Magical Kalahari

For a long time we have talked about taking a holiday, still hoping we could go to Europe and Kenia but as time goes on we realize borders will stay closed for a while yet. More and more we think borders of Botswana will stay closed for the rest of the year. We didn't take a holiday (only some long weekends) since March so we decided to do a holiday in Botswana, a staycation, there are worse destinations in the world. We make many plans and possible tours, reality is that we have been everywhere in Botswana. Until we realize, why not go to our favorite place in Botswana, The Central Kalahari, Piper Pan. In normal times this place is booked out at least a year in advance. We call the reservations office and off-course it's still available. A week later we leave Maun for our trip.

The Central Kalahari (CKGR) is one of the biggest nature reserves in the world, occupying 10% of Botswana established in 1961. It's nearly double the size of Belgium. It's a flat dessert with bush and grasses covering low sand dunes. There are four old fossilized rivers that meander through the reserve making it a combination of open plains and sand dunes. There are no natural water resources but some man made water sources. The game is outstanding.

We leave Maun early on Sunday morning with a car full of our camping equipment, food, diesel, water and wood for cooking for 7 days . In the Kalahari there is nothing so you need to take everything with you. It's a good way to learn to consume less water, we always use around 15 liter for cooking, washing and showering. The wood we use for cooking and cosiness of the fire. We are well equipped for camping so we have a lot of stuff with us. Why not make yourself comfortable if you can.

The first 75 km goes over the tar road and from Makalabedi (village east of Maun) we start driving off road to the south, direction CKGR. The first part is a 90km straight sandy track. There is a manned gate where we register and enter the Kalahari, the first 40 km is over dunes until we reach the first open plain, called Deception Valley. Always a magical moment when you cross the last dune and see the plains opening up in front of you. From here it's another 100km to Piper Pan through the old river valley and in between crossing sand dunes. 

We see lots of general game on the way and a cheetah. 30km before our destination in a deep sandy track I feel we loose all power on the car. I try to push our vehicle in a lower gear but no improvement. After some meters we see that one of our tires has bursted, completely gone. We are stuck in the deep sand with
a flat tyre, not the best combination. We start unloading the car and looking for our tools to change the tyre. Quickly we realize that our wheel spanner does not fit on our wheel nuts. The wheel spanner came with the car, it's our first flat tyre since we bought the car and we never tested it, who does that anyway?

Without a wheel spanner there is no chance of getting the wheel off. Stranded in the deep red Kalahari sand with thick bushes around us, there is no way we can stay here. We know the area and after 1,5km there is a road crossing where the surface is hard so we decide to drive to that place on the rim. It takes more than 1 hour to reach the spot. I walk behind the car, both plowing through the sand. Driving towards Deception Valley we only saw 1 car (Dan,

someone we know from Maun). While chatting to Dan on the way in we told him how magical Piper Pan is so we hope he will come there otherwise we will be stuck for a while. We can easily and comfortably survive for 12 days. Both of us are relaxed and we realize that it is what it is and if you can't change the situation, accept it and make the best of your new reality. We know that when we don't show up next week in Maun, friends will start looking for us. We enjoy a relaxed evening with a good glass of wine and are flabbergasted by the stars showing above us from horizon to horizon. We fall asleep peacefully. The moon lightens the night sky ... magical.

In the early morning I wake up from a sound of a truck, is this wishful dreaming? The sound gets louder and louder so I wake up Katrijn who is fast asleep. We see a landrover coming closer and there is Dan together with Dennis, hooray! They are very surprised to see us standing there and first thought we just didn't reach our destination in time. As they drive a landrover their wheel spanner also does not fit our wheel nuts but Dan has a big toolbox with him and lots of different spanners, the men make a plan while Katrijn makes coffee. It takes a wile but we manage to change the tyre, hooray again! We pack up and continue our drive to our destination, Piper Pan a day later than planned. 

