Botswana, 1991

This was a family trip, and now more than twenty years ago. In re-reading it I notice my writing style has improved :-) Gary Journal Botswana, Africa 5/25/91-6/19/91 Gary and Eva and Peter Hochgraf (age 2.5) and Joan Reeves Monday 5/27 It's Memorial Day back in the states. Yesterday Anna and John accompanied us to O'Hare airport for a 8:30 flight on British Airways to London. Peter fell asleep before we left the ground and finally woke up for breakfast. Eva and I didn't sleep very well, but Peter, on the floor in his sleeping bag slept a lot. Dinner was fair but they gave you all sorts of other stuff – a toothbrush, mask for sleeping, coloring books for Peter, etc. We landed half an hour early in London, checked most of our carry-on baggage for the day, found the tube, and rode it to Westminster Abbey. We walked to the River, saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and other sights. On the train back to the airport, Peter took his nap. We got off at the last stop before Heathrow and had fish n chips. One day in London cost us over $40 for food, train, bag check, exchange, and a souvenir for Eva. We shot about half a roll of film too. We're now about ready to take off for Johannesburg, a 12.5 hour night flight. A flight attendant gave Peter a coloring book, colored pencils, and other things. He is now busy scribbling allover the pictures and having fun. Tuesday 5/27 We're now at Joan's house in Gaborone, Botswana. Last night Peter again fell asleep before dinner, but woke up about 1am and wouldn't go back to sleep. Eva and I took turns watching him until the sun rose (beautiful orange sunrise) when the whole plane-full woke up. Neither of us had enough sleep and we were both quite testy. Standing in line at Customs took forever but they spent very little time with us when our turn came. After Customs we met Joan, who drove us to her house. It's a bit cool here, and a t-shirt is sufficient only if you're in the sun. we met a nice man from Soiuth Africa on the plane. He does training sessions all over the world (mostly Africa) for an adhesives company. He offered us his home if we're ever visiting Pretoria. He also gave us some good hints about where to go, what to do. Chobe, Okavango and Victoria Falls were high on his list. Botswana from the air reminded me of Nevada except there are many trees, almost like the most heavily forested parts of Nevada. Joan has a lovely house, like a town-house with adjacent units, a front and back yard and parking space. She's got two lemon trees and lots of beautiful and interesting plants. The floors are wood and walls are plastered concrete. Botswana has a huge cricket about 3 inches long, all brown-gray and big and ugly. Wednesday 5/28 Peter woke us up and wanted juice, but once we were all up and awake he fell asleep again. After breakfast we went to the mall, an avenue lined with shops – clothes, druggists, groceries, hardware, post office, etc. and a few people selling wares in the open. In the open were mostly hand-made or grown things including beans, corn, leaves, bakets, leather goods, clothing, carvings, etc. The quality of the textiles and clothing is excellent, original and exciting. But theleather goods we saw were not well made, almost crude. I need a new wallet, so I'll keep looking. It was especially cold this morning due to overcast skies, so not many people were out. We also visited the University (UB) and met some of Joan's collegues. Thursday 5/29 A beautiful morning, cool air, warm sun, very light breeze. The air smells wonderful with many trees in flower. Today we're going to a small game reserve near the city. Maybe they'll have a nature trail or guided walk so we can learn some of the plants and their ecology. Afternoon- We just returned fro the Gabarone Game Preserve. It was a very short drive from Joan's. We drove in, and drove around a loop. The first thing we saw of special interest were weaver bird nests. Next we spied a turtle sunning on the road. Eva spotted an odd bird on a fencepost, and while we were watching it we observed many other birds. The first one has a HUGE bill and is a fairly large bird. The other of special interest was a kingfisher with a red bill. There was also a blackbird and some un-identifiables. We drove on to a picknic area and saw five ostriches – two male and three female. At the picnic area we had time to observe many birds. One with a bright red breast, a chickadee, a yellow bird like a meadowlark, a gray dove with a black band on the back of it's neck, and a long-tailed yellow bird, and some wren-like birds that went too fast for observation. At one point Eva tried calling to the chickadees by whisteling, and I tried my father's phshh, phshh sound. No birds responded but Peter burst out laughing. Joan didn't know what to think. After lunch we continued north, saw more ostrich and an eland crossing the road. Later we saw four gemsbok or oryx we saw the gemsbok a second time and continued seeing ostrich throughout the trip. Most animals we saw as they crossed the road. We saw a gray monkey with a long tail and a dark face, and a family of warthogs (now there's face only a mother