26^th July 2013

Zimbabwe at last.

It seems fair to say that having celebrated several ‘halfway points’ Zimbabwe is the key point of departure. Once we leave Zim (It is worth pointing out that in this region a great deal of time effort and energy is saved by abbreviating the names of countries. So Zim, Zam and Bots are all apparently acceptable titles) we will really be pointing in the direction of home and to some extent it is kind of a point of no return. For the past few weeks our conversation has been punctuated with, ‘if we want to break our journey then we could retreat to the Shoestrings in Johannesburg, leave the van there and have a break or even fly home for the break’. There have been many times when we have been sorely tempted, despite a strong desire to see the whole thing through. We are acutely aware that many of these despatches have been dominated by a tiresome commentary on the state of our tyres.  Neither of us wants such pessimism to prevail so we will try to avoid the subject although it will be difficult.

28^th June 2013

We crossed the border from Botswana into Zimbabwe

We left our friends Abi and Jerry in Botswana we had such a lovely meeting with them for 3 days, but travel is the name of the game so we did have to part but it was a treat to spend time with them.

We made the short drive to the border and crossed out of Botswana without difficulty and then into Zimbabwe. This side of the crossing was chaotic and everything took place in a tiny office with 4 service windows. 2 windows were marked customs and 2 marked immigration. Oddly the immigration window had two people working in one, although the window next to it was empty.  The two customs windows were staffed but one was run off his feet and the other guy did apparently nothing. The hall was packed out with travellers.   It took about an hour and we emerged with our passports stamped and about US$100 lighter, and off we went.

Now, I did say I would try not to mention these things but after about 20 km we had another puncture! So I put on a brave face and set about seeing if I can get the wheel change down to less than 15 minutes.

Not to be! It seems that when we had the tubes changed, the guys who put on the wheels had apparently left the wheel nut machine on and gone to lunch, because I could not shift the wheel nuts. I put an extra extension on the wheelbrace but it would not shift only bent the extension bar.

Then I used my long socket wrench and that broke.

I flagged down a truck and the driver gave me a 4 foot long tube which only helped me to twist the wheelbrace!

So what to do? A very nice chap stopped to help and we decided that Ping should go to Victoria Falls about 40km away and get help from the people who run the lodge we were going to. We knew them a little and thought they may be able to help.

As Ping left with this nice man, his parting shot was to say, “do not stand outside the van too much as there are a lot of lions a round here”. Oh great!

I waited for more than 3 hours for her return, I had time to ponder the irony, Ping who has yet to see a lion, not being around to witness me getting eaten by one!

Several people stopped to offer help and to advised that I should be careful as ‘there are a lot of lions round here!’

There was a brief further irony when an elephant came out of the bush, crossed in front of the van, about 20 feet away, he stopped, turned,  looked me in the eyes, making me consider that instead of getting eaten by a lion, I was in danger of getting charged  by an elephant instead.  Sorry to ruin a good story but he merely turned away and disappeared on to the other side of the road, leaving me to  sweat and shake until Ping came back with our saviour whose name was Ishmael.  He had found that there was no help to be had at the lodge so he had brought a mechanic friend together with the local tyre man who struggled for more than half an hour before finally chiselling off the wheel stud protector which is a bit like a hubcap on steroids. Having chiselled it off he was able to put a flat ring spanner on it with a big lever and with huge effort eventually the nuts were freed and the wheel was changed after some 4 hours or so.  We then followed Ishmael, who was unstinting in helping us. After all he drove some 80 km and took a lot of his time. That night we took him and his wife to dinner which turned out to be a lovely evening.

We set ourselves up at the lodge. It was necessary to stay there a few days to get the wheels sorted out, clean the van and generally get all our ducks in a row.

We met with 3 young lads who it turned out were from The Harrow School which is just up the road from our home. They were travelling for a few weeks around Southern Africa before going off to University.  They were such good company and we enjoyed spending quite a lot of time with them.  We went to watch them hurl themselves off the Victoria Falls Bridge attached to rubber bands. God knows why they would want to do that.

looking for Zambezi crocs

And we had a really interesting walk along the mighty Zambesi River which seen above Victoria Falls is quite serene and beautiful albeit crammed full of crocodiles and hippos. Our walk took us to ‘The Big Tree’ which is a Baobab about 1500 years old and is quite big.  While there, our Harrow boys put their cricket skills to use by hurling rocks into a palm tree as a ranger had enthusiastically informed them that you can eat the fruit. To my amazement they succeeded to bring some of the fruit down. Coincidently these fruit have the appearance of a cricket ball. The ranger showed us how to peel them. We were then able to cut off slices and eat. I am here to tell you that despite never having tried to eat one I found that they had the texture and flavour of a bloody cricket ball!  You can chalk that up as another of our exotic experiences.

