Check out that ASS!

Day 2 Sunday 2nd March 2008
From Bela-Bela to Khama Rhino Sanctuary

Our hosts prepared a delicious breakfast for us and then presented Simon with a bunch of porcupine quills. Not knowing what to do with them, he tossed the quills onto the dashboard of the truck, where the dash dips against the windscreen.

We filled our water bottles, all 20 gallons/80 litres of them, said our farewells and set off for Lephalale (used to be Ellisras) where we were hoping to buy bottled drinking water and a jerry can for spare gas. Simon wanted the security of an extra 5 gallons/20 litres of diesel, just in case, and we were sure we would find somewhere in Ellisras to buy one.

However, Sunday is not the best day to go shopping!

Having driven around Ellisras, asked a few people, and come up empty handed, we thought to try the local Shoprite supermarket. Simon sat and waited in the truck while I went in to find .... nothing. The closest I could get was an oil filter disposal can. Not good.

A man browsed the shelf next to me. He looked local, so I asked him if he knew where I could find a jerry can.
"Not on a Sunday," he mused. "The shops are closed on a Sunday."
Uh huh. We'd worked that out.
"I have two jerry cans at home," he continued. "I can borrow you one." (A South African colloquialism used by Afrikaans-speaking people.)

Taken aback by his trust, I regretfully advised that we would not be returning the same way and could therefore not "borrow" a can, although we'd be willing to pay for it at replacement value.
"Not a problem," he replied, "will you wait here?"
I assured Johann, for by that time we had introduced ourselves, that I would wait outside by the truck once I had purchased the other few items I required, and he dashed out.

Simon was very sceptical of this offer and wanted to know how long we were expected to wait. It hadn't occurred to me to ask. Not twenty minutes later, Johann appeared on a scooter with a brand new jerry can in the front basket.
"I found a shop that was open," he told us proudly, "and bought you a new one!"

Johann, if you ever read this, we are very grateful!

We paid Johan for the can and then asked him if he knew of the short cut to the border that we had on one of our maps. He did, and directed us clearly along the Grootgeluk road. Now "Grootgeluk" is an Afrikaans word and, roughly translated, means "extremely good luck".

How apt for this trip!

Our trip to the Stockpoort border was quick, easy and uneventful. Until I got a huge fright when a "monster" climbed up onto the window of my door! This little guy hitched a ride all the way to the Rhino Sanctuary. He was utterly windblown, see how his antennae are all sideways? Yet he clung to the glass the whole way. I was too scared to open the window to knock him off, in case he jumped inside the truck!

The border at Stockpoort was extremely efficient and we were through in a jiffy. (Ladies, the loos are divinely clean with loo roll and working hand dryers!)

The road from the border was all gravel and we travelled at the speed limit of 80km/h(50mph). The locals, however, passed us in a flurry of dust as if we were going backwards!

Khama Rhino Sanctuary was a pleasure, quick and easy to check in and the campsites are very pleasant - large and open with big, shady trees! Notice our new jerry can at the back?

From the first day, Simon and I worked together as a team, doing what needed to be done in unspoken agreement. Some tasks seemed more suited to one or the other of us, due to size or strength; others were done by whomever was free at the time. Simon took over the cooking, an excellent idea as he is an excellent cook. I seem to have the dubious talent of being sliced and diced, boiled and fried almost as often as the food.

We decided to drive around the Sanctuary and look at the animals before going to camp. This resulted in us camping very late and we decided, in future, that we would have to be set up in camp by 16h00 latest, in order to have cooked, cleaned, and be in the safety of our tent before nightfall.

In the Sanctuary we saw a lot of birds, warthog, giraffe, zebra, gemsbok, springbok, kudu and, of course, rhino. Simon was thrilled to see a Secretary bird. These large and graceful birds were all over Botswana. Here are a few pics:





Left to Right: Top: Gemsbok (oryx); Zebra; Warthog Bottom: Kudu, Giraffe, White Rhino


From the first day, almost every day in Botswana and a couple of days in Namibia, we saw these lovely Yellowbilled Hornbills. I took loads of photos of them in the beginning (as with the Springboks) but eventually I just enjoyed them being around. Then, in Namibia, I found the first "tourist" item that I wanted to buy. Yup, one of these! We nicknamed it NaBots.

Do you notice how nicely my new tele zoom lens works?

Now, most of the animals were very cooperative. They posed politely for photographs and obediently looked up when Simon made a noise (which he did often!) I was quite surprised to see herds of rhino in the sanctuary. I had always thought that they were solitary animals.

Well, one of them was probably in a bad mood!

This big guy just refused to get up and pose for the camera. No matter what, he was going to sulk in the shade and that was that. There was no way he was going to move THIS ass!