Piper Pan consist of 3 big open pans (plains) surrounded by dunes. The grazing is great so it attracts a lot of animals followed by predators. There is a man made waterhol, animals stay here the whole year. On arrival at Piper Pan it feels magical, here you are far away from the world, no corona, no network, no news. Just nothing apart from being surrounded by beautiful nature. We check out the waterhole and bam, a beautiful male lion resting in the shade of a low bush, magic again. The Kalahari lions are so beautiful and big. Different from other lions you see in Africa. 

We drive on to our campsite. It's a big word for a tree you can camp under. There is a long-drop toilet(hole in the ground) and a bucket shower (bucket with shower head mounted on), both in round wooden open air cubicles. In the area are 2 campgrounds, the other one is 6km away and nobody there. From our camp spot we have a beautiful view over the pan with grazing springboks, oryx, wildebeest, ...  and many birds. We asked Dan and Dennis to come for lunch and during lunch we convince them to stay overnight. They left their tent and equipment in Deception Valley but we make a plan like you always do in Africa. Lovely evening around the fire ... magic again.

The whole night we hear lions roaring... magic... and in the morning we find lions at 250 meters from our campsite. Around lunch Dan and Dennis drive back. We see in total 3 cars in 7 days. No tourist here, thank you covid-19! The last 4 days we see nobody. In the morning we go for a game drive, returning back to camp to eat and relax in the heat of the day. And again in the late afternoon on a gamedrive. We see so much game, many lions, bat eared foxes, jackals, honey-badger, a group of 30 ostriches, oryx, wildebeest, springboks,... the sunset and sunrise are breathtaking. We can add 2 birds we never saw before to our long list and a Cape Cobra (highly dangerous and venomous). Every night we hear lions roaring around us, the jackals howling,... We enjoy the magic and just living in the moment.

After 5 days we pack up and drive very slowly to Deception Valley, not taking any risks as we have no spare tyre. On the way we see 2 beautiful cheetahs, a mother with her male sub adult cub. They relax in the shade until they see a group of springbok in the distance. Excited and hungry they decide to try approaching them. The slowly walk to the thick bushes and through the edge getting closer and closer to them. A giraffe notices the cheetah and start approaching them which alerts the springboks. So gone chance for the cheetah to catch a meal. Magic again! We see more game and cheetah on the way. Our last night we enjoy a lekker braai and after a good nights rest we drive slowly back to Maun. Both happy we make it without another flat tyre. Arriving home we are greeted a warm welcome by our domestic wildlife ... 

MAGICAL moments just happen on earth and there where you are if you are open to it!

Cambodia pre Corona

For the second year in a row we go to Asia (February 2020), first time was Thailand, now we did Cambodia. We leave Maun 2 days before our flight from Windhoek (capital of Namibia - 800 km west of Maun) as we want to take it easy. The first day we drive to Gobabis where we overnight, first time camping in our new rooftop tent. The drive to Windhoek is smooth, especially on the Namibian side, the roads are pothole and cattle free. Arriving in Windhoek, we drop my bike at the workshop. Maun does not have a bike shop, the closest place to Maun to get a bike fixed is Gaborone. I need new tyres and a general service. We collect my mountainbike on our return from Cambodia. There is a fancy Specialized (brand) shop here. Windhoek is a city we love, not overcrowded, well organized, clean and everything is widely available. A place where we like to spend time and where we could live. The timing of our arrival is perfect for lunch, the weather is nice and the location stunning. Led by hunger we order way too much food and struggle to finish, holidays have started. The next day we take the Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Abeba - on arrival it's the first time they take our temperature, corona was still the Chinese virus for us. In the middle of the night we connect to Bangkok. Immigrations goes fast, second time so we know the process. Everybody is wearing face masks but that is not unusual here. 

Last year we spent 3 nights in Bangkok and decided it's worth another visit, this time we spend 5 nights in total in the vibrant city. Bangkok is life, day and night, we love it! Some places are crowded with tourists but you can avoid that. Around the Royal Palace and Wat Pho it's always busy, walking through the area, street vendors constantly call out "Long pants" to us. After a while we realize I'm wearing shorts and you are obligated to wear long trousers in the temples. Last year we visited Wat Pho, very over crowded to see 1 big golden boedha. This temple is so overrated in our opinion and you have to queu to get in, unbelievable. This time we just want to get lost in Bangkok and follow our instincts. We walk a lot. Just enjoying and discovering the most beautiful neighborhoods and deserted temples. We lose ourselves in the organized chaos of Bangkok. 

