South Africa - A World in One Country

South Africa – A World in One Country

Day Fifteen – 6 October 2013 – The day I melted into a puddle in the sand.

Weather: Scalding hot.

I kept waking up last night thinking it was time to get up but instead it was like 11 pm then 12:30 am then 2 am. I was up finally at 5 am and out to reception to wait for the game drive vehicle. They showed up at 5:40 and I got into the back seat and shared the vehicle with a group of Germans. Not all speak English and the guide has trouble getting straight answers…like “where are you from?” was answered with Namibia. LOL

Chobe is only a 5 minute drive from the lodge. He gets his permits and were off for a 3 hour game drive. That’s the biggest difference between this one and Kruger. In Kruger, the game drive was 9 hours long, so we saw a lot more of the park. The roads in Kruger were hard packed dirt or pavement. In Chobe, it’s a deep sandy road which requires a 4WD. So, while the park allows people to drive in on their own like Kruger, it has to be in a 4WD.

Our guide drives for the river and we see the usual impala and water buffalo everywhere.

We get close to the Chobe River and catch sight of two hippos having an argument in the water.

There are kudu as well. While we’re checking them out, we see elephants getting out of the water so when we go back up on the road, they are crossing the road in front of us.

There are young elephants with the adults and one elephant is a little more concerned that we stay away from the little one and makes like he’s gonna charge the vehicle but doesn’t get quite that close. If he had extended his trunk, I could have touched it.

We go on to see more elephants and antelope then come across a tree full of baboons including a number of young.

Yeah, we could have sat there all day.

Then we came across a group of vultures feasting on something. We hoped there would be big cats around but none showed up.

After two and a half hours, we pulled off into a “stretch zone” where we can get out of the vehicles. It’s near a huge herd of water buffalo that has a filming vehicle parked next to it.

Probably waiting for something of the lion variety to show up for breakfast. Our guide says he is surprised we haven’t seen any giraffe. It’s Sunday, he says. They must all be at church.

The guide pulls out some cups and tea for our break. He also says we can visit the bushes. So, I find the ladies’ bush off to the right and wonder if the headlines the next day will be Canadian meets leopard in the bushes of Chobe.

After our tea break, we head back a little faster than the guide was willing to go when the Germans told him they wanted to get back for breakfast which ends at 10.

Then we come across some giraffes. Guess church is out.

The sun is getting hot now. Everyone else was dressed up in pants and jackets. I was in capris and t-shirt. We get back to the lodge at 9:30. Just enough time to grab a Coke and show up for my Namibia optional. It’s just across the river and offers a chance to go over, pass through customs and visit a local village. Our guide, Niven, picks up five of us and we pile into a small speed boat. I took a pic of this sign just before I got on the boat.

You don’t have to tell me twice.

It’s a 3 minute boat ride to Botswana immigration which is just a small building on the shore. We go in, get our passports stamped, then hop back on the boat for a 5 minute ride to the Namibia side. We tie up to a tree and walk 5 minutes in 40 degree heat to the Namibia immigration building.

Yeah, that’s our guide, Niven, and he’s wearing a fleece!

Oh, you know how the saying goes – never give up an opportunity to go to the bathroom? Well, when you go somewhere with this kind of heat, never give up an offer of free water, even if you have a bottle. Two is better than one. When the guide offered us a bottle each, silly me said “it’s okay, I have one.”

It takes a few minutes to fill out forms for Namibia immigration and we fill out two so that we’ll have the one for the return trip ready to go. We get our passports stamped and stepped back into the heat. Then Niven says it’s a 1 km walk to the village.

Lord love a duck!

See, told ya I should have taken that second bottle of water.

Luckily, it’s a slow pace along a dirt road with high shrub and trees on either side. Few have green on them now as the rains haven’t come yet. It’s hot and desolate and I can understand how people succumb to thirst so fast in a desert. Yeah, I’ll never sit in front of my TV again and scream “C’mon, just get up and walk” to the guy lost in Death Valley.

Niven tells us this village is one family of about 60 people. There are more than 60 villages on the island. Implila Island is at the Four Corners of Africa where Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia meet.

