Botswana and home

The more observant reader may notice from the date that we are home in Lusaka - yep, arrived a day early, late thursday night, motivated by worry over the dogs and Phiri's comment about Yogi being sick. He's fine.

We took Steve to the airport in Windhoek, where we spent only one night stocking up for the days in Bostwana - sorry to lose Steve's companionship, intresting insites, and amazing bird-spotting camera!

From Windhoek we headed straight for the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Maun is the entry point town - YUCK! has all the essentials but no personality, wicked expensive and run down. It is, however, a great place to spot Mma Ramotswe - a traditionally built African woman in her oddly victorian traditional attire. We saw this kind of outfit all over town!

In order to drive through Moremi Park and then on through Chobe you have to get entry permits at the park authority in Maun, but they won't issue them until you show reservations somewhere within the park. This reservation system is usually done online in advance, so they aren't set up for walk ins! this means running back and forth all over town in traffic, and of course, everyone is closed between 12 and 2 for lunch!! Could cause even the most centered zen master to lose his/her temper! Finally got it all sorted and found a place to camp that was quiet and cheap and actually had an interesting view of the water. It also had a bar - all the essentials!

while the government booking agents said you could traverse Chobe in a day no problem, the locals laughed at the idea and said it was at least a 2 day drive. none of the places in the middle had openings for campers so of course we pushed on through. The road was CRAZY!! it was a slolom of deep sand, huge road filling puddles of unknown depths with gooey sticky mud bottoms and we were the only ones on it so a tow was unlikely!

I figured that we'd regret blasting through without looking for animals but I was wrong - the track was really narrow and overgrown, so there wasn't alot of viewing to do unless you got off and wandered around, but we still say lots of elephants, mongooses, impala, red lechwe and baboons - and we finally got to see a giraffe!. we really needed Steve's camera for all the birds we spotted! Oh - we saw the African Hoophoe!!!  

Molemi park was nice - we got a spot at the almost empty government campsite there - cold water ablutions and no services, but really quiet. we were TOTALLY surrounded by baboons sleeping in the trees around us!! Strangely, they gave us no trouble at all, never nosed around our dinner - of course it was dark by then and they stayed up in the trees away from our fire. They were really stinky though!! by morning the camp was thoroughly pooped up - apparently the staff sweeps it daily to make it look nice!!

We took a short canoe trip through the swamps - saw red lechwe, the malachite kingfisher, and several cool frogs.

The drive through Chobe was pretty cool. Saw large herds of ellies...

and made a cool river crossing...

Made it to Kasane just before nightfall and had the best treat of the drive - WILD DOGS! they were dozing along the roadside!

These guys are SO RARE!! This was a fairly large pack of about 12-16 dogs with puppies. Of course, as soon as we stopped they got up and walked off, but the last time we saw them we got no photos at all, so at least now we can prove that we saw them!

Kasane is another overpriced town geared to the "once in a lifetime" traveler who's just flying through Kasane before going to the $500pppn places in the park. The crossing into Zambia had Jeff pretty stressed, as he and Jason were nearly beaten up there trying to cross about 3 months ago. It's the only crossing from Bostwana directly into Zambia without going through Zimbabwe - this means alot less government hassle but there's little official Botswanan supervision at the ferry, so there's lots of thug boys who put line jumping trucks on ahead of the line for fees.

They left us pretty much alone this time (diplomatic plates may have helped?) and we only had to wait for 3 ferries to come and go to take our turn.  After 5 weeks of relying on our Nissan with no trouble at all, we stopped for diesel in Livingstone (a thriving Zambian tourist center) and immediately started having engine trouble - bad diesel! The engine sputtered all the way home and the check engine light kept coming on - making jeff turn off the engine to reset it so that the car's computer wouldn't shut us down entirely - BIG fun in the Zambian mountain passes!! Still made it home in about 2 hours less than expected and got in before dark. Jeff is powerwashing the truck as i type - he's been at it for awhile now, and i expect it will take him all morning to take off the dirt of 8 countries!