After 4 days Bangkok we take a flight to Cambodias capital, Phnom Penh. This place feels completely different. Where the welcome in Thailand is very hearty it's a rather cold welcome in Cambodia. The paperwork takes some time, even though we received visas before travel. Phnom Penh is chaotic and misses a soul. Bangkok is also chaotic but there is a kind of logic in the chaos there. Walking through Phnom Penh you immediately feels the French influence. All restaurant menu's have typical French dishes and they look and feel like an old fashioned French brasserie. You see one bakery next to another that sells baguettes and croissants. The only reason for us to go to Phnom Penh is to visit the killing fields and S21 (both led by Khmer Rouge). It leaves us speechless. That this has happened in recent history is mind blowing even worse is that the European Union kept on supporting Pol's Pot party until the late nineties. There is a lot written about the mass genocide in Cambodia so not going to do that here. After the heavy visit we need some distraction. We end up in Sora, a sky bar in the fancy and iconic Vattanac Capital Tower. Spectacular view over the city, spectacular wines and cocktails, spectacular food but mostly a spectacular bill and a slight headache the next morning. 

By road transfer we drive to Koh Andet. Our driver has all the corona symptoms, continuously sniffing, sweating and coughing, but we're convinced he can't have it as Cambodia only has one case. He drops us off under a bridge over the Tati river where we are collected by boat. We stay in a floating lodge. Nice

from far but far from nice. Not what we expected nor in line with the price but we immediately decide to make the most of it. The rooms are floating on the river, the views are great. There is a old German manager, he took over to fix the ongoing issues without a lot of success. He tells us many stories but above all he is full of crap. The staff does not speak any English but we help ourselves. From the long wine list they had 4 wines and after we left there was no wine left. We swim and kayak a lot and enjoy the sun, rest and just being. 

For us every holiday must have beach time. After our floating lodge we take a road transfer to Kep, a small city in the south east of Cambodia. We stay in the most perfect beach resort, stunning and built and ran to our preferences.

5 nights are not enough. Kep is the place to eat Kampot Crab (crab with a pepper sauce). Not really our taste. We stick to all available LokLak and Amok dishes. Every bottle Presesco served by tour waiter is tasteful, he can just not pronounce Prosecco. While we are at the beach the president of Cambodia allows a corona suspected cruise ship to dock close to where we stay. For us the sign or better the last push to buy face masks. Widely available in Cambodia.  

You can't visit Cambodia without seeing the temples of Angkor close to Siem Reap. To get there we need to overwin our newly developed road fear a last time. The traffic in Cambodia is hectic. We have driven

ourselves through Cairo and I thought it could not get worse but it can. We see many accidents and close our eyes many times. In Siem Reap we see René and Marije (friends from Maun), they are on a 2 months trip through Asia. The reunion is warm. We visit the ancient city of Angkor together, they on there locally bought motorbike and we on a rented motorized bike. The temples are breathtaking. Corona is in full force in China so there are hardly tourists. China is by far the major tourist market for Cambodia. We have the temples to ourselves, magical. 

In Siem Reap you have a hotelschool where you can go for lunch and by doing so you support the school.

Seeing I also did hotelschool I really wanted to see that place. Sala Bai is fighting poverty and human traffic through a social and professional hotel and restaurant training of young underprivileged Cambodians. Very touched by this. The food was stunning, service a bit clumsy but that's part of the experience and training. What really stands out is the poor level of English (this goes for the whole of Cambodia). We ask ourselves "How is this possible?". While talking to the teacher English we get the answer as we don't understand a word of what she says. I give them some tips to improve and I was very touched to see afterwards on social media they implemented some of these. The last evening in Cambodia we have dinner with René and Marije, nice as always!