could love!) While stopped on the road, I found a skull. We turned it in to the ranger station and they said 'twas probably a dog. This park is too small to support a predator, and ferral dogs are shot. The skull had large canine teeth. It is a very nice park, though small, but quite accessible and we saw many animals we've never seen before. Friday 5/30 Drove to see theOdi Weavers today. Odi is a village half hour north of Gabs, where they've set up a small weaving industry. First we went to the store, where we saw many heavy wool blankets, shawls, wall-hangings, etc. The store is in a grass-thatched concrete hut of about five rooms. The hut itself was quite interesting. The roof is about 6” thick grass, held up with logs 3-6” in diameter, and mostly held together with notches, pegs and wire. The center was open to the sky. The weaving building was also concrete but with a tin roof. It housed about 20 looms from Sweden plus several of a local design. The Swedish ones had foot pedals, shuttles, ratchets, ect, while the local ones were more for hand weaving. We bought a few things while touring, and Joan fell in love with ann unfinished wall hanging that was very nice. So she reserved it. They buy their wool and dies from South Africa, then dye, spin and weave it here. They've damed a hollow in a nearby rock outcropping to collect water, and have two large steel tanks. Near the dye station was a concrete-lined ditch leading away to a grassy area. I wonder about heavy metals in the wastewater there. I took lots of photos, as it was a very colorful place. Saturday 6/1 Went back to the mal today, stopped at the Kalahari Conservation Office to buy a t-shirt, and poked around the other vendors thinking about which African objects to buy. There should be baskets available in Maun plus other things in Vic Falls later on our trip. While Peter napped, I used a few lemons fromJoan's tree and made lemon merengue pie. We went out to eat at the Taj, an Indian restaurant. Heavy on the atmosphere, light on service, ok on the food. Also with us was a neighbor, Peter Harvard-Williams, who also works at UB. He knew more about what was offered on the menu, as we were quite lost. But we still needed the expanded version of the menu. After dinner we returned to Joan's for Lemon Merengue pie. Sunday 6/2 Eva, Peter and Joan trooped off to the grocery store again. The living style here seems to be to shop often then shop again. Unlike the style in the States where we stock up for several days at once. They returned with quite a haul but not enough to avoid shopping tomorrow. Tomorrow we will put together the last details prior to heading north. Gabarone is mostly shut down on Sundays, so this is a lazy day for most folks. In the evening we go out to the dam. Gabarone gets it's water from a reservoir east of town. Here they also do sailing and the government has a powerboat. The military is here because of the potential of terrorism to the city's water supply. For wildlife we saw lots of birdlife including a laughing dove, a blue waxbill, a blacksmith plover, and a marico sunbird. There were many others too but we couldn't ID them. Monday 6/3 Last day before heading north. And we've worn out each other's welcome. Eva is bored, Joan is frantically trying to wrap up all her various last details. It took forever to decide how much pula (money) to bring. Tuesday 6/4 Loaded up and headed north. It's hard to get used to the sun being in the northern sky. Crossed the Tropic of Capricorn a few hours out of Gabarone. The acacia tree scrub savana has given way to the mopane forest, which looks similar at a distance but the trees are very different. Saw some boabab trees – very funny looking trees. Just before reaching the Nata we began seeing palms. The Nata Lodge is surrounded by palms and is very pleasant. There are lots of birds, trees, palms, nice cottages, excellent meals, and general peace and quiet. Peter found a jungle-gym with a boat at one end and an airplane on the other. Wednesday 6/5 we drove into the town of Nata and through the village. There was a hut with it's thatch roof under construction and we stopped to observe. But we felt rather out of place there (at least I did) trying to communicate while they tried to beg. One of the women was blind and a man had teeth worn down to the roots. In the afternoon we drove out to see the pan. 10Km on a sandy washboard track through endless grasses with an occasional small pan to cross. At the beginning is a huge baobab tree so we stopped for a picture anound it. The trunk is about 3m in diameter and has many initials carved thereupon. The Makadikadi pan is a huge playa lake that stretches all the way to the horizon. The past several years have been wet, so the lake is full of water. The proprieters at nata Lodge told us they had seen flamingoes through binoculars on the far shore. We arrived and saw several heron, stork, some ducks and pelican. We put Pete in the backpack and walked toward the pelicans. Around the point we came upon a flock of 40-50 flamingoes! The sunset was beautiful, and we had just enough light to find our way back to the lodge. Thursday 6/6 Packed up