Given our limited time with the vehicle, Botswana had not received the highest priority (most all there is to do and see in Botswana is in the far north) and we were using it mostly as a transitional point from eastern Namibia back into northern South Africa. Once through the border, we headed out across the vast flat open space that is the Kalahari. The desert covers a good portion of northern South Africa as well as all of southern Botswana. During our 400 mile trek across the desert, rest stops and towns were few and even cross roads were a rarity. One thing that was plentiful was the livestock in the road. We were not really sure who they belonged to (there were no sheppards in sight) but every handful of minutes we had to slow to a complete stop to let the cow, donkey, geep (yes I said geep = part goat part sheep), cross the road. It kept the drive entertaining and comical as there was no radio and our only other entertainment was adjusting the air condition.
Despite the uneventful drive, the scenery was beautiful with vast desert shrubbery stretching uninterrupted by houses, fences or other roads. We had the town of Kang noted about 300 miles into our drive arrived by mid afternoon only to find the town was only a petrol station with camp sites (gravel parking lot) in the back. We had camped next to petrol stations before but this one seemed to have too many people standing around with nothing to do besides eye us and our car so we headed further down the highway. There were no towns marked on the map for the following couple hours and before we knew it we were watching the sun set in the rear view mirror as we headed east. We began to get slightly worried as we had no idea where to head for the night. We were within a couple hours of the capital but heading into an unfamiliar large city late at night was not an attractive option. We came across a petrol station sometime around 8PM whose owner offered to let us stay behind the station for free (again too many people standing around with nothing to do staring at us) but also noted a hotel further down the road that should have rooms open. Although we had the tent and the hotel cost 4 times the normal cost of a campground, we decided not to break our cardinal rule (compromising safety) and grabbed a room. After camping for 4 weeks sleeping in a tent on hard ground, the warm bed and hot shower were a treat.
We awoke the next morning refreshed and headed into the Botswana capital of Gaborone to stock up on some much needed supplies. Gaborone is more of a business center than a sight seeing destination but the downtown business area sported some tall buildings and well groomed parks. Botswana gained independence in the 60s and not too long after, diamond deposits were found and the economy has been riding that wave of wealth for the past couple decades. The conversation today is around how they will transition much of their economy now that the diamonds have run dry.
From the capital we headed south to our destination for the day, Mokolodi Nature reserve, and arrived just before noon time. We were lucky as the day prior and day after they were booked full but we were able to secure a site for one night and by early afternoon we were out on a self guided tour of the reserve. About 20 minutes into our drive down a rocky dirt road we came across a group of giraffes feeding. It was quite the rush to see the creatures in the wild for the first time as one blocked our path forward down the road while others loomed 20 ft tall far above our heads. From there we moved on through the park and had our first glimpses of wildebeests and zebra. Just as we were arriving back at camp at sunset we stumbled upon a small pack of elephants to cap off the day! The rhino and hippo are still eluding us but we hope to spot them in the coming weeks.
Our time in Botswana was short lived but we hope to return again and see the sights that the northern half of this beautiful country has to offer.
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