On our return we spend another 3 days in Bangkok, the city that never bores you. The last evening we go to a lady boy show. We are seated on the first row but we move after 10 minutes of show as I fear I will end on the podium. The show is really bad. On our return by boat to the hotel we see an unforgettable fireworks show. The last day we spend on the Chatuchak weekend market. The market is endlessly big, you can literally buy everything here you can imagine. 

In the middle of the night we board direction Addis Abeba with face mask on and then on to Windhoek. On arrival we experience that the corona madness has arrived in Africa. 2,5 weeks after our return we close all our lodges and go into a proper lockdown. We never thought of this while enjoying our trip through Asia. We realize how lucky we have been to travel without problems. Asia, we will be back!!

What a life?! In paradise!?

As a reaction on my first blog post, The Selinda Spoilway, I received a message from a friend saying we have a great life and I can't agree more. On this blog I will not only write about our travels and adventures but also about living and working in Botswana. In the past I only wrote about traveling. According to some people we are on a permanent holiday, which I understand if you look at our life from the outside but which unfortunately is not true. Yes, we live a good life, or better a great life but we also need to work for an income. We even work harder or better more than we ever did in Belgium. Our life now is a life of extreems and our work is blended into our everyday life. Long time ago when I was still in Belgium every body was talking about the work/life balance, I never believed in that. It's al about how it blends for me, sometimes our blend is bad, sometimes good and other times perfect, depending on what is happening and that is completely fine.

No matter where you live or what you do, every place and job comes with advantages and disadvantages. Everybody has their own preferences and what's important to them. We are all individually responsible for making our lives happen and living our dreams. 

The red dot is where our house is located

Life in this part of the world is a life of extremes in my opinion, it can be a life in paradise or the oposite. Some basic things what we were used to can be a struggle like water, fuel, electricity, wifi, food, ... Before I never had any gratitude for these things, I took everything for granted. Now we have learned the hard way that you can do without. I read in the newspapers that there is no electricity in a city in Europe for some hours and the whole country is complaining or when a train departs 2 minutes to early in Japan the whole government has to apologies. It's all about what you are used too. But the more you have the less you see what you have.

Let me talk about the basic needs. Electricity, the longest we have been without is 5 days in a row, I don't have to tell you what it does with your freezer. One could buy a generator but for now we refuse to, we always make a plan. That's how it goes here, for everything which is not working out we just make a plan. Water, we are sorted, we have a borehole. Maun can be days without water, especially with the drought we had these last 2 years. Now the river is flowing again through Maun so you would think that is sorted but no it isn't. Wifi, slow but working and wildly expensive. Botswana is in the top 5 worldwide of costly wifi connections. The heat, I love it and I can cope very well with it. I now struggle with the cold. Winter can be freezing cold for us, sometimes just 22 degrees during the day and 3 at night. I realize coming from Belgium this sound ridiculous but your body adapts quickly. I remember last year we had a friend over and he was sleeping straight underneath the aircon and we were sleeping under a feather duvet. Food, easy, you cook with what you find, the good thing is you never need a shopping list, you buy what is there. 

But, it is what it is, my reality is that we live in paradise. Hippos are living in front of our house and snorting throughout the night. We wake up with the sound of the fish eagles patrolling their territory. We have elephants walking over our driveway. The sun shines every day. Our community is one of respect and friendliness. Life in the fast lane doesn’t exist here, only the now lane. No traffic jams, we call 5 cars in front of us busy traffic. Our relationships with friends and family were never so intens or close. We learn every day about nature and humanity. 

Daily we walk the floodplain with our two beautiful dogs (Monster - named after the cookymonster, always fighting for food when he was a puppy - and Spotty - as she is spotted and a diva). Every time I walk over the same pathway I realize how fortunate I am to live here and I'm proud that we made it happen. Our garden is the Okavango Delta, probably the most pristine wildlife area in the world and it's 45 minutes drive from our house. 

The question we are asked the most is; "Will you stay there?" ... Who knows what the future brings and we live in the now ... who would have imagined 2020 being what it is so far.

