Sunday 11 November 2012

Botswana - the cycling

Leaving Francistown (finally!) after the lovely welcoming by Meredith and the visit to the Okavango, we head south. Capetown, we are coming!
There is more or less one big road heading to Gaborone. Which has quite heavy traffic. So besides wanting to visit Khama Rhino Sanctuary, we take a side road: lovely! Little traffic, very very friendly people, no noise, ...
Entering Gabs a Canadian family stops at the road side and invites us to their house. We really are lucky!

Our first couchsurfer host: a wonderful experience!

After a year of folding and unfolding, the windshield of our camping stove has given up. We haven't! So we have a DIY solution.


The main road has been rebuilt. We stay on the old road: no other traffic than donkey charts



China's everywhere! Quality? 

Visiting Khama Rhino Sanctuary we see lots of rhinos. These are small rhinos... adolescents!


Dung beetle feeding on rhino shit.

A night visitor: what is it?

The Kgotla: comminity democracy instrument in every village in Botswana.


Yann asking for water, the kids nearly tear down the fence. Yann feels like the president shaking hands!




No, she is not our kid!



This pic-nic spot is taken, so drive on





Astrid goes breast cancer awareness

Patch number ..? But 15'260 km! We are passing the tropic of capricorn


Rain, after a long time.


Entering Gabs. Very interested people. Are we in the newspaper again?



one of the villages we passed through

South of Gaborone we are invited in by a Canadian family! We spent 3 days talking French (ah, I love the Quebécois!), resting and feeling at home.



Größere Kartenansicht
our route

Botswana - the wildlife

After a hot day on the road from the Zimbabwean/Botswanan border to Francistown we meet our first couchsurfer host: Meredith, who has been living in Francistown for 20 years. She is running a tree nursery and a café with a lovely Lasagne! Our intended 2-day stay turns out to become more of a 1-week-we-don't-want-to-leave-anymore! First we start with a flashmob for breast cancer awareness (there is a video, but no, it won't be posted!), then she tells us all about the wonderful Okavango Delta and we end up renting a car to visit the Makhgadikhgadi salt pans, Maun, Moremi NP, Savuti NP and Chobe River front. We do 1'700 km in 8 days, what would take us 6 weeks on a bicycle. It's holidays!
So be prepared: there are lots pictures of animals!

Fire-prevention corridor.
Secret island!!! No coordinates, no hints ;-))
The salt pans.
Closeup: it's like mud and if you drive on it, don't stop, your car might drown.







Planet Baobab: a wonderful place. Where is Yann?



Hornbill or banana bird!
Moremi NP: lots lots lots of animals. Here an impala...
... a warthog...
What can you see on this picture?

Moremi NP: arriving on the campsite we are welcomed by this beautiful snake


Moremi NP: breakdown in the park: Chantal looks out for wild animals while Yann tries to understand the functioning of the high lift jack and changes the tyre!


water = green

Lions! Chantal's first ones! Now we can come home!
What the lions feed on...
Lovely evening light at Khwai Community Campsite



What is this? Who will find out?
Savuti NP: it's far away from everything, but the driving is nice!
Back on Chobe River, water makes all the difference.






Baobab blossoming