The wonderful and mighty  Victoria falls

Ping and I spent the day at The Falls which was a wonderful experience. It is hard to describe the experience. It is best to say that they are so much more than a waterfall. In total they are about a mile long, which makes Niagra  look like a bit of a sissy by comparison.  We have experienced the sensation of rain rising upwards and the ‘Smoke’ which rises from the falls can be seen for miles. Just incredible!

We went to sort out our puncture and the guy who managed, with difficulty to shift the other wheel nuts, told us that the previous firm had again fitted the wrong size of tubes.  Like an idiot I took his word for it and took up an argument with the previous firm.  They apologised profusely about the wheel nut problem but insisted that they had fitted the right size tubes.  We learned later, a little too late, that the correct size is not available in Zimbabwe. So we now owe an apology to Maxx Tyres of Maun Botswana. And I am still afraid of when the next tyre problem will come; we are now up to 19 punctures in 9 months.

At the Shoestrings Lodge we also met some remarkable people, a group of South Africans travelling together as they do every year. They brought with them their own fridge stuffed to the top with essentials, it was like a well-stocked bar! Jacques,  Adam, Freddie and Chris were a bunch of very funny as well as interesting and thoughtful guys.

We made friends with Tim, the man who owns the lodge premises. Tim and his friend Martin kept us entertained with interesting tales of what life had once been in Zimbabwe and before Rhodesia. We were invited to stay with Martin in Bulawayo which was also a very generous and enjoyable experience.

Breakfast with Martin 'Jolly cicvilised!'

Martin and Tim are in the process of starting a new business of bottling and selling Zambezi Water. They are yet to go into production but we sincerely wish them well with the venture. 

We left the lovely town of Vic Falls to drive to Bulaweyo.  We broke our journey to spend a day in Hwange (pronounced Wankie) National Park. Very enjoyable, saw two rhinos and had a startling confrontation with a giraffe. As we came round a dark corner he was standing in the middle of the road. It was close enough that we were pretty much eyeball to eyeball; it took several seconds of alarm on both our parts before he took flight and loped off into the bush.  However, there were no lions to be seen.

Everywhere you drive in Zim, there are police checkpoints, sometimes every few miles. It is hard to know what their real purpose is. They seem obsessed with minor traffic offences. We got fined $5 for not having a number plate light. It hard to think of a matter less relevant to good order anywhere in Africa than a number plate light, which leads one to suppose that this is either a source of corrupt income or a form of taxation. It is also an important part of the dangerously oppressive regime which is concealed just below the surface. Tension is palpably though silently rising as a general election is just a few weeks away.

On the way to Bulaweyo we stopped to help at an accident where a minibus taking a gospel choir was overturned due to a disintegrating tyre. We had to deal with 5 people with serious injuries and two with lesser ones. As it turned out we had to nurse them for more than one and a half hours as the ambulance failed to arrive and we ended up sending them to a local clinic in a police pickup truck. I hope we made a difference but altogether it was not a happy scene.

As we drove away, we saw a road sign we have never seen before ‘Deadly Hazard!’  They were not kidding as the road gave way suddenly to mountainous undulations in the road. 15kph was quite enough.

First sitting for dinner!

We stayed a couple of days with Martin before we set off for a place called Antelope park which is and incredibly well run camp dedicated to supporting Zimbabwe’s dwindling lion population They offer up close and personal experiences with lions which was not to be missed.

    Ping finally got her lion(s).

Having had a really interesting and enjoyable time in Antelope Park and after we witnessed three lions being fed, we left quite late in the day to move on to Harare.

It was quite a long drive complicated by a bit of a ‘navigation glitch’ by Vasco de Gamma in the navigators seat! This as well as the numerous police checks we’ve had to stop for. No fines this time but rather bizarrely, one where the officer did not ask for documents but said ‘I am happy to find you are quite well ‘.  Then he waved us on. We arrived in Harare after dark which was very trying. I was very tired, there were no street lights at all and lots of unlit bikes, pedestrians and the odd stray cows. We were so glad when we found a backpackers lodge and I was able to stop at last.