Glad to be home - Yogi does have a big sore on his inner thigh - may have started out as spider bites but it's hard to tell now. He's being really good and it's healing up nicely. Mattie is just as we left her - perking right along for a 15 year old dog. They went apeshit when we pulled in and i think Yogi may have broken the cartiledge in my nose with his head!! God only knows what they think when we come and go like that!

Looking forward to the next trip!!!

From the desert of Tsauchab camp, we headed back to the coast once again. Swakupmund is known for it's oysters and beer - so of course, that was our goal!


Walvis Bay, the sister town to Swakupmund, is also known for it's pink flamingos. An industrial little town, that's pretty much it's only interesting feature!

Scott - what's the bird in the foreground? The flamingos are actually at the back where you can't really see them - but doesn't this give you a sense of the Walvis Bay skyline? We didn't linger!

On to Swakupmund - another city sandwiched between ocean and desert. More dunes! We stayed in a place called "The Alternative Space" that backed up to the desert on the edge of town - marvelous place for jogging with your best running dog in a very friendly town. The "Space" is an interesting place run by an interesting, self-labeled radical - filled with sculptures, paintings and photos of tasteful nudes, many include the proprietress herself. We took advantage of the location to go for an early morning dune hike.

The dunes at Swakupmund also have a dusting of black cotton soil across the top. The intensity of color in Namibia is amazing everywhere, but the dunes in Swakupmund were even more stunning.

Of course, the desert isn't as lifeless as it looks. Throughout Namibia we were struck by just how much life is there, clinging to a tiny bit of morning dew in the sand and the wind.

We did eventually get our oysters and beer! Enjoyed another local brew in a decidedly German pub - Jeff is actually more contented than he looks!!

More on Tsauchab

From Luderitz it was back into the desert where we found the most excellent Tsauchab camp. As i may have mentioned, they put alot of work into this place. While it doesn't have the spectacular vistas of Spitzkopf, it has to be the most remote campsite i've ever visited - 5 kms between individual camp sites, and yet each had hot showers and flush toilets!

In the middle of this desert, Tsauchab sits along a Namibian Riperian - an oasis in the dry heat.

Isn't it beautiful? It was absolutely COVERED in baboon shit - nasty bastards!! Smelled bloody awful!

Despite the baboons, it was a great place for bird watching. We saw our first "go away" bird there! Also scared a tree full of roosting guinea fowl!

Happy hour and bird identification! Being that far away from other human beings does sort of distill people down to their essence. Locals do goofy stuff like build flush toilets in the middle of nowhere and make art out of anything they find. Can you see the scorpion with the smile on his face, and the giraffe?

Visitors can get alittle silly too!

Namibia, having a German colonial heritage, is very carefully sign posted to keep you safe at all times. Being an ex-German nation, they are also very specific - no generalities for them! If it's orynx that are crossing the road, the sign will feature an orynx. If it's a warthog - well, you get the idea!

Luderitz, Namibia

The Namibian desert stretches right to the very edge of the ocean. After climbing the dunes, we headed for the coast rinse the dust off and eat some of the oysters that Namibia is known for.

Luderitz is a town in what's know as "the skeleton coast" due to the number of shipwrecks that happen in this area. One of the lucky survivors happened to notice some pretty rocks on the beach, picked on up, and discovered that the entire area is also littered with diamonds! Even the ocean floor several kms off shore is scattered with so many diamonds that large ships are employed to vaccuum suck the ocean floor like a giant hoover - can you say "environmental impact"?

It's pretty bad, but the government is trying to limit the areas that are mined to minimize damage to habitats. There are several endemix species along this coast.


We took a boat ride out to the islands to see the Jackass Penguin colony there.

The original Jackass Penguins!

Cute little buggers, aren't they?












Along the way, dolphins chased our boat...

We saw the fur seal colony...

And although my camera couldn't really catch them, we also saw several endangered species of birds, including the African Oyster Catcher and the something something tern (sorry Scott - i'll have to go look that one up!) The terns are really getting close to extinction due to habitat destruction (they nest on beaches and only lay one egg each year - stupid birds!) so there's only about 5000 left!