More than ever we live our dreams.

The Selinda spoilway!

Since May the lockdown has eased up in Botswana and slowly lodges in the Okavango Delta are opening for local tourism. The government of Botswana is really pushing for local travel which is great. A lot of companies are putting out special prices into the market to attract local travellers. Normally most Botswana lodges will charge more than 1000 USD per person per night even up to 4000 USD a night. This is way above our budget so those luxury lodges are normally only accessible for us when we get a FOC (free of charge). As prices are a fraction of the normal cost it's time to start discovering some new places. We spent a lot of time in our own lodges off-course (www.africanbushcamps.com) but that is not the same, when we are there, we constantly work. It's very difficult, nearly impossible to spend a holiday in your own lodge. In later posts I will talk more about my job and the place I work.

First on our list is a lodge from Great Plains, a company running many very fancy lodges. We have booked a room (you can't call it a room ... rather a grand suite) in Selinda Camp. The camp is accessible by road but it is a 7 hour drive or you can fly in 40 minutes, easy decision. Perfectly on time we check in for our flight. In normal times the very small airport of Maun is full (still not sure what everybody means by normal and where I can find the definition of normal. Normal means something different for everybody in my opinion). Before we leave I have a quick meeting in front of the airport with a business contact. Not much time for it as we have to leave. We are flying together with an Indian couple from Gaborone (capital Botswana, 900 km south of Maun) in a Caravan (not a draghut - literal translation from sleurhut - like most people from the Netherlands have) but a Cessna type of aircraft, a 10 seater airplane. The flight goes over the Delta full of water. The Indian couple is extremely excited and very much in love. The views are spectacular but we live here and saw it many times (In normal times, my normal times, I fly nearly weekly over the Delta). So I catch up on some work and do some Portuguese lessons. The flight is uneventful and the touchdown smooth. We are welcomed by Reuben, our transfer guide, who will bring us to Selinda Camp. It takes around an hour to get there over sandy roads and through beautiful landscapes. On the way we find a pack of lions, 13 in total. 3 lionesses with 7 cubs of 6 months old and 1 lioness with 2 tiny cubs of maximum 3 months old. Seen they were born during lockdown they are not used to cars. So for them it's not normal to see cars, for the other cubs it's normal, so normal is what is normal to you!? 

The welcome is hearty and immediately we are both blown away by the view and the beauty of the lodge. The main area is spacious and full of grandeur. The room is stunning with a private pool. Its way too cold to swim, winter here, but it's nice to look at. On arrival we have to wash our hands and we are introduced to the covid rules which we know by now and is our new normal!?

The drives are great and always stunning, full of wildlife and the landscape is magical. We share the car and our guide Joe with a farming couple from Ghanzi (town 300 km South East from Maun). They like to go out in the mornings and we in the afternoon. Perfect mix so we always have a private drive. The Indian couple has their own guide and car as he is proposing to her. Katrijn saw this coming, I didn't at all. I don't know if that is normal or masculine, probably both. 

We spend 3 nights at Selinda and it's superb. Food which is very important for us is very tasteful, colorful, surprising and announced like in the best restaurants in the world. Every morning we do yoga and a meditation session  on our deck in the morning sun. Service impeccable. Life is good. Katrijn says... "I can't find anything which I can fault" ... first time this happens. The absolute highlight is seeing the water pushing into the Selinda Spilway (river) which was dry for some years. At the tip of the creeping water over the bone dry sand is a huge gathering of bird life trying to get the fish and froggs that are traveling with the water. It is pure magic to see this happen. It brings a whole area back to life. Water is life. The ecosystem of the Okavango Delta is a fascinating subject, I will do a blog post later about it.

Return to reality is quick and hard as this is a place you don't want to leave. Flying back to Maun is slightly bumpy and easy and I go back to my normal of sending messages and doing Portuguese. We say goodbye to the Ganzi couple and  the nearly weds. They all want to share contact details, I'm not interested in this. Nice to spend time together but that is enough, if life wants we will meet again. For sure we will go again.