Francistown to Tuli Game Reserve (Botswana)
Huddled around the toaster for our outside breakfast this morning at 7am. Any warmth was appreciated on this cold morning. I was huddled into my hot water bottle to chase away the chill. Was a perfect night's sleep though in this beautiful woodlands cabin. The deeply religious 3 generation background was evident everywhere in the camp with prayers and motivational phrases covering the walls and doors.
A lovely parkland setting, with watered lawns and gardens. The park was busy with families and children and our loquaciious South African neighbour was out to wish us farewell and safe travels.
Not much enthusiasm for the cram in the #BlueBox this morning with a 310 k trek across predictably rough roads, with lunch on the run and bushie bushie stops. Bit the bullet, because of the knowledge, was that at the end was two days in the one camp. Yippee.
TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS:
Had our introduction to Francistown which in 1869 saw the first official gold rush in southern Africa. Somehow people around the world heard and rushed for their chance at a fortune. Robert Moffatt brought religion and books and education. Almost 100 years later it was declared a city with 100 000 people. Lots of cobalt and nickle mining here and plenty of trade and business in evidence.
An interesting place - graves covered in concrete to prevent theft of bones and coffins; an International airport that only flies to limited international destinations; and a 25 000 seat stadium which was closed immediately after opening because stands were unstable; proliferation of free traders with their small buildings selling goods and services. Also called FatCake city - named after a small cake cooked in oil.
Pulled up in Francistown behind the mobile alcohol testing van and scooted in to get lunch. Big find here was the seasoning that @Louis had used on the braai last night - I bought two boxes to take home.
Robots (traffic lights), markets, stalls, big transport vehicles. It was a busy Monday morning in "F-Town" or "Town" as the locals refer to it. Also home to a university and an academic hospital. @IT shared that the government pays for your tuition, however, if you fail a module you have to pay for it yourself. Fingers cross @IT has educational aspirations for his newly born, two-month-old son, @Austin.
Buildings, roads and general infrastructure all very western and modern in Francistown.
The big news in the #BlueBox this morning was it was SNOWING in Johannesburg- we were all traumatised by the cold at Willow Inn on our first night and do not want to endure another one even colder. Just checked that we had wood on board that we could take with us - might all be sleeping together huddled around the fire in the shared lounge area.
Passed over the Shesha River (still dry sandy tract) again and went through the farming village of Tonatha (translates to old people possess the great wisdom - ha ha, that would be us) where the village is supported by pumping water from underground. Five villages joined here to form this large town on the highway crossroad. Pulled over at roadside stall to try a bag of FatCakes at the grand price of one pula each. Have to agree with @Roz - they were yummy. We were on the hunt for more.
The mopane trees where thick here and, as the story goes, during the summer months, the worms can be heard "munching in the trees" and actually wriggle and squirm their way across the road. And are actually harvested and sold. The worms, when left uncaptured, turn into a beautiful big brown moth.
Passed through Seruli, home to 3 000 people, right on the rail line. It is also the site of the only uranium mine in Botswana and is owned by the Chinese. Labour for the mine here is all Chinese - the African labour force is too expensive! Can you believe that given that the minimum wage here is something like 1500 pulas a month - less that AUD $200.
By 10.30 we passed through @IT's hometown of Selibe Phikwe complete with a fire station, secondary school and students out playing volleyball. Again, a mining town with housing built right on the edge of the road and up to the mine's gate. @Louis noted that the huts were all constructed with asbestos roofing.
Pulled into the Cresta Hotel and @Louis talked his way through the boom gate so we could use the toilet facilities (a poshie poshie) and get a coffee. Gosh, it's still cold outside.. It was also a casino - but no time for an investigation of that little space.
Took advantage of the service station here to get "clean" petrol and then another 160 km to go. Each member of The Crew has taken a little time out to close their eyes - the bitumen road has been exceptional so far - no doubt thanks to the mining interests.
Took our one turnoff at Bobonong, complete with speed bumps but no FatCkaes for @Roz, which signalled 70 kms to go so it was time to attack the bus lunch so we had room for the anticipated "high tea" when we arrived at the lodge.
Huge dam for mining and agriculture just appeared in the middle of nowhere. The wall of Thune Dam 1.7 kms long and drains from 54 metre high and completed in 2014. Businesses can buy water rights to access water and of course, it had totally changed the way the vegetation in the area looks.
Crossed the electrified fence onto the Tuli Block at 1 pm amd were immediately on the lookout for one of the 18 000 privately managed elephants in this park. First sighting was of an impala in mad pursuit of his female - it's rutting season!
Tuli Block, between10 and 20 kms wide and 350 kms long, is a privately owned, unfenced wilderness and home 3 of the ig5 - no buffalo because of the risk of foot and myoth and no rhino because of danger of poachers. It was our home for two nights. Here we are again in one of the last true wilderness areas of southern Africa and will share our camp location with whatever decides to wander through.
