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Dobbs Without Jobs

May 2017 - April 2019
A 696-day adventure by Dobbs Away II Read more
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  • 203footprints
  • 34countries
  • 696days
  • 1.0kphotos
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  • 112kmiles
  • 89.2kmiles
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  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    Day 16

    Khama Rhino Sactuary

    May 22, 2017 in Botswana ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Cold night, but able to get a good sleep. We were looking forward to an easy day, but woke up to find the tire, which we had just fixed the other day, was completely flat!! Found a big piece of wire stuck in tire so was a different issue than before. John was able to remove the wire and temporarily seal the leak. Used the compressor to fill to a drivable pressure and drove to nearest town to get it fixed. The temporary patch was too good and we could not find the leak. Put one of our spare tires on and will keep a close eye on the pressure. The last thing we want is to have to change a tire in the middle of the Kalahari desert heat with wildlife wandering around. We will let you know.Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    Day 17

    Kori camp, Kalahari

    May 23, 2017 in Botswana ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    We do not want to sound repetitive, but another longer than expected drive from Khama to our first camp in the Kalahari. Partly our fault since we didn't follow an important rule when driving in most parts of Africa; fill up at every gas station! If you have only driven 10 miles since filling up and you see an open gas station, with gas, top up! Going into the Kalahari you have to be prepared for any situation since there are no services in the park and on a busy day you may only see one or two other travelers. So let's describe some of what we drive with. Our 4x4 has a 110 liter long range fuel tank. We also carry 40 extra liters in 2 cans on the roof. There's no water here so we have 40 liters of water in 2 cans, another 40 liters in an internal tank inside the 4x4 and a few 5 liter bottles. 2 spare tires, repair equipment for flats, hi-lift jack and a compressor to inflate repaired tires. Sand tracks if we get stuck in deep sand and a winch on front of the 4x4 so we can pull ourselves out if really stuck. A lot of stuff to carry, not including food and camping stuff, and hopefully we do not have to use this self-rescue equipment.
    Back to why it was a longer than planned drive. We had planned to do our last fuel 'top-up' in the last town before turning towards the entrance to the Kalahari. This is not a one-horse town, but a 2 donkey one fuel pump town with a windowless, brick structure called 'Her Majesty's Internet Cafe' called Rakops. We pulled up to the pump and a woman from the shade of her hut gave us the international sign - arms crossed in an X above her head, no gas and don't know when we'll get more. Our only option was to drive back 50 kilometers the way we had come to Mopipi where they hopefully had gas. Our calculations suggested an added hour driving but an extra 100kms worth of gas. We had also been pulled over on the way to Rakops for speeding, but managed to talk our way out of the fine. Going back to Mopipi, however, meant we had to go by the speed trap 2 more times - much more carefully.
    Once we were full of fuel (thankfully), we returned to Rakops and turned off the main road towards the Kalahari park entrance. Once you leave the main road in Botswana, everything is sand-or mud in the rainy season. Since they had an exceptionally wet, wet season, the roads were really impacted and have now turned to either bone rattling corrugation that goes for miles, interspersed with deep holes or deep, soft sand or a combination of all of these. With 50kms to the park gate and another 50kms to our first campsite it was great to finally get in, set up camp and go straight to bed.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    Day 20

    Sunday Pan, Kalahari

    May 26, 2017 in Botswana ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    The camps in the Kalahari are exceptional in that they're all in beautiful, shaded spots with nice views of the bush and they're incredibly private. Each group of camps only has ~4 camps each and they're generally spaced anywhere from 500 meters to 7 km apart from each other so you don't see, hear or feel as if you have any neighbors. It feels truly wild. This is reinforced by the nighttime noises and morning footprints you find in your camp from lots of critters, big and small. Had good sightings of lion (Cindy's big-headed males at last) and cheetah stalking some springbok, bat-eared foxes, jackals and other great critters. We had owls in both camps and got really good views of one of them. A less welcome visitor was a large puff adder (4-ish feet long) that was waiting in camp one late morning after we returned from our game drive. Yikes!Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    Day 23

    Maun

    May 29, 2017 in Botswana ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Out of the Kalahari! What an amazing, remote place. If you want to experience camping in Africa and feel like you are completely alone, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by amazing scenery and wildlife, this is the place to come.
    Now in Maun for the night to re-stock food and fuel, clean up (so much sand with so little water...) and do a little maintenance on the 4x4. We also hope to get some online stuff done. We may have to upload pictures and videos for posts at different times than when we write the post depending on internet connections - bear with us!
    The other thing we're doing is thinning out some of our stuff since going from living in 1100 square feet to <100 (5 seats plus a large back area and rooftop tent) is proving challenging. Every bit of space matters and figuring out how to pack so you don't have to unpack everything every time you camp is critical. I think we've got it! We'll send some pics in the next post if we are pleased with the result...

