Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Mahangu Cruise

We arrived early at Mahangu in order to do another river cruise, again at sunset, this time on the Okavango River.


Most of our group; heartier souls on the lower deck, closer to the
crocs



Don't mess with these guys




Navigational hazard

Shot of the day

Rehearsing for water ballet


Sunset color

Little croc

Bird nests

Ditto

No lack of crocs on this river

"Dirty, filthy, disgusting, lice-ridden birds"


Chalet at a safari lodge down the river

Fellow tourists; I prefer a larger boat

Oh no! Another sunset sequence!

Catching a tigerfish (?)

Hippo-infested waters


Other fisherpersons


Returning to the Mahangu dock

On The Road In Namibia

Next morning, September 9th, we decamped, plowed back through the sand without mishap, shopped at the Choppie's in Kasane (where Vicki exchanged the remains of the 800U$D she had inadvertently obtained in pulas earlier in the week; our serving as pula-bankers became a running gag) and undertook the relatively short drive to Katima Mulilo, in Namibia. We were to be in Namibia the next two weeks. NB: while we were in Zimbabwe, and in view of the rough roads to come, Donnie let a few pounds of air out of all the group's tires. This, among several other things, proved effective.
Leaving Botswana, our last baobob tree


Big Zambezi valley



Formalities, lines, uncertainties, over-charging for the vehicle
...the usual, nothing to complain about, really; the vet checks
were more of an issue, limiting what meat and poultry we could
buy and refrigerate between checks...

For much of Namibia to come, compounds such as these, sometimes small
(families?), sometimes large (villages?), many very poor, some few not


Our encampment on the Zambezi at the nice Zambezi River Lodge/Protea Hotel
(actually a Mariott)

Us, #9

Crocodile warning signs all over; great river

And another braai

Back on the road the next day; so many of the people on foot

Free range goats

More compounds

Inequality: in this part of the world, you can reliably infer that
people on foot are black, people riding around in air-conditioned
SUVs, white; 

Mongeese?


Interesting yellow-leafed trees (it's early spring here)


Arriving at Mahangu Safari Camp, our next evening's stop

Rough, sandy road

What these roads can d to your vehicle

I had to tear down a few dead limbs to get us a place...

Another Night At Senyati's Watering Hole

We got back from Zimbabwe in time for a light dinner and another hour or two watching elephants at the watering hole. Warning: should you go to Senyati, book 2-3 nights, since the elephants don't necessarily show up every day or night.












In the foreground here they're eating grass; interestingly, they
can trim the grass with their trunks without pulling it up by the
roots