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OxleyinBotswana3

September - October 2018
This is an account of the activities of 24 Oxley Year 9 students and 3 support staff who are visiting Zimbabwe and Botswana to link up with Sedie & Mathiba Schools in Maun, as well as experiencing the geography, culture & wild life of the region Read more
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  • TravelerOxleyinBotswana3
    1
    Day 1

    Bowral, NSW

    September 28, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We are on the road! The long-awaited adventure has begun.

    There was an unexpected hiccup when Will David’s ticket had him as David William but that problem was eventually solved after some frantic phone calls.

    Good flight through to Perth where the group was joined by Peter Craig.

    Left Perth at midnight for our 11 hour flight through to Johannesburg with South African Airways.    Read more

  • TravelerOxleyinBotswana3
    1
    Day 2

    Getting to Victoria Falls

    September 29, 2018 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We touched down at OR Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg at 4.40 this morning. Found our way through mostly closed shops to an open cafe and occupied tables all morning, coming and going in groups, as we waited for our 10.50 departure .

    Our flight of 80 minutes passed without any problems but it was extremely slow going through the Zimbabwe Customers and visa purchase. Once through we met our driver (Laban) and cook (Munya), loaded up the truck, and headed into Victoria Falls village. It was 33C so we all bought water in the OK Bazaars. On to Shearwater Village Camp ground where we moved into our tents.

    From the campground we walked to, and through, the lovely old colonial-style Victoria Falls Hotel to look at the view down the gorge to the bridge. Then on to the Lookout Cafe for a refreshing drink. On the way back to camp we bargained with vendors before heading for a swim.

    By 6.30 we were all spruced up for our dinner at the Boma restaurant. Here we had the opportunity to try crocodile, impala, eland, boerewors, sadza and mapani worms. Some tried, some didn’t, but everyone got involved when the bongo drums were hand out. Some danced, some were totally exhausted from the long day we had had, but everybody had enjoyed themselves.    Read more

  • TravelerOxleyinBotswana3
    Day 3

    From the Falls to Chobe

    September 30, 2018 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We anticipated an early rise this morning but the next door campsite beat us to it when they started pulling their tents down at 5.00 am, instructed by someone who sounded like Peter Craig (but wasn’t).

    So we easily managed our own early start with tents and bags packed and breakfast over by 7.30.

    With the truck packed we drove the short distance to the Falls car park, where we met our guide ‘Innocent’. He took us on 2 hour visit in which we started at the bridge viewpoint and worked out way backwards to the statue of David Livingstone. There was little water going over on the Zambian half of the falls but things improved on the Zimbabwe side. They are a spectacular sight!

    After our visit we left the town and drove for an hour to the Botswana border, and after going through the Foot & Mouth prevention chemical pan, we drove to the nearby town of Kasane. We bought drinks and snacks while Munya & Laban went food shopping.

    Lunch was late and shortly after that we on our jeeps heading for our first game drive in Chobe National Park. We were lucky enough to see large herds of elephants, kudu, impala, hippo, waterbuck and zebra. There was even a distant sighting of a pride of lion which we hope to improve upon tomorrow morning.

    Dinner back at the camp, a debriefing and an early night as everyone was exhausted. It had been a great day!    Read more

  • TravelerOxleyinBotswana3
    Day 4

    Game-viewing on land & water

    October 1, 2018 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Everybody seemed in good spirits as we assembled for a 5.30 am early morning drink and breakfast. By 5.45 we were on our 3 jeeps heading along the road to the Sedudu entrance gate to Chobe NP.

    There followed 2 hours of searching, of scanning the surrounding river frontage and adjoining banks for any signs of wildlife.

    There were no elephants like yesterday as the elephants do not like to spend the night by the water. But there were buffalo, hippo, baboons, and a fascinating variety of birds (spoonbills fishing, fish eagles, hammerkop, lilac-crested rollers, carmine bee- eaters, vultures, etc. We watched young impala males practicing their fighting and a troop of baboons going about their family business ( mothers fussing over babies, youngsters playing catch & seek).

    We stopped for a break in one of the Stretch Sites before slowly making our way back to the park gates. It had been a morning when we just missed Painted Dog on one occasion and lions swimming across the river on another. But that is the luck of attempting to see game in the wild.

    Back at Thebe River Lodge, we waited for brunch by using the wifi, doing some washing or generally relaxing. After our meal it was time for a swim.

    We left the camp at 2.30 for our cruise on the Chobe River. We had the flat-bottomed, two storey game-viewing boat to ourselves and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon until sunset.

    On the cruise we crept close to animals drinking in the river (kudu, impala, warthog, elephants) and those on the shoreline (buffalo, elephant, crocodile, lechwe, hippos). And there were spoonbills, herons, storks, spinners and fish eagles to watch.

    Our cruise ended with the usual magical sunset, the sun’s red ball disappearing into the Chobe River, tinging the flowering reeds in yellow.