Last 10 k of the road was red rock and sand and in some of the higher sections we could see the green trees marking the course of the Limpopo River and the border of South Africa. In fact, as the crow flies, tonight's camp was only 50 kms from our camp in Motopos that we visited 3 weeks ago. We are very close to completing our circular loop of Botswana and our return to South Africa.
The #BlueBox and trailer was scrapping bottom on the trail onto Serolo - we thought we weren't going to make it and were reluctant to even contemplate getting out to lighten the load or heaven forbid push!
We were welcomed into Serolo by @Joe who asked to stay on the paths in this open camp, to always travel in pairs in the daylight and after dark to be accompanied by one of the staff. Lions, elephants and leopards share the camp and frequent the waterhole and even the swimming pool. There was a Claxton horn in each cabin which could be sounded in an emergency and @Joe was armed. Not sure if this relaxes or terrifies - but we just follow the rules. The sandy pathways and surrounds are raked each day so that @Joe can use the "bush newspaper" to see who and what has dropped by.
Again, an impressive set up in the tent - huge space with ensuite bathroom, oodles of storage and a fridge.
The rhythm of the day here is a little different with meals offered to support the timetable of game drives. Guests are offered a 6 am cereal, fruit and rusks with tea and coffee amd then a "cooked" brunch at 10.30, a substantial high tea before the evening drive and then dinner at 7.30 on return. We arrived in time for 3 pm high tea followed by a game drive till 7 and then dinner.
We were rugged up and ready for our evening game drive. Someone should have twigged that the temperature had dropped dramatically and the wind had picked up. An open safari vehicle on a day with a maximum of 11 and a breeze is not all its cracked up to be - we were FREEZING and I mean BLOODY FREEZING. Still not sure how @Louis does this in shorts - because the crew was frozen.
But we kept our eyes open and ears peeled, while trying to control chatteri g teeth and shivering linbs, and were rewarded with a feeding pride of lions - they were on the other side of the sandy river basin and were sharing the spoils of the fallen wildebeest.
There were three vehicles cruising the area and were relaying information back and forwards and even with these multiple sets of eyes the leopards, cheetah and brown hyenas were not spotted.
@Joe took us over all sorts of terrain and the open top land Rover never complained. Rutted tracks, narrow passes through mopane, down the steep sides of riverbanks and desperate crawls up the other side were combined with rocking and jerking descents and ascents of rocky passes. A rough ride that required you to hold on with both hands and to curl your toes around whatever was available.
We took a ride along the banks of the Limpopo and gazed at the crocs guarding rhe sand banks and were not tempted to cross to the nearby shore of South Africa. Even heard the loud crack of a Gunshot from the game park across the river. The single shot perhaps indicating a direct kill. @Joe told us that the elephants swim the river at night to browse and then return in the morning to the safety of Botswana.
We easily found all the usual suspects and loads of birds. Continued with new snippets of information that both @Joe and @Louis shared but as the sun and the temperature dropped our optimism seemed to dissipate.
Next it was time for spotlights to came out for an 'in the dark' hunt for the tell-tale glow of the lions, leopards and cheetahs. But this successful spotting continues to elude us and chilled to the bone we made our way back to camp and the warmth of the fire.
All meals here are served outdoors. @Kennedy and the kitchen team had the white tablecloths out on the long table, set underneath the expansive jackalberry tree. Not sure we were "in love" with the experience and could barely cut our food because of our misshapen bodies in our oompa loompa layers. Gobbled down dinner in the cold cold cold and then scurried to the sanctity of our tents escorted of course by @Joe.
They were surprisingly warm and each bed was turned down and deep under the heavy covers was the fastest hot water bottle. Snug in thermals and PJs wrapped around the hottie, we didn't let ourselves even contemplate the dawn drive of tomorrow - instead, treated ourselves to generous lashing of an African Cream Coffee . Warmed at last, inside and out. And with the grating sawing sound of the leopard in the background, we didn't need to be reminded to stay inside the tent.
Accommodation:Serolo Game Reserve
Wildlife Spotting:
Pink periwinkle: leaves ground and steeped in water as relief from pneumonia
Southern white crowned shrike: prolific birds nests concentrated on one side if tree out of wind
Kalahari Apple Leaf: used for diarrhoea, rheumatism
Water buck: white ring painted on rump
Corrie bustard
Jackal
Impala: mating season, listen for the noise
Red Crested Khooran
Kudu
Porcupine quill , no porcupine
Lilac Crested roller
Elephants
Squirrel
Spur fowl: calls early in the morning
Emerald spotted wood dove
Crocodile
Crested barbet : spots - interesting call- special air SACS next to lungs
Eland
Klipspringer
Baboon
Mongoose
Guinea fowl
Apple Leaf tree: white bark
Burchell's starling
Warthog
Domesticated animals
Goats
Donkeys
Cows
Oh wow!! Thank goodness you didn't have to use that megaphone!!!...xxx
ReplyDeleteOmgosh. Cold. More cold, long rough drives, bush toilets 😱😱 I’d last two days. You’re a tougher woman than me. Hope you’re still having fun.
ReplyDelete