Home » Zambia » Day 12. Wed 28th April Return to Planet Baobab

Up at first light, we grab a couple of Weetabix (we're fresh out of Granny Flokkers) and a cup of coffee and strike camp, keeping a sharp eye out for biting beasties under the tents.

Day 12. Wed 28th April Return to Planet Baobab

DaveMidgley
2005-10-22 10:36:25

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Up at first light, we grab a couple of Weetabix (we're fresh out of Granny Flokkers) and a cup of coffee and strike camp, keeping a sharp eye out for biting beasties under the tents.

As we drive away from Sunday Pan a single lion, obviously hungry after an unsuccessful night's hunting, raises his head above the grass and watches us as if to say farewell, or maybe he's just sizing us up as a possible meal.
We drive out past Deception Pan and stop to look at the site of Mark and Delia Owens' camp, where they lived for seven years. There is nothing to see now - it is just camp site number CK D6. (I am actually a little confused, as the camp site is surrounded by woodland, whereas the camp site described and photographed in "The Cry Of The Kalahari" is a small island of trees surrounded by scrub)
Plan A today is to drive all the way to Kasane on the Zambian border, and we make good time until, half way between Maun and Gweta, shortly after joining the main road, disaster strikes. Ken's makeshift repairs to the cooling system fail and water jets out of the bonnet all over the windscreen.

He sizes up the situation and decides to operate, cutting an inch off the damaged end off the rubber water hose and reattaching it. Luckily the hose is just long enough.

We drive on to Matopi, a tiny town but big enough to have a petrol station although the diesel pump is hand-operated. We fill up with diesel, thoroughly bleed the cooling system, and fill up the two 20 litre water containers in case of further problems. However the repair holds, although the engine continues to run hot for no apparent reason.

In Rakops we buy bread and more pink sausage. Rakops is a grubby little town, and we drive out and find a tree with minimal litter to make sandwiches for lunch. On the way out we see a huge bull elephant plodding along beside the road.
By four o'clock it is clear that Plan A is not going to work. Although we have lost less than an hour through the problems with the water system, Kasane is still about five hours away. We revert to Plan B, which is to get to Gweta and then return to Planet Baobab and the husky Amanda.

A hot shower is desperately needed after four days in the bush, after which we sit down for dinner greatly refreshed. After dinner we sit around the open fire and drink beer and reminisce about our experiences in the Kalahari.