Nata Lodge

Maun to Nata

313ks

Up at 6 the temperature today is great until about 10 am. At another place with a pool and bar. It is about 40 degrees at the moment.
Met Robin and he is all set to go. My campsite cost 55 pula ($12NZD) robins room cost 550 Pula.
Have used the tent a lot as it is far cheaper than a room and you seem to get the same amenities.
Off to Zambia in the morning. Then to Livingston and the Vic falls.

Cheers miles

Another sunset, this time over the Makgadikgadi Pans - these massive salt pans of Botswana cover over 12000 sq-km.
Since the wet season these salt-encrusted clay pans have salty water in them and a few water birds, and it was a beautiful setting for yet another wonderful african sunset (they are just so red here!). It was even nicer sitting on top of our truck sipping a Savannah cider as the sun went down!!!

... had no showers but instead two huge bathtubs…so, forced into this luxury, I had a candlelight bath to the sound of howling hyenas. Not bad for a start. Things proceeded to get better and in total we spent four nights in the park, camping at secluded waterholes, watching wild dogs from a hide and generally having the park practically to ourselves….and all of this for a fraction (10% to be exact) of the price in the Zambian game parks. A ...

Up at 7. Oliver went walking, I ran with Sarah. Other Oasis truck cook breakfast but none left when we get back. Gutted, especially as it was bacon. Doesn't seem to be an awful lot of mingling between the trucks going on although that may change if rumors are true. Apparently there's going to be a passenger swap due to a couple on the other truck breaking up and wanting to separate. Not sure if there's going to be a discussion about it or we'll ...

As our trip drew to an end we drove from Chobe to Nata...the Makgadikgadi Pans were filled with water and completely unpassable. The tour usually stays at Nata Lodge, but unfortunately it was destroyed by fire last year. Instead we pulled up at what was essentially a motel truck stop...the Northgate Lodge. Upon further inspection however, it ...

... terrain. We were already a good 2 kms in before it got really bad, so we decided to try our chances and keep going. Not too long afterwards we found ourselves stuck for the first time! We all clammered out of the truck, pants around ankles and shoes off, got out the sandboards, took pictures and got completely soaked as we worked together to get the truck out. It was a great laugh and just what everyone needed!

We are waking up early from all the birds that are making a big noise to welcome the new day. The drive to the salt lake before breakfast is giving us a good idea of the time when all the birds are here. The flamingos are rather far away and not as abundant as expected, but there are sufficient pelicans, ducks, etc. to ...

... too dark? The vultures have just flown out of the tree, which I can see from mt bed, so maybe the lions didn't come that close last night - but then again, maybe they did, who knows?! Later We left camp at 9 o'clock and had to drive the 30ish km to the park gate - of course this meant a game drive! As we drove only the main track we saw several vultures in a tree, so decided to drive back along the bottom track to investigate. On the way we saw a couple ...