    We head off to Moremi park in the morning for 11 days -- it's in the amazing Okavango Delta and an incredible place. We'll be camping on a river and the driving will become much more challenging as the sand is very thick and the water crossing potentially very deep.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    Day 24

    Xakanaxa, Moremi National Park

    May 30, 2017 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Bought some last minute supplies, dropped off the last of the rental gear that we decided we did not need, and left Maun refreshed, organized and ready for Moremi in the Okavango Delta.
    The road quickly turned to ruts, potholes and, finally...corrugated sand. We arrived at the South Gate and spoke to ranger who knew Magdalene, a ranger we had met seven years ago in Chobe, and learned she’s now at another park so we’re unlikely to see her this trip. One thing we’ve appreciated about the rangers here is they are generally very helpful and deeply passionate about their work.
    We continued on and found ourselves so tired and “over” the bad road, that when we turned a corner and found an elephant was completely blocking our path, we were momentarily annoyed…then reminded each other how utterly ridiculous this was and were able to relax and re-gain some much needed perspective.
    We arrived at our campsite – you guessed it… several hours later than planned!
    Our campsite backed right up to the thick reeds and water of the Delta, where we spent 5 nights. We didn't see too many critters, but we know there is a lot of wildlife here because we saw it on our last visit and we heard it non-stop in our campsite at night. The lions were roaring, the hippos munching on grass at the edge of camp and the hyenas were constantly ‘laughing’ as they ran through the campsites scavenging for whatever might have been left unattended. In the morning we look for animal prints in the sand to see who has visited during the night. It’s taking awhile to get used to and differentiate the sounds, since every creature - whether a tiny mouse running through the grass or an elephant pushing over a tree to feed on the leaves - sounds huge and too close for comfort. For those who do not want too-much-info sorry, but often the discussion as we are getting ready for bed, is how many times do we need to get up to go pee during the night. Inevitably, one of usually needs to pee (often John) just when we hear a lion roar or a hyena cackle. Whether this need to pee is brought on by the sounds of large predators wandering the camp, or whether said predators sense that someone may be leaving their tent and get excited about the prospect of a midnight snack, is hard to say.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    1
    Day 29

    Third Bridge, Moremi National Park

    June 4, 2017 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Third bridge was just 15km from our previous camp. However, it was going to be the biggest driving challenge so far, with several water crossings to negotiate. We talked to other travelers and received a surprising range of responses about their experiences from “you’ll have no problems just take it slow and steady”, to “OMG I do not want to ever do that again!” We did a little scouting trip the other day to get an idea of what was coming, but turned around about 5km in, after completing a couple of small water crossings and coming upon a longer crossing where the options were what looked like a murky water of undetermined depth or a black mud path, which looked like it had recently devoured the previous vehicle trying to navigate across. We decided to turn back as we have to cross this in a couple of days anyway, so why do it twice?
    Third bridge is just past the infamous Fourth Bridge, which lives large in the Christy and John travel legend. This is where, apparently, approximately 7 years ago, John plotted to have Christy devoured by lions. Third bridge itself also lives in infamy for John, where it was proved that he might be further down the evolutionary ladder than he thought he was after being out-witted by some very clever baboons. Many have heard this story, but John may tell it again later after we safely get through the water crossings.
    Had an amazing stay here -- saw wild dogs! They ran through camp, which we missed, but then we raced (in the truck) to the front gate and spotted them. Unfortunately there weren't any great photos because: 1) the wrong lens was on on the camera, 2) John was driving and Christy doesn't know how to use said camera, 3) Christy panicked and couldn't get a good shot. The dogs ran up the road and we pursued. John tried taking a photo through the window, but the only photo we could get was of the dog pooping. Sorry folks. That's the only good shot we got!
    Met some super nice folks from Cape Town who invited us on a boat cruise on the Delta. Stunningly beautiful. They were also going to Khwai next...more on that soon.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    Day 30