and left Nata Lodge and headed north to Kasane and the Kubu lodge on the banks of the Zambezi river. The trees got taller and more dense, and wildlife more plentiful. There are some older pans in this area, some are coveredin grasses, others have been tilled and planted to sorgum and sunflower. On the way I saw a few ostrich and Eva spotted the first elephant. I missed that one but spotted the second. Much further along the road we saw one cross the road about a kilometer away. We stopped at the spot, and there he was. They are very big. There were also more on the other side of the road, two adults and two young. They moved off into the bush as we took photos, then the one on the other side crossed back to rejoin the others. He was a little upset with us and trumpeted at us. We also saw a troop a 20 baboons run across the road and I got some lousy photos of them. We made it to the Kubu lodge, checked in, and walked down to the river. We saw no hippos and no crocs, but flushed an anhinga, and saw other birdlife. Friday 6/7 we never saw any hippos or crocs and the much touted Kubu lodge was a disapointment with unpleasant help and poor food but beautiful grounds. After a late start we crossed into Zimbabwe about 1pm, and saw a few baboons on the way to Vic Falls. Before leaving Kasane we stopped at the Chobe lodge to see what they offered as an alternative to Kubu. It looked nice. Peter and I watched monkeys playing on the wall near where we were parked and near the garbage cans. We changed money in the town of Victoria Falls, bought groceries, and headed south for Hwanke Main Camp. We were told it was 60km, but it was actually 160! However the scenery was beautiful and the road hilly winding and smooth. Many villages along the way, and the mining town of Hwanke. Finally we made it to Main Camp and saw lots of wildlife on the road in. Monkey, kudu, springbok, warthog, guinea fowl, and a giraff nibbling on trees beside the road. Saturday 6/8 Got up good and early this morning with Joan and drove 25km into the park at 6am. Eva was feeling sick so she and Peter and stayed back. Just past the gate we saw giraff and a small herd of zebra, but the light was still too dim for a photo. Later, we saw lots of impala (we had earlier thought these were springbok) and stopped at a platform overlooking a large pan with some water in it. A goup of 20 spotted hyena was traversing the pan with some impala on the other side. Shortly three rhinos appeared at the edge and would appear and disappear behind the bushes. 'Twas a long shot but I took a photo anyway. Two yellow hornbills landed on the railing of the platform. On the drive back we spotted an animal that, had we been in South Dakota I would've called a bison. Back at camp there were two warthogs fighting on the lawn. We met our neighbors, a family from Germany with two young daughters, and their maid with her daughter. Peter made fast friends with the older girl, who's name happened to be Eva! And her father was Peter. We packed up and drove out from the camp, and stopped to get petrol. While the attendant was helping us, a small airplane pulled in behind us! Then little Eva and her family stopped too, and told us about the best place to go see game nearby. The Hwanke Game Lodge. We followed them there and sat in lounge chairs on their lawn and watched out over a watering hole just half a km in front of the lodge. First were impala and marabu storks and warthogs. Then some baboon and a kudu came through. A few sable antelope came for a drink and left. We had a great time and Peter played on their playground and with his new friends. We were about to leave when the elephants came. They came trooping out of the woods in a long string, and lined up shoulder to shoulder to drink from the waterhole. When all 27 had their fill the left in single file. We left too. On the way through the town of Hwanke we saw a working steam switch engine. They mine coal near here, so using steam engines is not unreasonable. This is a socialist country, so producing and using your own energy is encouraged. There is also a steam passenger train from Bulawayo to Vic Falls. We also see the very old telephone wires, where about 20 seperate wires are strung between poles with their glass insulators. About 40km before Vic Falls we stop where several men have set up a roadside curio shop. They had many beautifully carved hippos of all sizes from 6” up to 2' long. Big enough for Peter to ride on. We bought a few carvings of elephant, hippo and giraff. Our next stop is the Zambezi River Chalets, beautiful government-owned buildings well spaced out along the shore, with a long lawn leading down to the river. At the cabin next to ours a warthog was grazing on the lawn. Peter and I walked down to the river and spotted about four hippos on the far side. We enjoyed a nice sunset before dinner. Sunday 6/9 Got a good start on the day and headed out to the crocodile farm, then on to Victoria Falls. What a grand sight. The mist obscures the falls much of the time and sometimes it rains on you. There is a rainforest in the middle of this arid land, only as big as the falls themselves. We walk the trail