The place we stayed was a peculiar place filled with all kinds of beautiful African art but the whole place was in a very poor state of repair. Dozens of notices entreating you to save water,  but which went on to instruct you in some detail about how you might make use of the bathroom but failing to tell you that the shower does not actually work. 

Picture the scene if you will, I had just removed all my clothes, found a safe place for my glasses , climbed into the shower to find that there was no water coming out. Lots of signs around but none indicating that it was out of order. Don’t want to picture it?  I understand!

We had a long standing arrangement to meet up with the family of a friend of Pings from work, as well as another former colleague who was coming to Zimbabwe following a family tragedy.

The next day we met with Sebastian, the brother of Ping’s friend.  He met us with his friend John with whom he had arranged for us to park our van in his garden.

John, Sebastion and the gang

What turns out is that these good friends have made us incredibly welcomed. We stayed for over a week with the van being moved from his home to a mechanic who overhauled the van prior to the last leg of our journey.

We have also met with one other colleague of Pings who had to come back to Zim for a funeral. 

Elliot and Gladys 

Elliot and Gladys have been very kind. He brought us some new inner tubes which were unavailable in Zimbabwe.  Despite being deeply embroiled in sorting out problems here in Zim, he showed us around town and introduced us to his family.

As I write it is becoming more evident that the tension around is heightening.

16^th July 2013

So what are we doing now?

The van is in for overhaul. They have been incredibly thorough and have found that the brake master cylinder needs replacing. This has turned into a bit of a saga.  It has not been easy to find a new on in Zimbabwe so what about a repair kit?  Not one to be found here!

Finally a new cylinder has emerged but is hugely overpriced and we are currently engaged in a fairly robust negotiation session. I am sure it will work out, one way or another. I did find a van of the same vintage which is being broken for parts I got quite excited as I opened the bonnet to find that there has been a fire of exactly the same type as we had and there are no usable parts to be had.

We continued to stay in John’s house; he is such a good host and very good company.

Bilbo, Bilbo! Where do yer think you’re going? Ouchh!

John has a dog called Bilbo he is getting on a bit, he is as blind as a bat with cataracts and maybe suffering a bit of age related daftness. The day’s events are punctuated with Bilbo crashing into things. It is both funny and distressing in equal measures to see Bilbo happily wandering around and if you see him heading into trouble you must reach out and redirect him. However he doesn’t really seem to learn much, being quite able to ram a bookcase that has been there since the dawn of time. He will repeat this two or three times a day. This morning he enthusiastically ran to greet his master when he came home, he succeeded in running headlong into his stationary car! It really is hard to watch. The other day he was found wandering around in the empty swimming pool!

Bilbo complete with cataracts ( this not redeye!)

John has said he would like us to appeal to our readers, are there any vets out there who can advise him if there is likely to be any kind of treatment for a dog with cataracts?

Pity Poor Bilbo!

Money laundering!

One of the very interesting things happening in Zim at the moment is the use of the US dollar.  As most people are aware the country went through a long period of the most startling inflation of the Zim dollar it all came to an end after they had issued a 30 Trillion dollar banknote. Someone had the inspired idea that as the US dollar was being used for an alternative economy, it was decided to adopt the US dollar as their own currency. I do not think it was done with the wholehearted blessing of the US treasury. Prices are very high and something had to be done. So the US dollar is used as the currency. 
There is a downside and that is that there is no exchange or replacement of old notes and so, especially small denomination notes just go round and round  as they become increasingly grubby and tatty. The problem is that after a while no one wants these barely recognisable notes and there is a kind of pass the parcel game that goes on as no one wants to be stuck with them. It might be a kindness if the US Treasury could offer to help them out.

Dollars that can't be used outside Zimbabwe

We have to get some visas sorted out.  We were lulled into a false sense of ease by the Tanzanian Embassy who made it very easy to get our passports stamped. The lady was charming and very able. Whilst we were there we saw her taking the fingerprints from a baby who was fast asleep. I had to bite my tongue as she was making such a lash up of it, I wanted to get in and show her how to take fingerprints.

