Memories; Botswana 1994

[AndrewB]

Having enjoyed many of the reminisces of years gone by, I thought I would share some very vivid memories of my second Africa trip in 1994.

The first visit was 1992 to South Africa that included a road trip camping through KWZ and then a few days in the Timbavati. Not a single photo has survived.

On this trip in February 1994 I thought I had lost all the pics until moving recently and finding a few in an envelope. I had albums of photos of this trip but, one of those unfortunate moving things happened and they were all lost.

So a few photos will be included here, just scans of 4"x6" prints to break up what is mainly just fond memories.

The camera was a Canon A1, I think I had a 50mm, a 200mm and 500mm lenses (hardly used, a huge beast!).

I wonder if anyone else travelled with Drifters when their brochure strap line was "Roughing it and Loving it"? I do remember a brochure highlight being "and here will be the opportunity to shower".

Anyway, a very early departure from Johannesburg in a mini bus, 5 tourists and a driver/guide. Off to the Botswana border.

I can't remember the chaps name, a fascinating guy however who had spent the two years of his national service surveying the birds in the strip between the Kruger and Mozambique!

First bit of excitement while dozing in the shade after crossing the border as bit and bobs of paperwork were being sorted and I was watching a pretty little bird in the bushes. I asked what it was, and the guide looked and got hugely excited before disappearing. When he got back he said he had been on the phone and that this was the first recorded sighting of this bird in Botswana! I have tried over the years to see if I could find out what this little thing was to no avail.

Anyway, onwards, all I remember about the route was passing Francistown and arriving at Nata Lodge after a very long drive.

We swapped here to a Unimog with trailer and met our Botswanan Guide (Masters, I can remember his name!). Took a drive out to the edge of the pans which were pretty full of water with Pelicans, Flamingos and lots of waders. Beautiful sunset watching the birds. Were entertained by the Bushbaby coming down to be fed in the bar and spent the night.

And then the real fun started.

This first day was a drive to Nxai Pan but not all on tar, somewhere we diverted towards Makgadikgadi Pans. Distant horizons and nothingness.Wildlife wise all I remember was my first Koorhan, doing the jumping up and parachuting display.

Once in Nxai Pan area plains game started to be seen and we wandered around to end up at Baines Baobabs, our first camping spot. No one around! Wild camping within sight of the trees. This gave me one of my lifetime memories. Tents up, fire lit, food being cooked and I wandered over a low dune/scrub to find a herd of 50 or so Gemsbok in the distance as the sun set and the night appeared. Then lying on my back and staring at the stars. This made me realise just how small and insignificant I was. I can picture it now from 30 years ago.

Overnight I heard a distant Lion and a Hyena woke me at dawn (we actually saw neither). A big shock to the system here, opening the tent fly to find it stiff with frost! Cold!

Packed up and left for the drive to Maun.

I don't know if this pic is in the pans, could be but I think there are a few Tsessebe to the left and I have no idea if these occur that far south.

 

 

[Atravelynn]

I hope you took full advantage of that "opportunity" that was listed in the brochure. 

The mystery bird remains a mystery.

I'd agree with tsessebe to the left.

Nice to walk down memory lane, especially when it is in Botswana!

[AndrewB]

Maun! In 1994 this was a relatively sleepy little town. Not much tarmac, no roundabouts, traffic light (Robots!), no Malls or big shops.

The one and only "supermarket" I went into mainly had bulk packs of goods stacked on metal racks.

We spent two nights at Crocodile Camp on the banks of the Thamalakane River. Camping basically in the car park, rudimentary showers and drop toilets. I think there were a few cabins available, a restaurant and a bar overlooking the river.

The river was full and glorious, lots of birds flying around and my first ever Skimmers. Scops and Pearl Spotted Owls in the trees around the car park.

The first morning we were dropped at a bar by the airstrip (not really an airport in those days) and told to wait for our pilot for a scenic flight. A bit later we were collected and walked over to a small plane. No fences or anything, just walked straight to the plane for what was a superb experience flying low over the delta. Lots of animals, including circling over a pride of Lions.

