants and had a good laugh at the protection of the solar panels from the elephants. Had 99 kms to cover and @Shimmy estimated 3.5 hours to get there. That's Africa.

Toilet block with protection from the elephants

There was a lineup of 9 vehicles to get into the park and we were passed by car after car heading in the direction of the park. Noted cameras that were intermittently posted along the road as part of the wild dog research tracking program and on the corrugated corridor spotted occasional elephant, giraffe, impala and warthog. Although few and far between now, certainly more prolific than @Roz's tale of her trip to the Kimberley where she spotted a single cow on the 300 km drive.

@OT and @Joseph caught up with us at 2:30 for the essential lunch stop on what @Shimmy had described as "the highway to hell." Given the estimated 3.5 hours to cover 100 ks, this road may have been ACDC's inspiration (@Steve from the back row chirped "I need a kidney belt, " @Del joined with "I"m glad I found my bra" and @Tom "Bring on the shower and bar."

 @OT and @Joseph had chased us for kms for this precious meetup - right after the isolated and dusty veterinary check point where we had to step in the disinfectant. 

Lunch was unpacked from the "basket" and set up on the grill with some ceremony. Even the lid was elegantly lifted with a flourish, and it was certainly a carnivore's delight - tempered with a smattering of freshly chopped onion and a side of baked beans. Add to that "Africa-fresh" bread rolls, margarine and @Roz's missing assortment of chips and lunch was served. @OT even had a 20-litre jerry can of water which he poured on our hands so that we could be germ free. This was all enjoyed with the vehicles pulled randomly across the "highway to hell" as vehicles travelling in the opposite direction provided liberal layers of dust to our creatively constructed chip rolls.  You couldn't ask for better. That's Africa!

Hand hygiene is always important

A carnivore's delight and chippie alternate

Two hours later and it was still 40 km to Maun and the "highway to hell" speed limit was displayed as 60 kph - not sure we have reached that and had started to think that the Kalahari Ferrari Donkey cart had a better chance. Passed through villages with fenced off cattle yards and pig pens and we were getting back into the territory of Mac's Domestic Three. 

60 kph - I wish - and just like that there was bitumen

Still smiling - a little wind burnt and with safari blow wave

Noticed power lines running parallel to the road but no evidence of it being relayed into any house. No prizes for guessing what the priority use of any power or water provision would be.

@Shimmy found @Gill a special bushie bushie stop and @Mac serenaded her with his version of "Yellow River" by I.P. Daily. Put the front windscreen up and hit the bitumen!. Queue loud cheering here!

Pulled into the impressive circular driveway of Maun Lodge and were relieved to spot @Louis's welcoming smile and query of "How was the bush?" and were pleased to see he had made it (got a ride with a friend who had an empty vehicle) and had a "plan."

We definitely stood out as unshaven and unwashed - and we probably were a little on the nose.

Hugs and thank yous all round to @Shimmy and we were bustled into the foyer and greeted with warm face clothes and a shoe cleaner. It was heads down here because the foyer's grandeur and the immaculate presentation of staff (that included tails and waistcoats) served to highlight that we were a stinky rabble, fresh from the limited clean clothes options and showers of our bush stay.

Paperwork complete we were reunited with our luggage (@Louis had done a pretty good job of resorting to the right rooms and all was accounted for and in tact) and reacquainted ourselves with electricity, flushing toilets and hot showers. The dirt just flowed down the plug hole in a mess of swirling brown, hair was washed (and blow dried with an appliance rather than the open safari vehicle) and clean non campfire clothes were accessed. Felt like a million dollars.

Back in civilisation we had access to WiFi and used the opportunity to catch up with family and home and to check the state of affairs, the balances and even brought up the Ring doorbell to check in on home. Had to leave time to liberally apply the insect repellent cause there are lots of mozzies here and apparently, they are "big" ones. Survived our encounters with lions and elephants in the bush, certainly don't want to succumb to the little buggers in the luxury of Maun Lodge.

A different dining experience back in civilisation

Regrouped for drinks and a buffet dinner at The Boma (complete with a sandy floor area with campfire - no elephants or lions though) and laughed our way through recaps of the bush experience and @Loius's fishing adventure and reviewed tomorrow's plans while sampling some traditional African fare including warthog and pap.

Have no idea how @Mac still had his eyes open but I do know that all lights were restored to normal on the battery and we had a clear run on the zzzzzs without dramas - if there were lions fighting or elephants feeding in the hallways, we were blissfully unaware.

Accommodation: Maun Lodge

Wildlife Spotting:

Warthog - watched me on the loo in camp this morning - won't he have stories to tell

Kudu

Road runner

Drongo

Zebra

Giraffe

Elephant

Impala

African whohoo (?) Very tidy bird in the nest - brown head, striped back

Warthog - we ate it later in the night!

Red lechwe: animal of the swamp. Splayed hoof for mud running

Banded mongoose

Dwarf mongoose

Saddle billed stork

Squirrel 

Bee eater

Short tailed eagle - battelier 

Domesticated animals

Goats

Cows

Chicken

Pigs

Dogs - sitting in dirt in the middle of the road - unmoving

Google Maps Day 17: search reports there is no road !