Of course, we also ate some oysters and had a great fish dinner at Barrels, the local bar and grill. Thanks to our host and owner of the excursion boat, Cap't Hayku for making the suggestion!

OK - caught up to Namibia again!

If you can visit only one African nation, you could do worse than to chose Namibia. It has it all - wildlife, oceans, great food, natural beauty. It's relatively easy to travel in Namibia, with little in the way of corruption or police hassle-factor. The people are polite, relatively well educated and at ease interacting with visitors.

We pulled into Namibia in the late afternoon. Windhoek (the local brew) for everyone!

I mentioned that we stayed on top of a rocky mountaintop didn't I? Spitzkopf Park Campgrounds must be one of the most spectacularly located rough camps on earth.  This camp has nonstop views in every direction and it's a boulder-er's playground! Great free climbing routes all over the park.

Spitzkopf is also a national heritage site, having a large number of ancient cave paintings that have survived to be preserved, some as old as 2500 years. Not sure what this one is supposed to be, perhaps something in dream-time, but it photographs well!

By the time dinner rolled around we were out of beer, so Steve and I made a trip into the local bar/store for resupply. Turns out to be a seriously "local" joint - i don't think they got many white tourists! Making friends everywhere we go! This is Steve with the proud owner of the Nafdol Inn - home of the shabbiest pool table i have ever seen! If you can get the ball to roll into the pocket over those tears and cracks you're damn good!

Jeff and Steve got to do some engineering so that we could "simmer" our risotto over a roaring fire! Note that the height of the pot can be easily adjusted via the hanging caribiners. Didn't take into account the melting point of the line though - had to pour water on it to keep it cool!

Morning on top of Spitzkopf!

















That's all for now - more stories tomorrow! G'night!

Odds and Ends I've missed along the way

Speaking of Mozambique, did i show you the local version of the toboggan run? Cool, eh?

And those of you who are suffering from unspeakable ailments should take heart. Here in Swaziland is a doctor who can cure whatever you may have!

I have great respect for a man who can heal "desieses" and really need those antibody to misfortunes!












Swazi women make great baskets!

Lesotho traditional hat - think these will catch on in the USA?

Jeff and Steve made a stop at the best little wine shop in Franschoek - Jeff's idea of heaven!

Tastings are free in Franschoek - so of course we also stopped at ALL the best wineries listed in the 2009 Platters Guide and sampled everything they were pouring. I know Martha, "south africa doesn't make good wines" YEAH, they do - some really great stuff, most of which never makes it to the states.  We REALLY got lucky with the weather in Franschoek - it rained hard most of the day but we had little moments of soft sunshine just when we needed it!

UPDATED: This week in Namibia

This photo is Dune 45 - so called because it is 45 km from Sessrein - the nearest camp settlement. We camped there and then climbed this puppy! It looked easy, of course! We were TOTALLY unprepared - no sunblock, no water bottles, stupid shoes - it was GREAT!

 

 












That really is me at the bottom of the photo - this is about half way up!

Jeff at the top of Dune 45 - descending in typical Jeff style!

 

Namibia is totally unexpected in every way. I can't possibly do it justice trying to describe what we've seen in a week. To create Namibia from scratch from geographic parts found outside africa, you could start with big chunks of desert from Arizona, add the rocky mountains, add parts of the grand canyon, dunes from nevada (they have dunes there, right?), oceans from mexico, and then stir that up with landscapes from the moon, and you START to get Namibia! 

This is a fairly classic Namibian landscape as viewed from the driver's seat!

The entire country is dry. We tried to find the right word to describe it; here's a few: arrid, vast, empty, expansive, desolate, desert grasslands, fenceless, sundrenched, parched, lonely, big skies. The problem with all these words is they mostly have a negative connotation, whereas most of Namibia is staggeringly beautiful.

We've driven for DAYS between destinations, and not seen a single human settlement, shepard, or other sign of human life the entire day.