We were told we would be picked up after lunch and to grab something to eat in the bar. Later it became clear why. There was a funeral in the town. A well known Australian Pilot had been killed in a crash a few days before out in the delta. Masters knew her well and wanted to attend.

Poignantly (for me) on our trip to Maun in 2022 and staying at the Waterfront my table had old newspapers under a glass cover and this tragedy was there to read. I commented to the owner who told me that the pilot's Mother still visited her daughter's grave.

Later in the afternoon we had a run up and down the river, Hippos, crocs, birds and I seem to remember a couple of otters as well.

The next morning we were off!

Major "Roughing it and Loving it" time next!

We drove somewhere up dirt tracks. We stopped at a village and collected a number of chaps. Drove further to the banks of a river to find several Mokoros lined up.

Lots of running around, loading up, quite a bit of shouting and then the start of a good few hours journey poling up a river. I think there must have been a line of 7 or 8 Mokoros. Four with us in and then more full of our kit, even a Mess Tent came!

Beautiful, just beautiful and not a photo left. I can pick up the pictures in my head, however. The Elephant holding us up until deciding to move on, the tap on my shoulder as I dragged my hand in the water to be show the Croc a few yards away. Seeing fish in the crystal clear water, birds all around (first Malachite here if memory is working), quite a number of crashes and things from the vegetation as we scared something or other away.

And rain, it rained, quite a lot! I decided my jacket was better used to protect my camera stuff than me. Lots of shouting from behind where the Mokoro full of food with the camp table on top sank!

Anyway; big rescue mission, most stuff rescued, quite a lot of lost food (bread and things don't survive a dunking in the Delta). Thankfully it wasn't then far to the first night's camp. This evening we went for a short walk, I don't remember seeing much. Mainly here we tried to dry things out!

Discussions around whether there was enough food for everyone. The decision was we would be fine. The big bag of mealies was in another Mokoro, thankfully. And lots of tins of food.

This was just a stopover on the way to Chief's Island proper the next morning.

 

[Alex The Lion]

@AndrewBGreat start.

 

Sadly the scenic flights are now so different. There are so many routes you can't travel incase you should "buzz" a camp. I think the same probably applies to disturbing fame drives too.

[AndrewB]

An early start. Apparently the place we stopped was a fallback if there had been any delays, and we arrived quite soon at the place for the next couple of nights.

Somewhere!!

Camping in some quite dense bush, apparently the safest place as Hippos were very unlikely to come in here, whereas on the nice open grassy areas we had passed Hippos could be a major problem.

I don't remember much about the timings of doing things here. Three different activities come to mind.

1; Swimming. Swimming in the delta with a couple of guys in Mokoros keeping an eye out for Hippos and Crocs. And then finding a rather large leech on someone's leg after.

2; Pel's Fishing Owl. Early evening, two of them in the trees very close to camp and then watching at dusk over the water seeing if they would come out to hunt (we didn't see them, never seen a Pel's flying). Apparently we saw a Bat Hawk, at least this is what I remember being told about some vague dark shape flitting around!

3; Walking! For the full day up here in the middle of nowhere, a morning and then afternoon walk was the plan. The memories of the morning are clear and vivid, but not much about the afternoon springs to mind except the Mokoro journey back to camp as the sun set behind us, beautiful.

The morning was a long walk, several hours trekking across open plains, in and around Palm Trees and scrub. Lots of water around and I gave up taking my boots on and off as this was such a faff (they dried!).

Animals, animals and then a few more. Easily the most productive walk I have ever done in Africa. A couple of the chaps from the village (armed with sugar cane knives), then our two Drifters guides and the five of us. Palm Swifts in their thousands, abundant Giraffes, including a group of at least 40 running away. A couple of Hyenas loping away and even got quite close to two Bat Eared Foxes. Many, many Lechwe, grazing, running and generally pottering around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a lifetime highlight. A pride of Lions on a Giraffe kill. We kept our distance, although they knew we were there. There was quite a bit of eating and squabbling going on. Our guides were very vigilant looking for other Lions that could be around. One of our group asked Masters why he was here and unarmed - he drily replied "many tourists, not many Lions". I will never forget this retort!

