After freezing cold Matopos (read here), we drove back to Botswana. Our first stop on the way to the Kgalagadi was Francistown. The cold got even a bit worse, since we got rain on top of it. Started to feel a lot like Europe. And when it rains and you’re camping in your car in Africa, you’re pretty limited. So both of us were squeezed in there, with our computers downloading pictures. No time waisting here!
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After our Mana visit we decided to spent a few days in Matopos National Park before heading back to Botswana. There’s a cave with beautiful rock paintings. Not easy to find though and for sure not after rainy season. The week before another couple tried and they came back without reaching the cave. They had lost track and it was just too difficult to get there, according to them. We like a proper challenge and so we went for it. We cut ourselves a way trough the jungle. Literally. Our guide in front, Jens right behind him, both waving their machete as if they’ve never done anything else, smashing everything in their way. I simply walked behind them, using mine more to keep flies at a distance…
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Since Mana Pools is by far Jens his favorite park and since he stayed there almost three months last year (read here part one, two and three), we decided to have a look right after rainy season. What a difference! Actually in the end it turned out to be still quite in the rainy season, since we even got rain while we were there as well. It made the roads (and everything) really muddy, but the sunsets and the views beautiful dramatic.
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Khwai is always been a special area for us. Not only since we met there (romance alarm!!) or because of friends who live and work over there, but mostly because of the area itself with all its animals and the possibility to do a night drive and to drive offroad. It’s the beginning (or the end, just depends how you look at it) of the Okavango Delta and if you really want to see a leopard, this is the place to be!
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Almost 12 o’clock and we were driving the cutline from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). We found a new route to get there from Maun, that was supposed to be faster then the ‘normal’ one and since we’re adventurous (Jens would definitely disagree on this one!) we went for it! We agreed to meet a friend at the entrance since we were about to stay there together for 9 days.
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This year I was in Mana with a mission. I wanted to stay for a longer time and see how everything would evolve with the start of the rainy season. It got really very hot, although it already started raining every once in a while the end of November. On some of the pictures here in November you can already see some green starting to come out. But on these ones you clearly do!
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After the sad happening with the wild dog (see here) I had to leave the park since you’re only allowed into Zimbabwe for 30 days on a normal tourist visa. Not a disaster, since I also had to resupply. I was out of… well almost everything! So off to Lusaka in Zambia. I went for shopping, to the workshop for some minor things and I even got invited by a friend to stay at his place. Always much nicer this way then staying somewhere in your own.
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Where do you start when so many things happened? Mana Pools showed his greatness again this season and I think you’ll get it when you simply look at some pictures since they don’t need much explanation at all… Sometimes an image says more than a thousand words. The beauty of photography… Enjoy! Continue reading →