We then moved on to the Ethiopian embassy which was another story altogether. First we had to encounter their security system. There were no signs to direct us to the visa section. There was a huge locked wrought iron gate barring our way with a kind of shelter for a security guard but he was notable by his absence. So there was no one to ask.   I wandered around not knowing how to get in when a nice man in a UN car called me over as he drove past and explained that I had to reach around behind the lock and find the key and with that let myself in.  Voila! We were in.

We found no visa section, only a rather odd little reception. We were handed forms to complete and told it was no problem at all to get a 90 day visa. Once the forms were completed etc we were told that we couldn’t have a visa as we do not have residency in Zimbabwe. We argued and pleaded and tried to use any means we could to get a visa.  Going through Ethiopia was the only practical route to Egypt, and they weren’t going to give us a visa.

We went to the British Embassy in Harare but they were not able to help much. Then Ping remembered that she had been given the blog address of another person who has kept a very detailed blog of their journey. Low and behold there was a detailed account of how to get an Ethiopian visa the detail included how to get the best from the disposition of the woman who issues them in Kenya.

Elliot and his wife Gladys took us to visit his friend and relatives in Mtera. What wonderful and hospitable people. We met Annette who is disappointed that we are not spending more time with them. We will leave Zimbabwe on Friday 26/7/13, on to Zambia. We both feel we need to start moving along partly as we would like to be back in Europe in October and also as we are getting a little anxious about Egypt being the only route out of Africa. We hope things will be ok enough by then.

Pullin Chicks!

On the way back from Mtara,   we were asked to take 100 chicks in a cardboard box to hand them on to the farm workers who would meet us along the way. When we got there we found them with a huge tractor which would not start. We handed over demented chicks who were frantically chirping away. A lorry driver had agreed to give a tow start to the tractor. It was a truly surreal scene in the pitch dark the lorry had a cargo of a number of soldiers (no explanation they just were!) towing an unlit tractor using a chain that was no more than 4 feet long.  It was hazardous and strange but they got the tractor started, Elliot somehow ended up paying the truck driver for his efforts and we all went our separate ways, some with and some without lights.

Zimbabwe is a beautiful interesting country and the people are almost universally pleasant, helpful and polite. We have again been the subject of extraordinary hospitality and newfound friends. Oh yes, even the cops on the incessant road checks are always friendly especially when they are after your money. However I shall be glad to leave as I am finding the tension here is rubbing off on me a bit.

I am writing this in a campsite on the shores of Lake Kariba. During the drive here we have been again subjected to incessant police checks. On one occasion as I was driving at no more than 70 kph due to the road conditions, we were stopped by a cop proudly carrying a radar speed gun. He showed me the dial on the gun and told me that I was doing 92kp I said “No, I was not, this truck doesn’t do 92 kph”. He looked baffled, “so I said, “see you later!” and drove away, all very odd!   

Later on at another checkpoint we were threatened with being brought to court over a spurious offence and even threatened with arrest.  I am sorry to say that I settled the matter in the only way that brought a smile to the cops face. It was either that or I was in for a very uncomfortable time and a long delay. I have to say it was horrible and I find it so difficult to see how these ineffectual and greedy police officers contribute to maintaining the peace or for that matter road safety in their proud country. When the cop directly asked me how much I would pay him to avoid court I had to bite my tongue not to ask him if his mother is proud of him!

As we wait to cross the border to Zambia, I have to say that despite being so well treated by so many people and having made friends with some very decent people we nevertheless feel a strong sense of relief.  Zimbabwe may often appear to us in Europe as being a country that is still somehow on its knees and a very unpleasant place to be. This is just not the case, it is in many ways growing and flourishing, sometimes against the odds and amid difficult politics. The country strides on mostly smiling  as they go.

So all being well we will turn in the direction of home!

Hippos on the doorstep

For now though as we  sit on the bank of the lake There are hippos mooching past in search of some fresh grass (no kidding!) there are signs warning of wandering crocodiles and the crickets are singing their crickety songs It is moderately scary!

Next stop Zambia, keep the emails coming
Love
Ping and Noel

Tthere may be troubles ahead

2nd July 2013

There may be troubles ahead!

From 3^rd June……….Leaving Namibia

We said goodbye to Windhoek we set off north.

Before I get into the  recent events I thought I would say a bit about the blog itself.