 

A glorious and memorable time on Chief's Island, wild camping and definitely roughing it and loving it! One feature of this part was we were told not to bring any soap, deodorant, toothpaste or cosmetics with us. No washing with soap, no brushing teeth except with water or tea or something.

 

On the journey up we wrinkled our noses after the chaps from the village joined us. On the way back it was us all a bit wiffy! And back to Crocodile Camp where the showers got used!

And a good meal! One meal up in the Delta I remember and I think it was breakfast on the last morning was some Mealies with a tin of Sweetcorn and a tin of Tuna mixed in! Probably not the planned menu but.......

Edited September 28 by AndrewB

[Atravelynn]

Wild camping on Chief's Island had to be grand!  Pel's Fishing Owl--wow!

[AndrewB]

And onwards!

By now we were getting used to the packing up part of an overland trip, helped by the promise of breakfast in the Lodge restaurant once the truck was ready to leave. I remember this as there were a couple of other self drivers there who were going on about how difficult the driving had been in Moremi (wet!) and how poor the sightings had been!

We left, filled up everything we could, fuel, water, food and started for Moremi South Gate.

The drive really slowed down once we got past the main road (graded gravel then) and up towards Moremi. Slow going with quite a lot of mud and water. At one place (I think this was before the Buffalo Fence) there was one hell of a mess and a detour was needed. Apparently someone had got stuck here the week before and stayed stuck for over 2 days before someone turned up to tow them out! This was before satellite or cell phones and things.

We stopped to forage for wood for the fire and found fairly fresh remains of a kill, Lion was the general view of the culprit, can't remember what the "dinner" was.

We stopped at South Gate for a break, drinks and snacks. One of the great joys of the rig and trailer was that you just dropped the back of the trailer, which became a table with a gas burner and - hey presto - food and drink. No one around.

My memories of our time in Moremi are mainly a series of vignettes. I am not sure if it was three or four nights. The first day was a slow wander to Third Bridge. It makes sense to me to reminisce about the drive and camping and then animal sightings later.

We got stuck twice, with digging and branches under the wheels and things. Once was clearly my fault as I got overexcited thinking I could see a Cheetah and the driver stopped abruptly! It was a Tsessebe on a Termite mound in the distance.

We were the only group at Third Bridge, I wonder if this would happen any time of year now? I thought about stealing the pic posted by @xelas from his 2024 trip. The bridge looks identical in my memory from 30 years ago!

Lovely place to camp, I remember lots of night noises and got up one morning to find very (nay HUGE) Lion tracks between our tents and passing around the fire. This was the first time real night time caution in Africa was brought home to me.

After our time here we moved up to North Gate for the last night in Moremi. Again, the only people in the campsite. We saw one other vehicle during our time in Moremi, near the Hippo Pool, which turned out to be some researchers doing something esoteric about vegetation! No one else, not a soul for at least three days. True wilderness.

At North Gate the Warden (I think he was an Australian?) joined us for dinner which was fascinating. We had been the only tourist vehicle in the park, imagine; the whole of Moremi as a private space!

I passed through North Gate in 2022, the bridge and buildings don't seem to have changed.

There was a lot of water around and a lot of green, long grass, and animals spread out far and wide. I remember Masters getting out of the truck at one point to move a (small) Crocodile out of a puddle on the road so we could pass.

Several Lion prides, some small(ish) cubs, followed one group on a failed hunt.

And a star sighting which at the time I did not realise how lucky, or special, this was. We were watching a small group of Roan Antelope when two Honey Badgers wandered into view. Snuffling and grubbing around. We watched them for a good while and I got some wonderful pics (the only time I have seen Honey Badger in daylight!) until they wandered away out of sight.

Another special meeting was this chap. Quite a distance away when first sighted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But just wandered towards us stopped on the track.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He chose to come and visit, right up to the truck, had a good sniff around, even in the vehicle, and then wandered on. Lovely stuff.