along the precipice and marvel at the contrast to Niagara falls with it's paved access, sturdy railings, so many people and so much infrastructure. Here only part of the path is paved, and what railings they have are little more than a tangle of brambles along the edge of the abyss. Afternoon tea at the very grand Victoria Falls Hotel, then an evening game drive along the Zambezi river to end the day. Monday 6/10 Another early start, and we drive out to buy more woodcarvings and a marimba. Early lunch at the Victoria Falls Hotel, then we head for the border back to Botswana. Saw a few kudu and other antelope on the way, then made it through the border in record time to arrive at Chobe Lodge about 2pm. After Peter's nap we joined a truck safari into the Chobe Game Reserve. What a trip! Lots of guinea fowl and impala, plus kudu, bushbuck, waterbuck, hippos up close – about 300 ft, egyptian goose, white-faced duck, fish eagle, marabu stork, lilac breasted roller (beautiful bird), mongoose, and more. We had to wait for a herd of elephant to cross the road, then drove up to a high point overlooking the beach where they were drinking from the river. A riverboat also stopped by so their passengers could watch the great animals. Our driver then said he would show us some giraff, which he did! They were quite a ways off though. It's amazing how these guides who spend their lives guiding in these parks can know where to find the animals. On the way back the herd of elephant were heading back from the river, just as another herd was walking to the same beach. A fight errupted with lots of trumpeting and a big cloud of dust. We couldn't see the actual conflict from our vantage point, but all of the younger elephants would come running out of the cloud. It was quite exciting. We started back toward the gate, and suddenly the driver stopped, reversed a few meters, and pointed out a lion lying under a bush! He was so well camoflaged that it took some of us a while to see it. He was lying in a tawny patch of sun under a bush with a young female just beyond. We were all amazed that the driver spotted him at all. On the drive out we watched a beautiful sunset over the wetlands of Chobe. Back at the lodge, there was a small crocodile right in front of our chalet. In two hours I shot one and half rolls of film. Tuesday 6/11 Today we have a long drive from Kasane to Francistown. I drove the first 300km which was uneventful but very beautiful and involved lots of pothole dodging. There were a flock of ostrich on the road later. We checked into the Marang Hotel for the night (with hot showers. Those at Chobe never got very hot). The Marang has one of the largest thatched roofs in the world over their dining room. Peter enjoyed the playground. Wednesday 6/12 after a brief visit to the Marathodi weavers we drove to the airport for the flight to Maun. The flight was beautiful. We flew over the Makgadikgadi Pans with the Soa Pan project (soda-ash mining) and I could see the beach where we watched the flamingoes. It's amazing how big these pans are. There are many smaller pans between there and Maun. We spent an hour between flights at a curio shop by the airport in Maun, then boarded a 6-seater for the flight to Okuti Safari Lodge. We saw elephant and water buffalo from the air. 'Twas a bumpy flight. At the end of the short landing strip we met a truck (Peter calls it a 'bumpy truck') to take us to Okuti. On the short drive we saw giraff, hippo, crocs, zebra, impala, and numerous birds. At Okuti we met Rolf, the owner, who immediately offered us drinks and fed us lunch. After lunch Alan, a black man from Maun took us out in the boat for a river safari. Saw lots more hippo and many birds including african and lesser jacana, darter (very much like the anhinga from Florida), cormorant, pied kingfishers, white backed duck, and pygmy goose. Saw lechwe (an antelope) on the shore too. Then we watched the sunset as we headed back to Okuti. 6/13 thursday this place is really beautiful. The chalets are thatch over a concrete floor and walls (termite proof). Some of the other buildings have bamboo walls. Lighting is mostly kerosene (parafin) except for the kitchen which has a solar collector and battery. It's all wooded with many birds and the Okavango swamp on the doorstep. The swamp is mostly reeds with some open water – maintained by hippos. Birds on the water are plentiful. There is a very competent staff who happily take care of everything. Today we went for a game drive in the morning and another after lunch. We say lots of animals of all sorts. Hippo and croc in a lagoon near camp, zebra, impala, lechwe, and as a special treat, a pangolin (scaley anteater) common but rarely seen as they are nocturnal. The scenery everywhere is beautiful, bright sunshine, blue skies, great green trees, vast fields of brown and red grasses, bushes, tall pompous grass, and sage. The camp can accommodate up to sixteen people, but we're the only ones here. Each evening there is a fire going before we return from the afternoon's adventures. There are also hors-devours and drinks. Later, a magnificent and very proper dinner is served under kerosene