Traffic in Namibia means we might see another car - you are more likely to surprise a Kudu than see oncoming traffic. The place is silly with kudu, orynx (gemsbok), springbok, ostrich, and wild horses that are a remnant of Germany's early colonialization that have adapted to the arrid climate. Tons of birds - i'll give a list later.

Namibian campgrounds are amazing - beautiful clean ablutions houses, restaurants with good, if simple, food plus bar, and amazing hospitality. Many of the camps we've stayed at have put enormous time and effort into creating a special stay rather than a quick, cheap overnight. Premier amongst these is the Tsauchab Camp - each campsite is separated from the next by several kms!

This is me at Tsauchab camp after hiking one of their many well laid out trails that each have a printed description of all the sights and items along the trail. We saw tons of black baboons (and a huge amount of baboon shit!) and lots of birds birds birds! (yep, i'm hooked)

Last night was the best of the trip so far - we stayed at a community owned campsite in the Spitzkap Peaks. This rocky range is an ancient tribal site for several of the Namib peoples (the guys who talk in click language!) We stayed out on the rock under the stars - check it out!

Our campsite for last night! we carried mattresses and sleeping bags up in the dark and set it all up by headlamp. took this photo about 6 a.m. when all the birds and donkeys were up at the water hole that is off to the left outside the frame. Watched Orion's belt travel from east to west overhead throughout the night. OK - a TMI moment - if you have to get up and pee here BE CAREFUL! this actually drops off quite sharply, and one can accidently stroll of the edge in search of somewhere to "go"!

This is the front side of the rock you can see behind us in the prior photo - it's called sleeping elephant rock - totally! We also saw 2000 year old cave paintings here this morning - photos of which i'll post eventually!

So, that's all for now - we're safe and sound in Windhoek, and we (sadly) drop Steve off at the airport tomorrow afternoon. After that we flip a coin to see if we continue northwards in Namibia to go to the big game areas or if we try to cross the Okavango Delta in Botswana on our way back to Zambia. News from home says the dogs are fine although Yogi has a BIG spider bite - poor baby!More soon, and i'll probably sit down and right stories once we're home as well. There's so many photos i'll also post on Facebook later!

Cheers!

Stuff I missed - our stop in Capetown

Towering over Cape Town, Table Mountain is a flat-topped promonitory with a spectacular view of the entire Cape - that is, when it isn't shrouded in mist. Sigh - it's been socked in since we arrived and is still under cover as we leave. A 2-hour hike will take you to the top, or you can ride the cable car both up and down. Wonderful picnic spot if a bit windy; last time we were there we had lunch next to a beautiful young man who proposed then and there to his girl there on the mountaintop. One can see the top of table mountain, along with much of the seaport, from the roof of our lodge - i now think that a rooftop deck is pretty much a must in any future home we may someday own!

The Village Lodge is the place to stay, but practice your steep slope parking skills! The railing of the Lodge porch gives you an idea of how far from level we were - being kinda top heavy, we parked it and didn't dare touch it again until it was time to leave!

If it's great Turkish food you want, you can't do better than Andiamo, located one half block from the Village Lodge. Dinner there last night was a series of mezzas - did you ever wish you could photograph your dinner in a restaurant and go home with the recipe? i'd love to recreate this at home! We've dined there every time we've been in cape town, but last night we were treated to a special belly dancing event. The music suddenly got loud, and in shimmied a lovely young, dark-haired woman in dark blue silk and sequins who comes pretty close to Shakira in the hips-moving department.

She was really lovely - now the interesting part is that she was accompanied by a rather gender neutral individual, who sat enraptured to an almost zealous degree watching her dance, and then slipped out the moment she was done. Stalker? Bodyguard? no - turns out its a rather feminine young man who wants with all his heart to be a belly dancer as well! Not content with dancing at the Bronx, what he wants is to dance at Andiamo every night! NOT GONNA HAPPEN!! It's a strange world!

So, today we are off to the Namibian desert, where apparently one eats the most devine oysters (don't ask me how - oasis?, but that's the goal!)

