Okavango Western Panhandle

Day 8 Saturday March 8th 2008
From Moremi Game Reserve to Drotsky's Cabins

As mentioned in my previous post, we left early.

On the road out, we saw this lovely kudu female. She was very nervous, watched us for a few seconds then dashed into the bushes. I have found that the kudu are extremely jittery, which surprises me as most of the larger animals such as gemsbok and wildebeest are more relaxed than the smaller one like klipspringer.

Again, with the dense vegetation and abundant water, we only saw the kudu because she was right alongside the road. We didn't even see elephant on the way out, but we did pass a small herd of giraffe who also made a quick getaway. I managed to snap three quick photos, the last being the rumps disappearing into the trees. Sigh!

The roads out were in pretty much the same condition as the road in - sandy with a lot of muddy patches. After our baptism the other day, these patches were a breeze, but Simon was still cautious going through them. It took us about two hours to get from Xakanaxa to the South Gate entrance, we would probably have gone a little slower if there were any animals to watch and photograph.

The paperwork on the way out this time was minimal, amazingly! Simon mentioned to the gate sentry how annoyed we were at not being advised of the construction work, and he asked us if we would like to stay an extra night in recompense. Wow, somebody in the organisation cares! Unfortunately we were on a schedule and had to refuse. Even more unfortunately, nobody in the Botswana Parks Board will give a damn about those of us that had an unhappy experience, as they know there will be a steady stream of visitors for a long time to come. (My last little rant! It may be totally ineffective, but at least I get to let off some steam! LOL)

We had an long, uninteresting drive up the Western Panhandle of the Okavango. Passing through Maun I was again sorrowed by the poor state of the dogs in the street. I also noted how many of the donkeys and horse are cruelly hobbled, their front legs tied so close together that they can barely walk and can only move forward by rearing up on their hind legs and "leaping" forward. Surely this will damage their spines in the long run? Aaarrggghhhh! My bleeding heart drives Simon crazy. Ok, love, I'll drop the subject. It's going to come up again later in the trip anyway!

From Maun until about halfway up the to the border the road is desolate. No animals, huts, even birds were few and far between I noticed. The road is good, tarred and wide, and not particularly busy - or at least, not on this trip. Once you pass Sepupa, it starts to get much busier, with donkeys, goats and cattle once again all over the road. In the upper third there is a plethora of huts and settlements.

We had hoped to visit the Tsodilo Hills, but the roads were just too bad and we had had about enough of mud, so we decided to just go on to one of the lodges on the Upper Side of the Western Panhandle. Reading our guide books, we decided to try Drotsky's Cabins and Simon suggested we try to get a cabin so that we could leave very early the next day without having to pack up the tent. It would also be nice to sleep in a bed for a change.

Eileen, the owner of Drotsky's Cabins was very welcoming and accommodating and we found ourselves comfortably ensconced in a cabin after a couple of ice cold beers at the bar! The cabins are right on the water's edge with a view over the river. We relaxed on the deck outside the cabin for a while, enjoying the last few minutes of daylight and being able to stretch our legs. Suddenly, we heard an almighty cracking noise! We rushed to the water's edge to find an entire section of the bank had broken away upriver and was being carried swiftly downstream in the current - a floating island. I rushed to grab my camera and snap a pic. It didn't come out very well, I had no time to adjust the camera or put together a good composition, but you can see the whole section of bank being bobbing away in the fast-flowing water.

Tired, and grateful for our soft, comfortable mattress, we headed for bed soon after sundown.