• Destination... not Khama Sanctuary

    September 3, 2024 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    No rush to depart today, after 3 nights in Serowe doing not much. It was useful break following a few longer days. Lentswe Lodge has seen a few guests in its time and it's rustic nature was evident, if not somewhat quirky. Started by the Adair's father, and expanded over the years. He was now welcoming a range of guests. Close to one of the local shopping centers and what was my goto restaurant. The bike needed a little tyre love after a seemingly endless bunch of thorns took to the rim and carcas. Fortunately sealant quarterised those punctures upon extraction. I'd hung around the final day to watch th he ABs. Maybe I shouldn't have.
    Getting in touch with the Rhino sanctuary was proving challenging. After some useful email on Friday, they'd gone dark over the weekend, including via phone. As I got ready to set out a local guy rang around and managed to get a call back. I'd need to front P380 ($45) to camp overnight, including a transport fee as cycling was not permitted. I could only do a game drive the following morning, evenings were operated on a group basis. The morning tour would be P900 ($110). This was a theme that would continue into the week.
    I figured arriving on site might change that if they had unused capacity. As I headed up the road in the following hours I checked the nearby Kokoro camp site. Yep could do, P120.00 . I was asked to stay for the in flight lunch as they closed out a weekend of dirt bike racing. I aquiesced. When I got to the sanctuary disappointingly they was no movement on the original position. Pausing, I decided to continue on as I didn't want the burden of a late morning start the following day. I set sail for further up the road. The sanctuary ran for soothe 1.5 - 2 km along the road frontage with watch towers staffed with armed guards to dissuade poaching.
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