    Third Bridge, Moremi National Park

    June 5, 2017 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Arrived at 3rd Bridge and after all the anxiety about water crossings etc. we decided to go around the water and take a longer, dry route to get here. We have definitely become, for the good, more risk averse over the years. The decision to add 85km to the trip was made after John had a discussion with another camper the night before who had just come through the ‘wet’ road. He described it as the most terrifying thing he has ever done and reported the water was hip high. Now we are here and have seen some others making one of the water crossings across 3rd Bridge and feel it is not too risky.
    We were rewarded early this morning with an excellent sighting of 4 wild dog – also called the African Hunting Dog or Painted Dog? – absolutely beautiful! When we first got up, our neighbors in camp told us a couple of dogs had just walked right through the middle of camp. We were very disappointed as this is one of the animals we really wanted to see again after a brief sighting in Kruger. We quickly got the 4x4 ready to go, left camp and within 1 minute spotted 4 dog on the edge of a water hole. They stopped and we got a great view of them all before the ran off. We anticipated the direction they might be heading, and quickly drove down the road to see if we could intercept them coming out of the bush. We got it just right and they emerged on the road in front of us, one of them took a poop and then they disappeared again. We saw them one more time a few hundred yards up the road. Unfortunately, we could not get in great positions to get good pictures, apart from the one taking a dump – not very flattering. Two more nights here before heading north again to the top of the park. No doubt we will be having several discussions over a couple of gin & tonics trying to decide if we are going to get our 4x4 home wet – it probably needs a clean!    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    Day 32

    Khwai, Moremi National Park

    June 7, 2017 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Had another long drive to the top of the park - even though we opted for the "wet route".
    Driving only ~70 km took almost 5 hours. Granted, we got lost (i.e. were chicken to cross the big water without other vehicles around) and did stop to look at various animals, but still...
    Didn't see a ton of wildlife here, until our final morning. We had the best wildlife experience of our lives (sorry Casey & Marisa --- even beats the whale sharks!).
    While starting to get up and break camp, we heard some crashing and John saw a wild dog running on his way back from the abolution blocks. Insanely -- a pack of 7 wild dogs chased and caught the impala just a few yards from our campsite. We then spent an hour or so running around (Christy in pajamas) following the dogs as they moved around the area devouring the kill. Luckily our neighbors from 3rd bridge - Alistair, Denise, Henri & Wendy - were also with us watching the amazing sight. We were on foot and at one stage one of the dogs growled, and another barked at us to warn us not to get too close. Amazing morning. Best yet....
    The picture with Christy is with some of the park staff who were very excited when they arrived at work to find out there had been wild dogs in camp - and a kill. They were curious to know all the details, including where the kill happened and the behavior of the dogs. Believe it or not, even though a little gross, the guy standing next to Christy is holding part of the remains of the impala (a hip bone, we think). We know discussing a 'kill' may be a little unsettling for some, but the excitement comes purely from being this close to nature in it's rawest form, not from witnessing an animal lose its' life. The experience - the sounds, smells, who we were with, the different vantage points - will be something we will remember for the rest of our lives. Huge gratitude for the honor of being able to observe nature this closely.    Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    Day 34

    Maun

    June 9, 2017 in Botswana ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    Returned to Maun to re-stock, fix the slow-leaking tire, and rest-up before a long slog to Namibia and Etosha National Park. Enjoyed Nandos (a chicken chain) for lunch which was a nice break from our sandwiches.Read more

  • Dobbs Away IIDobbs Without Jobs
    1
    Day 35

    Shakawe

    June 10, 2017 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    On our way from Maun, we stopped at Tsodilo Hills - a World Heritage Site (Christy LOVES her UNESCO sites!) – to see some rock paintings and shelters of great cultural significance to the San people of the Kalahari.
    The roads were generally okay, with some bad stretches of potholes, though the dirt road to Tsodilo Hills was very, very good and it took us only 30 minutes to drive what we’d feared could be a 2+ hour slog.

    The hills themselves were spectacular as the rocks were very colorful and they rose out of the flat high desert so you could see them from far away as you drove towards them. The paintings themselves were mostly of animals (rhino, elephant, giraffe, various antelopes, etc.) and surprisingly some sharks and fish - the theory is that the Bushmen traveled to the sea and that water used to cover much of what is now very arid land. Some very interesting paintings, though we were even more impressed with the carvings done at Twelyfontein that we saw when we last visited Namibia (another UNESCO site of ancient art done by the Bushmen). Stopped in Shakawe and stayed at very fancy campsite called Drotsky’s where there was a beautiful deck overlooking the delta. We enjoyed wine, dinner and some great sunset views over the river and even managed to see an otter.    Read more

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