It is often quite difficult to physically type it up as electricity  and a quiet opportunity is not always easy to find, as well getting a strong enough internet connection can be very difficult a lot of the time.  In fact to send this blog  we had to wait until we could find a source  of  quite expensive wifi time  in order to despatch it.

Although it is quite an undertaking we love doing it. It is possibly the most satisfying aspect of what we are doing. It is great to chronicle our adventure as well as a way of keeping in touch with our friends and supporters.

It may interest you to know that our readership is somewhere up near the 10,000 mark,  we get a map with the places in the world that we have readers. It is truly astonishing to find that we have readers as far apart as Latvia and Japan. Australia and China.  We get emails from people who we have never met, some planning similar journeys  and others are reading out of interest.

The night before we moved on from Windhoek, we were driving back to the Cardboard box Backpackers' Lodge  just as the 5pm traffic was getting underway. We came across a road accident where a motorcyclist had been sideswiped by a car 

I went to help and found a seriously ill motorcyclist with a great deal of blood coming from his helmet, he was unconscious.  An ambulance arrived surprisingly quickly and I helped the crew who appeared ill equipped to do this but did the best they could. I was really shocked to hear the crew ask a friend of his if he has any medical insurance.  I had known that this is something that gets raised in places where health care is not free but this was the first time I had encountered it for real. It was going to dictate which hospital he went to.

I have worried a lot about him since but I have to say very sadly that I would be surprised if he will make it.

Namibia is a prosperous country with its diamond mining, as well as other minerals and new found oil.  As we drove further towards Northern Namibia, it became plain that a large swathe of the country does not benefit from these rich deposits. We past rural townships and villages one after the other where it was plain that the residents here were very poor, living in tin shacks and something we had not seen since we left West Africa,  was people waiting at crossroads for a delivery of the water tanker. They had plastic 20 litre containers that they would walk back long distances to their home. It was a revelation that such a contrast exists in such a prosperous country. It is hard to see a positive aspect.

We stopped at a town called Rundu, where I realised that the engine sounded quite different.  Further investigation did not reveal anything obvious, but it was however clear that it was not up for the next 3000km. We were directed to the local fuel wholesaler  who has a  repair shop which although it is there for maintaining their fleet,  I was pleased to see that they were available to public punters.   We drove in and spoke to the man in charge, Sarel Vermak. 

What an interesting and helpful guy! He identified that our Turbo had made a bid for freedom. All four bolts were sheared off and the exhaust gasses were breathing fire and brimstone.  Not good!  Sarel agreed to fix it. It was an absolute stinker of a job, which actually took a day and a half to, in effect replace 4 bolts.

Sarel, Wilfred and that's me on the right

Sarel with the help of Wilfred, and his lovely team of guys set about the task. At the end of that day, we realised that it was not going to get finished. Sarel made it clear that we were not only welcome to camp in their yard but if we needed we could go to his home for a shower. It was cold that night and despite that ,we actually spent quite a comfortable night in the garage.

At this point, I realised to my surprise that I was able to take all this in my stride despite my previously feeling so worn down by various breakdowns. This was because Sarel and his team were incredibly generous and helpful.  Sarel,  please take our grateful thanks  and tell the guys they are alright!

Just before we left they even insisted on washing the van down before we could go.

Angola from across the water

That night, Sarel directed us to a great camp site by the Okavango River. In the morning, we saw that we were just across the water from Angola. As a consolation prize, we took some pictures as we couldn’t get the visa to visit that country.

Later in the day, we had to drive a long stretch and it emerged that we were again leaking exhaust fumes and heat.  We stopped at a kind of service station where we located Ismael, who does all the car repairs and holds court in the midst of an array of stripped out cars. Ismael agreed to fix the leak and whilst waiting for the engine to cool down, he went walkabout. Whilst he was gone a rather strange kid appeared with a loud radio and got into one of the old cars and started doing ‘vrooming’.  When Ismael returned he shooed the kid away. He told me that he likes to pretend he is driving and was abit of a nuisance. Ismael fixed the exhaust leak and told me to start it up. I pointed out that I had already given him the keys. Ismael stood up straight, his eyes bulging with realisation!

He exclaimed f***! That kid!  And ran off!

He returned about half an hour later with our keys. Ismael then severely overcharged us and off we went, talking about what a pain it would have been if the keys had not been recovered. I had decided that we should take the last opportunity to fill with diesel before we cross to Botswana where it is significantly more expensive.  There is one last diesel station shown on our map but as we arrived at the border there was not a trace of it.