More pics will be added again when i get a computer i can plug into! Cheers! Julie

Bits and Pieces

OBTW - if you're looking for an amazing coastline, you could do worse than to check out the South African coast. Neighborhoods are embraced by mountains to the back and ocean to the front. HUGH crashing waves on rocks make for a dramatic backdrop for the annually migrating whales that breach and spout just off show, and out your porch door you can go with your mountain bike or your hiking stick and your dog and stay wonderfully fit year round! It rarely if ever snows at beach level along this coast but there's often snow on the peaks in winter if you really miss it.

I ADORE Cape Town. Maybe it's not "PC" to say, but for my money the best neighborhoods to live in are almost always the gay neighborhoods! Die Waterkant is no exception with a wonderful "San Fransisco-esque" area of lovely flats painted in beautiful earth tones, coffee houses, a spectacular Turkish restaurant and even "The Bronze" - oops, sorry, Buffy moment - The BRONX dance bar (vampire slayer flashback - LOVED Angel!) You can own a flat or even a full row house here for about $400 Grand - couldn't touch THAT in San Fran for anything less than $something in the millions!!

Franschoek

Another day in paradise! Of course, it takes us half the day to travel 20 km because the boys stop every 10' for photos! Jeff even takes pictures while driving - something we call the Sharp Drive-By Shooting!

(Sharp Drive-By)

Less well known than Stellenbosch, Franchoek is home to some of the best wineries in South Africa, including a lovely place called Boekenhoetskloof that makes award winning reds and the very accessible "Chocolate Block" which, while not their highest RATED wine, is an absolutely luscious mouthful of fruit, dark chocolate, spice and a hint of the earth (maybe licorice?) - YUM!!

(The view from the Boekenhoetskloof tasting deck)

Finally had a break in the heavy rain, just long enough for a quick tasting and walk through the vines! Just setting their fruit, the fields haven't reached the peak of their photogenic best, when the fruit hangs in heavy purple bunches on a backdrop of turning leaves.

Dined at Topsi's place. If you are ever in Franschoek you must eat here before the mother-daughter team retires. There is no other staff, only a young man they've sort of adopted who was born with fetal alcohol syndrome to an unemployed African mom no longer in the picture - a very sweet young man who served us very carefully! Mom started the place and is now probably in her late 70's with a fantastic chef as a daughter. This is another place without an extensive menu - only 3-4 dishes that change daily that they do absolutely divinely. We couldn't decide what we wanted, so after she gave us a taste of each and every dish she decided to just bring us a sampler and then sat down to chat with us for most of the meal. What a gold mine of information about the history of Franschoek and South Africa, as well as a marvel of cooking knowledge and an all around cool person to talk with! We did eventually taste about 80% of the menu! We really HAVE to stop eating so much - oh, what am i saying?! Isn't that why we came?

This morning we drove out under heavy cloud cover which cleared when we once again hit the coast. Stopped for a quick tasting (before noon - aren't we scandalous?) at a place with one of the nicest chardonnay's in South (not really known for chards here, but this one is a keeper) and then on to one of Steve's friends from the old work days to have a marvelous Cape Salmon lunch on his smoker grill. sigh - more food! 

We've reached Cape Town and are staying at our fave place "The Village Lodge" in a neighborhood called de Waterkant - nice place, good value, great service! Cape Town has an eye openingly massive "township" - a carry over from apartheid when blacks couldn't live with whites so they were put in "villages" outside of town. These have become giant squatters camps and it's a wonder that there hasn't been wholesale armed revolt, as these are breeding grounds for poverty, AIDS and discontent. The current and recent past governments are struggling to provide government subsidized housing that is safer, but many people actually don't want to leave their compound home because, in a sense, it's "theirs".  Interesting problems this country has to deal with.

 Don't know if you can quite see the absolutely endless rows of cardboard and tin shacks lined up along the roadside. This goes on for absolutely 5 miles on both sides of the N2 main divided interstate. In anticipation of soccer 2010 they've put up a sight-break fence along most of it so that it can't be seen from the highway, as this is the entry point to the Stellenbosch winery area and thus a very busy tourist pathway. Out of sight, out of...?

I'll try to get some pics of our current abode on line tomorrow! Cheers!