December 11, early morning, packed over 100 litres Morwa sweet water, almost 150 litres petrol, and some other stuff; we are ready for take-off. As always it is very hard to leave our dogs, especially since they know what packing all that camping gear means, and they are brilliant at acting depressed. But we know Bashi will take very good care of them, so there we go.
Note to the Landrover on the picture: we just ordered 3 cars from our young neighbour Karabo, who is an expert at making these wire cars. They were meant to be a farewell present for our young friends Calum, Duncan and Cormac – lucky for us their leaving Botswana is postponed, so we can still see them racing around with their local cars.
First holiday goal: Jill & Berrybush, for three nights. Since Jill lives far and we hardly see each other live, there’s loads and loads to talk about. While having a smoke break in front of Jill’s sports shop in Tsabong, while cooking, while eating, while whatever.
Jill’s house at Berrybush next to the lodge & campsites near Tsabong. We were sleeping in one of the guest rooms, with our own bathroom - luxury! They had had good rains over there, so the southwestern Kalahari was amazingly green – beautiful!
Even though it was a cool day, only 36 degrees Celsius in the shade, sitting & chatting in the pool was a welcome afternoon activity. In between relaxing we even managed to start planning the Kalahari Kids Kit invertebrates & reptiles book.
One of Jill’s claims to fame is serving excellent dinners and breakfasts. Here she’s preparing rotis – a dish that she was taught by the Lebanese road workers.
Beware of the dogs! Maya & Timmy are very addicted to cuddles and general attention!
The Tsabong police used to have camels for patrolling. Caleb, one of the camels they have no use for anymore, lives with Jill now. He’ll pop around in the afternoon to get his apple and a bucket of water.
Last evening, T-bone steaks for Dave & Bram, fresh from the luxurious outside kitchen. Tomorrow we’ll be camping at Jack’s Pan, and make do with being 100 % self-sufficient. If we manage to find Jack’s Pan – well, we’ll have to be self-sufficient wherever we land or strand.
