Nothing but Sunscreen

After our fabulous stay at Jack’s Pan we drove back to the sparsely but still populated world. As soon as we had phone signal again we called Jill to tell her we did not get stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere, so hold off the rescue expedition that was planned for the day after in case we didn’t contact her. Soon after we reached Hukuntsi, one of the few places where petrol is available in that region. Usually available that is. There was a sudden petrol shortage in some places in South Africa and all over Botswana (guess where most of our stuff is coming from). We were lucky. Hukuntsi was out of leaded, but we had enough petrol left to make a safe mixture with unleaded. After saying hi from Jill to shopkeeper Mma Pam Viljoen we went on to Zutshwa, pitched our tent, and gave Jill’s garden a breath of fresh air.

At some point there must have been a ‘Project Campsite’ in Zutshwa. There is this huge thatched roof on a hilltop, a fenced-off area around it, run-down ablutions, and a lot of broken fake antique Greek/Roman benches and tables. Maybe some smart-ass EU or US consultant thought Zutshwa needs a campsite like this because it is a kind of logical starting point when you visit the Kaa Kalahari Concession / the western woodlands.

We pitched our tent and enjoyed the fabulous view over the pan in between working our way through our box of books.

The desert clearly has had nice rains; green bushes and trees, and flowers everywhere.

When Bram is walking around to take pictures the local cowboys besiege him to do their cool jockey show.

Sundowners & books – Santa’s charity project in Groot Marico (people give her books, which she sells to collect money for providing one healthy hot meal a day to kids from the lokasie) is a lifesaver for us too!

Zutshwa was really nice – but a bit crowded. We are so not capable of camping in Europe anymore! Imagine a big campsite, and us being the only happy campers. And still it’s crowded because the village is only about 200 meters away. So we move on to our second stop in Kaa Kalahari: Matseleng pan. Back to ‘nothing but sunscreen’ – and shoes cause this is scorpion’s country. And Yes, that is Jill’s garden, still going strong.

Even though there is not as much game as in Jack’s Pan, there is still plenty, especially springbok. No eland anymore, which figures. Eland are very shy and contrary to Jack’s Pan this area is open to the public. Luckily it is not really popular – most people who visit Botswana will go to the Okavango Delta, and maybe add the northern part of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The CKGR by the way is the same size as the Netherlands.

Another gorgeous sunup.

What’s cooking darling?

Diphaphatha for lunch – a bit sandy cause a small whirlwind passed right over our camp (spectacular!), but still delicious.

On second thoughts maybe it was Stella who commented on Bram’s Michelangelo underwear earlier…

Now this is how one is supposed to eat marshmallows. Maud really doesn’t understand those barbarians who just eat them raw.

After Matseleng we were running low on water, petrol and holiday days. So we had to drive back direction northeast to stock and wander back. We tried to find our way via a not yet beaten by us track. Tried and failed, but proved the usefulness of the brand-new gps. By mapping our track while driving we could find our way back to our starting point once we had to conclude that we were sort of lost. Not really lost of course, thanks to the gps, but since Maud’s new toy showed we were driving straight to the Namibian border through no-man’s land, we new we were definitely not on our way back home. After an uneventful trip via mainly dirt tracks we reached Hukuntsi, where lucky us could fully stock on leaded petrol. Lucky because upon reaching our next stop, Kang, we discovered the petrol stations were stocked with trucks and cars that had run out of petrol. And so did the fuel stations…

By now, Jill’s garden has been extended with some samples from the bush in empty milk cartons.

We camp at Kang Rest Camp Game Reserve, 20 k’s or so outside the village. We didn’t see any game, but plenty people (Afrikaners on their way to Namibia for their X-mess holidays). The main attraction was the ablutions; our first shower in days, and hot at that. Luckily we had some sweet water left for drinking and the plants, cause the campsite borehole produce was a bit salty, as we discovered when making our first coffee.

We decided to drive back home via back-roads, presuming we would meet less holiday traffic and have more chance to find a village with a still stocked petrol station. Not that we really needed fuel but the shortage got us in a serious hamster mood. We hit the jackpot again in Lethlakeng; one station with leaded and one with unleaded to take back home for our bakkie.

Ga Gona Batho

Maud’s ‘Jill’s Garden’ at Jack’s Pan. Yes, She knows it’s kindo nutty to take all these cuttings when one still has 9 days of driving & camping in the desert before going home, but hey, it just would be too nice to have a ‘Jill’s Garden’ in Morwa to not give it a try. And Yes, we managed to find Jack’s Pan. We were very, very lucky that Jill got us permission to camp there because it was just like paradise. Jack’s Pan is situated in a private concession that belongs to a friend of Jill, 150 k’s from Tsabong, mainly via a sandy dirt road. The road was good because it had been raining; we weren’t ploughing our way through deep sand but had a nicely compacted track. The only tricky thing was to find the sidetrack that leads to Jack’s pan. We had a maybe right, maybe not estimate in k’s, and luckily someone had planted a stick that obviously wasn’t natural, otherwise we would never have found it…

Bram made a contraption that enables us to sleep in the car. We discovered we still have to pitch our tent, because all the food and other stuff has to be kept out of reach of the hyeaneas and jackals, but if there is nobody else around sleeping in the car is stunning. When you wake up you immediately enjoy the starry, starry night skies or the amazing southwestern Kalahari desert.

The pan is packed with game round the clock. Gemsbok, eland, red hartebeest, springbok, ostrich, and even some kudu and bat-eared fox - no need to go for a game drive, we just can sit in our chairs and watch. The first evening Bram went for a (illegal) walk while Maud was preparing dinner, and bumped into a cheetah and a caracal. (Illegal cause we agreed to not wander off since there are a lot of lion around.) Note the jackets & trousers – the first day was cold & rainy, quite special when 36 degrees Celsius in the shade is considered a cool day!

Yeah, rain! We had a box packed with books just in case, and really enjoyed reading Ice Station Zebra here in the desert.

Another amazing sunset – but our books were just too fascinating to pay attention.

Thanks to the fire the jacket is off – and the book is still fascinating.

Altogether Jack’s Pan was a stunning experience; beautiful, lots of game, no people but us – ga gona batho, so the only thing you have to wear is sunscreen.