The border crossing was disarmingly easy with helpful friendly officials with beautifully spoken English on both sides of the border. They helped us claim a decent amount of vat back from both South Africa as well as Namibia. The only reason it took more than 20 minute was because we were enjoying chatting with them.

Botswana

Arriving in Botswana, we started looking for a camp. We were a bit dismayed to find that most of the camps had the word 'swamp' in their name. Eventually, we found a sign directing us to a camp and we decided to go for it.  We then saw the bit that said 4x4 only.  On we forged, at first the track was sandy and then very sandy followed by awfully sandy. That was when we came to the river! I was reassured that clearly visible tracks led down the bank and then continued on the other side. Now, this should be clear guidance that this was the ford for us to cross.  Well, I can imagine as you sit in your living room reading this, you would say, ‘Go on ,cross, get on with it!’

We did and it was very deep, very fast and very scary!  Ping couldn't bear to look. After we had crossed over, we realised that our problems were just beginning.

On the other side, the track was deep and soft and very, very sandy. It was also getting late and we have 15km of this track to go, we decided to bail out. So it was back to fording the water a second time - deep, fast and scary!        It was a relieve to be back on dry land.

We were getting pretty short of fuel and did not have much idea how far the next fuel station was.  As we drove along we encountered an old pick-up truck with about 8 people in it. It was broken down and one of the occupants was waving a fuel can at us.  We stopped and were told that the nearest diesel was about 20 km. I wasn't sure that we had enough diesel to get there, but I decided that it was far better that we gave them a tow rather than ferry a can for them. 

This may be the blind leading the blind as we probably had a little less fuel than they did!

It was easy enough; the driver gave me clear direction that included taking the next left turn. About 15km down the road,  I turned left as instructed, he didn't and I ended up dragging him round a corner at about 20kmph  He didn't mind and did not seem to have a reason for missing the turn, though it was a heart stopping moment as I tore this pick-up with all its occupants round this bend.  Anyhow, now that we were pointing in the right direction, off we went. Eventually we arrived at the fuel station.  Our new friends were very grateful. They explained that they were on the way to collect the body of a child who had died the day before and that we had, helped them to get on their way.  I am glad to say that it really felt good to help someone else for a change.

Then we had to find somewhere to stay and there was no camp site nor was there a guest house in the town and the road was coming to an end. Eventually we called in to The Botswana Council of Churches Education Centre where Pastor Anna said we were welcome to stay in their compound. Ping offered a donation which was declined. She said, ‘We are all travellers, maybe you will help someone else sometime’. We felt rather pleased that in some small way we were already in credit on that one.

In the morning, we discovered a little of the work being done at this centre. There are a lot of refugee women who have come over the Okavanga River  at the time of the Angolan Civil War. Many were traumatised, wounded or raped; most were in some degree alone. The churches have been working hard to help them to find some measure of self-determination and to make a living.

This guy led the band with real style, skill and enthusiasm

As we left we were treated to the local school parading its marching band it was really quite heart-warming. As we watched the band marched past, we ran into an American who was working for the American Peace Corps promoting and organising various AIDS/HIV projects.  I don’t think we have mentioned this before but the spectre of AIDS is ubiquitous in Africa and the people who do what they can, seem tireless. It was enlightening to meet this chap, but what was really nice was that we spent one night in a small town far from anywhere in particular and it was such a positive experience.  Thank you Etsha!

After Etsha, we moved to Shakawe which brought to my mind the proud Fakawe tribe of Pigmies, but  enough of that!

We had to change a small amount of Namibian currency, which is something that must happen often so close to the border.  We went to Barclays and it took over an hour to change about £20.  The surprise was that this little branch of Barclays had all the trappings of a modern urban bank with flat screen computers, an electronic queuing system, bandit proof tellers booths and an ATM.  Yet they were apparently incapable of dealing with people presenting themselves at the door with normal banking business. Frustrated we carried on.

We got stopped at a ‘veterinary checkpoint’ where the cop pointed out that we did not have a front number plate.  Caught by surprise, it took a while for us to realised that, ‘That bloody kid’ had nicked the plate as well as our keys!. It is a trivial point but Botswana is the only country that I know where they have British style number plates  so we were able  to get another one made up at the next town.  

