Back into South Africa

We slowly packed up at Big Five Safaris Lodge and headed south for Nata, we were just out of town when I saw a huge kudu bull alongside the road, it was going to be a good game viewing day.  We had hardly left the town when we started seeing elephants and saw them constantly for the rest of the day.  Although lovely to see these gentle giants we have been told that they are a major problem to the country since the hunting in Botswana has been closed.  The total destruction of huge tracts of land is a very real indication of this.

We had decided to spend the night at a camp called Elephant Sands and we arrived at the turn off and headed to the camp, the gravel road was ok but not great and eventually it turned into thick sand, I managed the loose gravel and some of the sand but when it got really thick I decided to slow it down.
We arrived at the camp to find a very different camp from the last time we had been there in 2008, where there was a large number of trees and grass we were greeted by a desert! Not one tree in sight and white thick sand everywhere, apparently the elephants have destroyed every tree and blade of grass.  We walked around and looked at the barren landscape and decided that with our little tent with no shade we would carry onto Nata Safari Lodge, so back down the sandy track and onto the tar heading to Nata and Nata Lodge.  We arrived there to find a great shaded camp with good facilities.  We had a fairly late start because it was cold and decided that we were not in a great rush.

We had been warned that the road south of Nata was very bad and we encountered small sections of badly potholed road, slowing the traffic down a lot but on the whole it was plain sailing.  Ralph had phoned us to say that he would try and arrange for us to spend sometime on his family-in-laws farm along the Limpopo  River, the border between Botswana and South Africa.  He sent us co-ordinates for the gate and the camp and we set off.  We stopped in Francistown to buy food for the next two days, I battled to find decent meat and went from the Shoprite (South African brand) to the Spar, I eventually found enough food for the next two days.  We squashed everything into the panniers and bags on the bikes and hoped that it would not be too badly squashed.

New roads around the shopping area in Francistown had our GPS’s confused and we went around and around and we eventually spotted the more upmarket shopping centre with a Woolies Food! Too bad everything had been bought.

Good roads led us to the farm and we turned off the tar road onto a two track gravel road, luckily Ralph knows his mothers capabilities and and the road was sandy but good, about 6km to the next gate of good farm roads.  As we arrived at the camp the the sand was extremely thick and soft and I slowed down for the last 15m.

We arrived at the camp and we were met by Petrus, a wonderfully welcoming Zimbabwean managing the Kwalata Camp.  We were blown away by the beauty and tranquility of the camp and we had the whole place to ourselves! Five star luxury! A warm comfortable CLEAN bed and a wonderful shower.  The kitchen was made available and we cooked a very simple meal and sat outside listening to the night noises and then headed for bed and a good warm nights sleep.  We were starting with the real cold, the next morning was 6 degrees!

We had a wonderful slow start to the morning and a walk on the farm, Larry was thrilled with the number of birds that were moving around the area.  During the afternoon Petrus took us on a game drive and we saw lots of animals, the farm was dry but still plenty of grazing.

The next morning Petrus told us we could take a short cut through the next door farm and we would come out at the Martins Drift border post.  Fairly straight gravel farm tracks and 6km later we were at the border post, no-one else was awake yet and we were the only people there and then onto out final border crossing into South Africa at Grobler’s bridge.  The customs official said they hardly ever get people crossing with a Carnet, so I helped him complete the forms and 25 minutes later for both border posts we were back on home ground.  A good feeling but also a sad moment as we knew our journey was coming to an end.

We had made arrangements to meet with Larry’s brother, Shaun and his girlfriend Ingrid,  just outside Rustenburg.  Good roads and well sign posted made the trip a easy run until just outside Rustenburg where we met with the first of three long Stop / Go.  This held us up by about 20 minutes, but we arrived just in time for the braai, Shaun and Ingrid fed us really well and we spent a pleasant afternoon with them and then headed to Hartebeespoort to our daughter in law.  Ralph was coming home for about 24 hours and we were thrilled to be able to see him the next morning.

We arrived at Winandi and Ralph's home and Mr and Mrs Fokker joined us for a very pleasant meal out. The next morning we went with Nandi to Lanseria Airport to fetch Ralph, we had a quick breakfast with the two of them and packed our bikes to head to Bloemfontein.  It was wonderful seeing both of them, Larry had last seen them in November last year in Dubai.  At 11am we climbed back on our bikes and had a smooth trip to Bloemfontein, we had booked into Bain’s Game Lodge because we knew it was going to be very cold and it was, when we woke the next morning there was lots of frost about.

Our next destination was Hammonds Farm, Fort Beaufort, to visit Amy and her family, we only left Bloemfontein at about 9am, trying to evade the bitter cold.  With layers of clothes on we set off, after about an hour and a half we stopped to put our rain gear on, not because of rain but to try and stop the cold, it helped but we were still bitterly cold.  The wind was horrible with us riding at a 45 degree angle at times and bouncing around like champagne corks when a big on coming truck was level with us.  Eventually when we got to Queenstown it started to warm up, going to the Nico Malan Pass we could feel a distinct difference and coming down the escarpment meant that the wind got less and less.

Amy and Charles had been forewarned that we were close and we met Charles and Matty at the top gate of the farm, Matty decided that he wanted to ride with Larry and there was only just enough room for him between Larry and the black bag containing our camping gear.  Much excitement as we arrived at the house!

During the night there were a few rain showers (not much, the Eastern Cape is suffering one of the most severe droughts in memory) and the next morning spots of rain were still about so back on with our rain suits and the last 100km to Grahamstown and home.