 

Moremi was very green.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of firsts for me, Sable, Roan, amazing birds of all sorts and sizes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No Cheetah, no Wild Dogs, no Leopard, although we found an Impala hanging in a tree!

 

And a final very special memory of being first out of the tent on our last morning at North Gate; sky just lightening, a bit of mist and in front of the camp site a field full of grazing animals. Impala, Wildebeest, Zebra, a couple of Ellies. All simply carrying on with their lives and ignoring the tents and camp.

 

 

[xelas]

@AndrewB, not stealing but borrowing, and you are most welcomed to use any!

 

30 years ago, in 1994 it was my first self-driving trip. I did not dare to dream of Africa so Italy was our destination. Luckily the photos (slides) have all survived our only moving, just need to be digitalized.

 

Excuse me for this interruption but recently also myself I am traveling down the memory lane quite often.

Botswana never disappoints, only colors changes through months and years.

[AndrewB]

And moving on. The next move was north, heading towards Chobe River Front and Kasane with a stopover at Savute Campsite.

Up through Khwai Village and then back into the wilderness. More firewood collection (in areas where this was allowed) and then driving over what seemed like endless grass plains. Slow-going as I remember.

At one point our vehicle was disturbing grasshoppers and other insects and we were accompanied by large numbers of birds picking up this easy meal.

I remember quite a lot of water, going round, checking depths and navigating. The Unimog had a big advantage over a smaller 4x4 as it was so high.

Lunch stop somewhere or other, just stopped in the middle of nothingness!

We got to the Savute Campsite and set up. Anyone else remember the old campsite? This was the one on the banks of the Savute Channel (dry when we visited) which was notorious for the Ellies getting water from the pipes in the shower block! This was moved to an enclosed area sometime later.

Went for a bit of a drive around and I don't remember what wildlife we saw.

We saw this Kopje.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And drove around and around it. Apparently a good spot for Leopard! It looks ideal Leopard country, but not for us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to camp. Fire lit. Major significant, serious, talk about safety in camp! No leaving the tents at night at all. Bowls and bottles provided. Hyena were the concern and they certainly turned up!

An enjoyable few minutes as a really significant large Bull Ellie walked, quietly, past in the river bed. Lovely simply standing there looking down at him, so close.

Normal lovely Brai sitting around the fire. Slightly odd though was being surrounded by Hyena. Shine a torch, Hyena, look behind you, Hyena, go to the trailer, Hyena rootling around!
Anyway, organised visit to the Loo/Shower block and then into the tents. There had been a really careful camp clear up prior to retiring but a lot of banging and crashing later as the Hyena scavenged around, licking the Brai grid, exploring the fire and then destroying a washing up bowl that had been missed in the tidy up!

And then the next day continuing north towards the Chobe River.

I remember a good number of Warthogs around but nothing else. These may have been up here or somewhere else on our wanderings.

 

Edited September 30 by AndrewB

[AndrewB]

And the river and flood plain came into sight.

I remember nothing about this journey, more tracks, grass, wide views and water I expect.

I do remember coming to a stop at the top of the escarpment west of Kasane with the Chobe River in front of us.

We stopped here for a god long while simply waiting. Waiting for a herd of Buffalo to come out of the scrub and go down to the river.

We were parked next to a vehicle from the park, the view was that this herd was about 5,000 strong. It certainly went on and one and on. Going down the slope and spreading out along the river. Clouds of dust and noisy bellowing.

Absolutely incredible.

And a little later we detoured inland to pass by a few Elephants. A few? Well, hundreds! Masters thought maybe 500 in total. Family groups moving to water. Patiently waiting for space at the easy access points. The whole riverside appeared to be covered in Elephant for miles.

What an arrival!

We camped in Kasane in the grounds of a Lodge. Fairly certain this was Chobe Safari Lodge. Some big, raised, wooden structure anyhow. The camping ground was great fun with very friendly Warthogs wandering around.

That afternoon we wandered up and down the river on a boat, enjoying the wildlife. Ellie's swimming over to Namibia, drinking, playing, splashing. Plenty of game, birds, big Crocs, Hippos and one other boat.