Niven tells us that when men get married, they have to find a wife in another village and they bring her back to his village. The choice of a wife can be a hotly contested issue if the man wants a wife from a village with a bad reputation. He can present her to his family but if the father says no, that’s it. No elopement.

The people here rely on fishing primarily and because of the hippos, it’s a dangerous job that means the population of women outnumber the men. The canoes are not hard to topple for the hippo.

This imbalance between men and women led to the practice of polygamy. Niven says he has one wife and that’s enough. His hands are full.

As we approach the village, I notice every now and then that there’s a shoe on the ground. Just sitting there, minding its own business. Never a pair. Just one.

At the entrance to the village is the widest tree I think I’ve ever seen. The Big Tree in South Africa was wide. This one is not as tall, but wider. It’s believed that it’s 3000 years old. And it gives shade! Oh, glorious shade!

Niven points to single mud huts that are outside mini-compounds surrounded by a bamboo fence. He said that is where the single people live.

The families live behind the fences.

There are kids everywhere and we’re free to take all the pictures we want. A long lens helps make the pics feel less intrusive, but the kids love having their pics taken.

We spent about 30 minutes wandering the village. There are goats all around and a chicken coop that is elevated with a makeshift ladder. He says at dusk, the chickens line up and hop on up to where they’re safe for the night.

He says they keep dogs to protect the village but won’t trust them with the chickens.

The nicest compound in the village belongs to the village healer.

Yup, even here, the doctor is filthy rich.

At the far end of the village, we come across a solar panel and in the mud hut, a young girl has two keyboards, a CD player and an amp, I think. He said she is trying to record in order to make a living on her own.

You go girl!

She didn’t have enough power yet to give us a demo. And that’s not from lack of sunshine.

We take our time walking back to the tree and all along the way Niven is chatting with the people in his own language.

Ever get that feeling that they’re saying “yeah, another bunch of silly tourists today.”

At the big tree we have a chance to buy some local crafts. This is when I like to buy a few items cause you know it goes straight into their pockets. No one bargains except to round off the price. The Italian with us buys 40 Euro worth of baskets. I got a mask with giraffes on top and a couple of soapstone figures. I’ve lost count of which animals I have.

While I’m waiting for the other couple to finish, two kids are playing with a wheelbarrow. The bigger boy is inside and the little girl is trying to push him, so I get behind her and pick up the handles and push them a short ways. Then the little girl drops the handles to the ground so that the boy almost falls out and they start laughing.

Then she picks up the handles and proceeds to have a game of teeter-tooter with the wheelbarrow. You can’t watch this video without smiling.

From here, it’s a long walk back to that ice cold bottle of water waiting in the boat. I chat with the Italian guy on the way back. It’s different when I’m on tour alone and doing a series of day tours. You get to meet so many people and chat and that’s it. There are a lot of Europeans here. Mostly Germans and Brits.

By noon we arrive back at the Namibia immigration, get out passports stamped and head for the boat where we all gladly accept the water. It’s just after noon by the time we get through the Botswana office and get back to the resort.

Yeah. The day is only half over.

I check the internet and find it working and use up part of my 30 minutes then have lunch at the buffet.

Ummm…truffle!

Oh man, I’m not looking forward to the scales when I get home.

I check out the local supermarket just down the street and a craft market. Seems most things sold are craft related and not the regular tourist stuff. There isn’t even a shot glass to be had. Or a Botswana t-shirt.

I get back to my room and open up my curtains and what is sitting on my patio but a wart hog and a huge baboon with more hanging around.

The baboon makes for the tree long before I can get a shot, but the wart hog is with friends and they’re having a good time grazing. I go out to take pics and it’s only after a few minutes that I think…is this safe?

At 2:45 I go down to the wharf and hop on the evening cruise. Everyone heads for the front of the boat and there are so many there, you can’t get up to walk to another vantage point for a picture. I sit in the middle of the boat and there’s a clear line to the other side of the boat so that I don’t have to trip over people to get a pic. There’s also an upper deck on this boat but it’s limited to ten people and he only wants us to spend short periods up there so that everyone can get a chance. Given the heat, there are no takers till later.