We came to notice that although we had been driving for a long time on fairly fast roads we noticed that the fuel gauge was showing that we had used very little fuel; very odd but I was careful to check the mileage and the amount we put in and we were really doing very well.  It is a little difficult to calculate as we have started to become accustomed to km/per litre but when we tell South Africans with their  Toyota Land cruisers, that we are doing about 7.5 km per litre we are suitably gratified, when they exclaim, 'Aish! we only get about 4.5km/litre.  Nice'!

We eventually arrived in the town of Maun where we planted ourselves in a camp where we met Henk and Marja from the Netherlands who we instantly struck up a rapport with. Although they were on their way home before we had a chance to do more than chat, we were sorry to see them go and I am sure we will keep in touch.  

Intending to go to the wildlife park at Moremi, we were rather put off as we heard that the roads are very sandy and difficult.  We met with Ian, a South African, who offered that we accompany him as he drove through the park.  We were happy to take him up on the generous offer as well as the off road driving master class he gave us. Once again we met another Dutch couple, Casper and Jolande who also wanted to drive into the park but were not so confident like we were. 

Jolande and Caspar

The drive out to the park was horrible, through 70 km of road with a vicious washboard surface on the way. 

About 45 minutes into the journey, my esteemed life partner said, ‘Can you smell burning?’

‘No’……….. Oh yes I can!!!!!

I stopped and brown smoke was pouring in through the heater vents,   I struggled to open the door, as you will remember from earlier, I had broken the door handle.  I had the window closed to keep the dust out so had to wind the window to reach the door handle outside but the window channel was clogged up with dust and the cab was filling with smoke! Eventually I got the door open and lifted the bonnet to find real bloody flames licking my fingers!   I am glad to say that I immediately saw what was happening.

Between the engine and the heater box should be a heat shield which is a kind of felt lined with aluminium.  This however was not in the greatest shape when we left England, it had taken a bit of a pounding as our Turbo had been fixed and subsequently Ishmael had done his bit.  The consequence of this was there was more felt than aluminium and it was effectively a rag draped over the hot exhaust manifold. Anyway it was well alight and something had to be done, immediately!

I was able to pull out some of the burning felt and Ping very promptly turned up with a fire extinguisher. I was quite surprised, that I had the presence of mind to realise that I wanted to use water to put the flames out rather than make a lot of mess with and extinguisher, so Ping spun around and like a good fairy presented me with a gallon of mineral water. I put out the flames and inspected the damage. The heater casing was melted badly and there was a big hole in it and the plastic engine cover is in a sorry state but other than that it is not too bad.

Fire damage

We should have sort of stood around for a while admiring our work but as experienced overlanders, we carried on to have a nice time touring the park. With our new found skills, we were driving in deep sand and fording rivers and all kinds.

As it turned out we really had a great couple of days with our friends and drove all round the park with such confidence. We did not see so much game, but we had a good time. We sincerely hope to meet up with these friends again.

The latest pneus !

We were just about to leave the park the next day and guess what, we had another puncture.  Bum!

We took our tyre to be fixed and a very thorough and we think, a knowledgeable guy there told us that the puncture was due to tubes that were too small being fitted. So once again we threw some cash at the problem and had new, larger tubes fitted all round.

Meeting up with old friends

In Maun, we were very happy to meet up once more with our friends Ben and Jen (we met them in Mozambique.  They left the UK in September last year and have driven down the Eastern side of Africa).We spent a very pleasant couple of days with them. We were able to arrange to have a trip over the beautiful Okavanga Delta in a light plane which left us all feeling a bit sick but was nevertheless very beautiful. 

Pre flight briefing

The next morning,  we had a good breakfast and set off to go and see the salt pans of Magadikgadi. A drive of about 200 km on nice roads and then I am not sure what we expected, but we then directed onto sandy dusty paths  We were sufficiently unsure despite our GPS that we checked with some South African travellers that we thought had just come from the direction they were travelling.  They gave us a bit of confidence and off we went. We were told that the worst part of the track was the first bit which entailed going out through the  villages’ deep sandy tracks with an entourage of small boys giving us directions and running after the van and hanging on the back for quite a long way.