lanterns. Peter gets confused with all the extra silverware and gives away the extra until he has a small knife, small spoon, and a small fork. He loves to sit next to Rolf, who will sometimes help him to eat. Fur lunch and breakfast Rolf usually comes late, which upsets Pete. Peter will play with the his two wooden trucks that we bought in Zimbabwe, driving them around and around the fire ring area. After all the adventuring in bumpy trucks and boats in the bright sun and wind, Peter is often ready for bed at dinner time. He'll eat the soup appetizer, pick at the main course, and maybe have a little dessert. Then he'll cuddle up to his mommy and fall asleep as we sit around and chat. After an hour or so we'll all turn in too. 6/14 friday. A group of six more people are coming in by lunchtime today, then rolf's wife will be here for dinner with another person bringing the weekly supplies. This morning we went for a game drive in the bumpy truck with Alan. He had seen a large herd of water buffalo yesterday, so we went in search of them and maybe lion too. First we found the lion a long way off, resting on a termite mound. We drove closer until we were stopped by a channel cut by hippos. Peter slept in Joan's lap for most of the lion hunt. The lion would look around, rill on her back, and sit up again. Eventually she got up an ambled over to another termite mound. Alan seems to drive smmother over the bumps than Rolf does. He plays the truck more like an artist. After watching the lioness for a while we set out again in search of the water buffalo. We drove about for like a kilometer from the lion, across pans and through woods without a road of any kind, before finding one. Around noon we headed back to camp with no buffalo sighted. Then, not too far from camp we saw one! Alan said the others must be in the woods close by, but it was time for lunch. The other party arrived too, all speaking german. I felt like I was in a foreign country. (of course I was) Many of them also knew English. In the afternoon we had Alan take us for another boat ride to look for a malachite kingfisher. After lunch, but before the river safari, I tried out their mokoro – a long narrow dugout canoe with a rounded bottom-very tippy. It is propelled and steered while standing up with a 10 foot paddle/pole. The blade of it flattens out like any paddle, but is forked slightly at the end and is very heavy. When used as a pole, the tip grabs onto roots and such at the bottom of the shallow waters instead of sinking into the muck. I paddled around a bit, then, feeling too much like crocodile bait, returned to shore. For the river safari, we headed out over beautiful blue waters, past lilly pads and flowers, and Alan took us up some hippo channels where the boat would just barely fit. We had to duck under the grasses to get through some spots. We saw pied kingfishers, darters, cormorant, and two crocdiles, but no malachite kingfishers. But we enjoyed the trip famoiusly. Pete was upset that Rolf was absent when we returned, and quite happy when he returned from the game drive with the other group. 6/15 Saturday Today we fly back to Maun then to Francistown, then drive to Gabarone. We got all packed up after breakfast, then went for a bit of a game drive on the way to thte dirt airstrip. On the road were the remains of an impala killed last night, near the hippo lagoon. There was a head and ears, and 20 feet away was the stomach. Rolf found brown hyena tracks, but usually a brown hyena will leave only the skull and nothing else! It was a bit of a mystery to him. At the airstrip there were impala on the runway. So as we boarded the plane, Rolf and his wife drove down the runway and chased them off. As we took off I saw Rolf waving to us. Then we saw several water buffalo milling about just beyond the end of the runway. The flights were enjoyable and we loved watching the beautiful countryside rolling by beneath the plane. Then we had the long drive back to Gabarone. No more game, just cows, goats and people. Peter was so happy to get back to Nana's (Joan) house that he didn't want to leave to go out for dinner. We had little food, and had run out of cooking gas, so we ordered out for pizza. 6/16 Sunday The first order of business is to get more gas and groceries. That done, we have lunch and Eva and I wash Joan's car inside and out while the laundry dries. Peter wakes from his nap complaining of stomach cramps and is not his usual bouncy self. So he went to bed early and awoke frequently during the night. Eva and Joan have been discussing various possibilities and should'ves. 6/17 Monday After a fitful night Peter awoke feeling much better. But Eva awoke felling worse. An uneventful day of last minute shopping, packing, etc. Pete and I picked five shopping bags of lemons from Joan's tree. We stopped at a store that sold crafts and furniture made by the handicapped plus other art-type objects from the area. So we bought more stuff. 6/18 tuesday More packing, shopping and other misc. details consume the day. Pete and I walked over to the playground and played for a while. By the end of the day we are ready for the long flight home.