Kasane changed so quickly from this sleepy, empty, little place with a dirt airstrip and a petrol Pump operated by a handle to pump up the fuel to what it was when I returned in 2008. Huge, developed and heaving. So many boats out on the river jostling for position.

Anyway, one night here and then on the road to the Zimbabwe border and Victoria Falls.

This border crossing is the only one I have ever used where we were told to put a $5 note inside our passports before handing them over to be stamped!

And in Vic Falls a campsite with very heavy security. This was all a bit of a culture shock after being at Third Bridge and Savute.

It felt very edgy after Botswana and the friendliness of the locals there.

Breakfast at The Victoria Falls Hotel was a highlight! Very posh in my cleanest clothes!

We didn't take part in any of the "action sports" on offer. But did go to the bar where that day's videos were being reviewed and various people getting bits of paper saying they had White Water Rafted or jumped off the Bridge.

And this did lead to Masters and our other Guide getting palpitations!

One of our party was a very quiet Japanese lady. A classical Japanese actress who spent all the trip being very careful not to get a suntan. She loved her wildlife and had some good camera equipment but didn't talk much.

She had been adamant that she was Bungee Jumping! Apparently this was to be a highlight of her trip. When she saw the videos and was told what she would be doing the next morning, she screamed and got very agitated. Confusion.

Luckily, there was another Japanese tourist there who spoke great English and some conversations ensued. It turned out that this lady had been so quiet because she spoke very little English. It also turned out that she had gone to the ablution block at Savute in the night. And that she had thrown a stone at a lurking Hyena!

Oh dear, the best safety talks had failed but luckily, no disasters.

The Falls were in majestic flow, got soaked at the closer viewing platforms and walked down to the lower river from the Hotel for a fantastic view.

Our two night stay over it was time for the long journey back to Johannesburg.

Over the border (no bribes), and then a long tar road to Nata. Lunch was shortened, however. Stopped on the verge, trailer table out etc and an extremely large bull Elephant appeared on the road simply ambling towards us. After watching for a while we packed up quickly and jumped back into the truck. He passed, got a bit cross, waved a trunk, shook his ears, picked a branch up but, thankfully, decided a Unimog and trailer was a bit too big to take on and kept going.

We spent a night at Nata Lodge and then, swapping to the Mini Bus, a long, long, drive back to Johannesburg. Really have no memories of this part of the trip at all.

So; I have tried to describe the memories and images in my head from this magical exploration of Bostwana (and a bit of Zimbabwe). Some of the images, the stars above Nxai Pan, the Honey Badgers, Lions eating while we were on foot and poling around in the delta for example are as clear in my mind as if it was in 2024 not 1994.

One of those problematic hiccups in life meant that I didn't get back to Africa until 2008, but this introduction to driving in the wilderness and camping in game rich areas meant I felt comfortable taking my family in a Land Rover around Africa. It was an extraordinary journey. Low season, definitely but really empty of other tourists. None but us at Baines Baobabs, not another vehicle seen in Moremi or Savute and, although a lot more tourists around, Kasane and the Chobe Riverfront so much quieter than on my next visit in 2008.

I still feel very lucky to have experienced this Roughing it and Loving it trip. It set me up for later in life and some knowledge to really get off the beaten track around Africa.

[Treepol]

I remember the “Roughing it and loving it” slogan. I did a fortnight’s trip with Drifters in 2004, it was my first trip to Africa. We weren’t really roughing it though- we stayed in the Drifters lodges mainly, a couple of Kruger camps and at least one private lodge outside Addo, oh and the old Haga Haga Hotel.

 

I followed this up with 2 weeks mobile camping in Botswana. My thinking was that I would go to Africa for a month to see if I enjoyed safari. Of course I ended up totally hooked and returned many times. 

 

Thanks for for posting your safari memories - great times indeed. 

[Peter Connan]

What an awesome trip Andrew!

[michael-ibk]

Agree, easy to see why you got hooked. I often wish this whole luxury part of camps would be scaled back again, the price explosion has just been atrocious these past few years.