28 June. 2017
We were in luck, we didn't get wet just cold and as we arrived home the gate opened, Murphy rushed out to meet us and nearly bowled me off my bike, what a welcome home.  Granny Eth and Kitty Fat gave us a much more sedate welcome, Granny was thrilled to see us and Kitty Fat was terrified of us in our biking gear.

It is always great to be home but it is also sad to finish a long planned trip and we have a sense of what now???????????

Bikes have been washed and cleaned and parked in the hanger and will be taken out on regular runs for the next few months…… until our next big adventure!!

Thanks to everyone who helped us logistically, emotionally and just followed us on the blog, it is always great knowing that people are out there interested in what we are doing.  Until next time.

Larry and Sharon

Botswana

We spent three nights in Russell’s camp, the camp is really great, lots of big trees and very comfy chalets with en-suite bathrooms and plenty of hot water.  We also had three meals a day which is unusual for us on these bike trips because it is so difficult to carry food and often difficult to find food in remote villages.  Jo and Calvin,  the camp managers were fantastic and went out of their way to help us find accommodation and even sent food with us when we eventually left.
Russell took us for a long drive around the concession and there is lots of mopani bush and huge trees, it is hilly and very remote.  Larry is determined that a runway has to be built in front of the lodge so that we can fly over the area.  Russell did his trike license a few years ago but has not maintained it, so that is a good job for us in July when we get home.  We are looking forward to a trip up there with a microlight!!
We saw lots of animal spore but very few animals and Russell assured us that this was normal, this is proper hunting and not culling or shooting.  Plenty of birds and he is keen to get some birding safaris going there.
At one stage we landed up on the old national road, a twee spore track leading to the closest village of Zumba, the negative side of things up there is the corruption of the local leaders, they want meat all the time and expect the hunting camps to provide them with this.  Hippo is a firm favorite and there are plenty of them.  The river is teaming with hippo and huge crocs.
Elephant, lion, hyena and hippo often move through the camp,  unfortunately we didn't get to see them while we were there.
After all our laundry was done for us and our tummies were filled we had to head back to the village of Zumba to clear immigration and then onto Luangwa, to re-enter Zambia and collect our bikes.  Lesley was at home when we arrived at their home and we loaded the bikes and got into our newly laundered BMW suits and headed out towards Lusaka.  The road was an easy run and we got into the city at about 2pm so traffic wasn't too bad, we stopped at one of the large shopping centers and managed to get something for supper.  Our next overnight place was called Moorings and we had stayed there in 2011 and had the worst meal ever so were not going to repeat that.  I decided that bangers, mash and mixed veggies were on the menu, we have a small gas stove and two pots and a tiny frying pan so it was quite a feat to cook a meal like this and serve it hot, pots and pans were juggled on the stove and we had a wonderful feast.
The next morning we headed for Livingstone and we decided that we would like to try and camp somewhere near there.  We looked in the actual town, but didn't find anywhere that grabbed us, too many people and traffic and loud music. So we headed towards the Kazungua border, thinking that we would find  a place along that road, the first road that we went down lead to a very fancy resort, about 2km from the actual resort we came across a herd of elephant, a couple with huge tusks.  We stopped and Larry took some photos and while doing that two game guards ambled up to the elephants and started walking among them! Obviously a tame herd used at the lodge.  We had some sand and I managed it fine with my newly acquired skill of lots of power, got to the main road long before Larry!!
So the next road down had a sign for a lodge and so we ventured down this one,  after two gates and lots of horses we arrived at the fancy lodge and were told definitely no camping, back up the sandy track and the lodge owner told us that down the next track there was a campsite, so we set off again.  We arrived at the third turn off and a nice gravel road greeted us, great stuff! This didn't last long and it turned into thick deep sand, Larry said another 4km and we would be at the camp, hmmm 4km of sand!!  I was doing ok going fairly fast when I must have hit a root or a stone in the road and landed up with my helmet filled with sand and the bike lying next to me.  Larry came back and we decided to turn and head for the ferry.
We had to pick the pace up a bit to get to the ferry and clear immigrations and customs before dark.  We arrived to the normal African chaos and I managed to push and shove to the front and get our passports stamps and Carnets done.   There were a huge number of large trucks lots of them carrying copper waiting to board the ferry, we pushed our way to the front and the bikes were loaded first and then all the foot passengers and one huge truck behind us, five minutes and we were in Botswana.  Last time we were there we thought it would be our last trip on the ferry as the bridge was in the process of being built, the progress is about the same as in 2013.
We headed into Kasane, towards Chobe River Lodge which has some great camping, sorry we are fully booked!!  Oops all the South Africans have invaded up north, maybe that Put Foot Rally?! So we headed back down the road we had just come on.  We went into about five different camps and no-one had space for us, Larry asked the one lady, not even a tiny piece of grass and she replied we don't have grass just ground!
At about 6.15 we landed up at Big 5 Camping and Safaris and they had plenty of camping, it is a very pretty lodge set on the banks of the Chobe River with a very nice restaurant and bar, the camp site was at the back and each site had they own little bathroom and to top it all it was cheaper than any of the other camp sites and better!  We set up camp in the dark and decided that a meal in the restaurant was called for, Larry went across to our neighbor and asked if we could put our illegal meat into his fridge.  This was a Hollander by the name of Peter and we was waiting for a client who had a ticket booked from Holland to Johannesburg and then to Kasane, but he managed to buy another ticket and landed up in Windhoek!  We had a delicious meal of pork ribs and steak and crashed in our tent with our brand new PEP blanket straight after supper.
We had been told that the road to Nata was closed and so Larry set out to find out what was happening further south, it transpired that the road between Nata and Gweta was indeed closed but that was on the road West, we later found out from other travelers that this has been under water since February but there is a very poorly sign post detour.  We will see tomorrow.

S