As we cleared the villages there were trees and bushes everywhere.  The path was at times barely wide enough for the van and with low branches. One of the biggest enemies of the road traveler here is the acacia with sharp unbreakable thorns that can be a as long as 5 cm and can pass through a tyre without giving it a second thought. We spent an hour scraping past these bushes and have torn the paint on the sides of the van to shreds. We both had to duck out of the way as they sprang in through the windows. The track was quite passable but pretty unpleasant, on we went.

As the moon rose in the sunlit sky we continued knowing that we would be camping in the bush tonight.  Surprisingly since the boys we have only seen 2 people but there are cattle, horses and donkeys scattered grazing everywhere. We knew the sunset will stop us soon, so we decided to stop for the night when we reached the pan. As we came over the edge of the grassland, we saw the pans! It’s exactly like looking out to sea. It went on and on, far out into the distance, a 360 degree vista, nothing but different shades of white, grey and blue, just about differentiating the sky from the ground which gave way to a totally flat hard dry salty sandy crust; at least I hope it is a hard crust because we were driving across it in the morning.

We studied the maps which were quite confusing but we think we had our bearings, that little edge of doubt was really unnerving as there was nothing here!!!  As I was writing the sun was beginning to set and the shadows long and beautiful. In the horizon a small herd of donkeys with the sun behind them, we could see a distinct row of ears, nothing else, note even a blade of grass, quite surreal!

Ping studying her Lunar landscape.  Note that you can make out the curvature of the earth on the horizon

I took out our Silva compass away from the van as it should be more accurate than the one on the dashboard.  Again I was unnerved as I realised that the sun which, correct me if I am wrong should be setting in the west. The compass  showed west as a full 10 degree to the south! 

We were not brimming with confidence  but we would face that in the morning.  We had lovely dinner, a game of Scrabble, hot chocolate and early to bed. Not sure whether there were any wild life or alien beings out there, but it was very dark with an almost full moon and the stars were amazing! The temperature dropped to almost nothing. We both gazed up at the perfect moon and Ping stated firmly and rather sagely. “It’s a bit like being on the moon here, except we’re looking at the moon”. Ah........ you couldn't make that up could you? However, as the moon rose further in the sky the range of colours from land to sky was stunning.

The next day we still lacked confidence but it became apparent that other travellers passed this way so it should not be impossible. We set off and it was a great drive for the most part driving long distances over the salt pans and then over what in the wet season will be islands you can only tell as there are many russet brown desiccated trees and shrubs.

We pressed on  until we discovered that we had, oh yes! Another bloody puncture! Changed the wheel, 18 minutes this time.  I am sure I can improve on this with enough practice.

The drive started getting pretty tedious after this not  so beautiful  and once more plenty of thorn bushes and trees scraping the life out of our poor van and dust in buckets. Eventually we made it out to a road and went off to find someone to mend our tyre.  On the whole The Pans were a very interesting experience but we are in no hurry to repeat it. The puncture was a nail, god knows where it came from but I am satisfied on this occasion that no one is to blame.

Continuing on with four wheels on our wagon at least for the time being we had to stop for the night at a camp called ELEPHANT SANDS where they have an open area where people sit around quite casually while the local elephants turn up at an adjacent watering place  and generally socialise with each other.  When we arrived there were about 15 elephants just mooching around and they come and go all day and all night.  

Me writing this

As I am typing this there is a youngish bull watching me watching him it is all completely casual. Extraordinary!  The elephants roam past the camp very close and occasionally pass through the camp. There was one point when Ping said I am just going to the toilet. I was filling the tank with water and I distractedly acknowledged her departure. Moments later she was back. It was like one of those old cartoons, where the hero is chased into a tunnel and immediately comes out followed by a train.  In this case, Ping approached the toilet block to be met by a very large bull elephant! As she frantically back pedaled, he casually followed her, it was both funny and a little dramatic!

My sister has told me that elephants are her favourite animal so the following pictures are for Rachel!

We will press on to meet our friends Abi and Jerry near the Zimbabwean border. It was a nice coincidence that while we were preparing to leave England we became acquainted with them and it transpired that they were planning a similar trip in a similar vehicle  and they only lived almost round the corner from us in Barnet.

That's about it for now.

Just to say that my choir  had their annual concert  last Friday and I have heard  it was a great success.  Well done Chaps!

Do please drop us a line when you get a chance We always say it but we really do love to get all the news even the trivial stuff.  So keep in touch

Cheers all

Peace and love!

Noel and Ping

noelbow51@gmail.com

pingbow54@gmail.com