    A good meal from Munya followed and we headed for bed, tired but happy. It has been a great day, enjoyed by everyone.    Read more

  • TravelerOxleyinBotswana3
    Day 5

    Elephants without Borders

    October 2, 2018 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    It was a pleasant slow start to the morning with everyone up well before breakfast at 8.00am. We all made our own lunch sandwiches and fruit choices. By 9.00 Laban had driven us the few kilometres to the Kasane town shopping centre and we went looking for money exchanges (it has been the Botswana Day long weekend and not everything has been open), bottled water and snacks.

    An hour later we were off to nearby Kasangula where Elephants without Borders has its property which consists of offices, accommodation for some staff and a baby elephant orphanage.

    We were welcomed by 2006 Old Oxleyan Dr. Tempe Adams with a presentation that explained how EWB operated and what they did. As an NGO, they have made a huge contribution with arterial surveys, community involvement and education, and now orphaned elephants.

    At the end of the presentation Tempe was asked where they got their operating funds from (part government, part fundraising). She was delighted to receive the funds that Ollie, Will, Archie and Jonny had raised at their sausage sizzle.

    While half the group had lunch, the remainder went to visit the three orphans in their enclosure. It was great fun being able to touch and watch them, and see them being fed.

    After lunch we all helped Tempe make noise deterrents (groups of 3 used drink cans tied together to rattle in the wind when attached to a farmer’s fence) and chili bombs (a mixture of elephant dung, cooking oil and chilies which will burn for long enough to scare off an elephant herd).

    Once that was done we used our safari truck to visit a local farm and helped the farmer by attaching the ‘noise makers’ to his fence to protect his cabbages.

    Tempe joined us for dinner that night (after we had had a swim). For dessert, we celebrated Bella’s birthday with a cake.

    It has been another great day - and a most worthwhile addition to the tour itinerary.    Read more

  • TravelerOxleyinBotswana3
    Day 6

    Driving south to Nata

    October 3, 2018 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    From about 6.00 this morning, everybody was moving and tents were down before breakfast at 7.00. We were on the highway heading south from Kasangula just before 8.00, which was a really good result.

    It took us about 4.5 hours to reach our campsite with stops on the road after 2 hours for a toilet break, then a stop to go through a Foot & Mouth station, followed by a camp fresh food shop in Choppies supermarket in Nata.

    Tents up, lunch eaten and we were ready for a swim at the Nata Lodge pool as it was a really warm afternoon. It was a very pleasant, lazy afternoon at this oasis in the dry Botswanan bush. Most swam but there was also a bit of shopping.

    Dinner at 7.15, cooked by Munya and a happy birthday rendition for Rosie. Since we had a very early start the next morning it was an early night for most.    Read more

  • TravelerOxleyinBotswana3
    Day 7

    Flamingos & cattle posts

    October 4, 2018 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    The whole camp rose before 5.00 am, packed their bags, rolled up sleeping mats, breakfasted and were on the game-viewing jeeps before 6.00.

    We headed south down the main road for about 10 kms before turning off through the Nata Sanctuary gate, passing into dry grasslands.

    On the way to the Makgadikgadi Salt pans we stopped to look at herds of wildebeest and zebra. Then we drove across dry pans before emerging on the water’s edge - and hundreds of flamingos. We worked our way closer to them - Lochlan and Jamie even wading knee-deep - but they remained elusively out of reach. After a while we returned to the jeeps for coffee and rusks.

    From there, we moved along the shoreline and up on to a promontory and there in front of us was a huge body of water - and pelicans, ducks and more flamingos. Apparently a cyclone in the Mozambique Channel dumped a lot of water on Zimbabwe and Botswana last year: which had reached the pans via the Nata River.

    On the way back to Nata Lodge we saw coran (the helicopter bird) and several ostriches.

    The truck was packed and ready to and soon we were heading westwards out of Nata. After an hour’s drive, just before Gweta, we had reached our destination, Planet Baobab. This is aptly named as there are several huge baobabs on the property and when at night, as they are, there is an element of interplanetary travel.

    Their guides were waiting for us and soon, in 3 jeeps, we were taken on a tour, which included Gweta Primary School (into a couple of classrooms), the village pond, and a sorghum beer maker (just a taste). From there we visited a cattle post before returning to Planet Baobab for a traditional local lunch. This consisted of sadza (a thick maize mash), wild spinach, fried mapani worms, tripe, beans, smashed beef and polenta.

    It was a hot afternoon which we spent in and around the pool., waiting for the heat of the day to abate. When it did, up went our tents and we moved our bags in.

    Munya prepared another filling meal with dessert, and we sat around talking until the evening debriefing.

    It had been another good day with several saying that they had enjoyed it the most so far .    Read more

  • TravelerOxleyinBotswana3
    Day 8

    Meerkats & Salt Pans

    October 5, 2018 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    (The wifi has been too weak to upload or the satellite dish has not been working)(and now the campground at Sitatunga is full and everybody is trying to get on!).

    We were up again at 5.00 but this time we didn’t have to take our tents down. We had an early morning drink in the Planet Baobab lounge before boarding our jeeps (one had a puncture before we even left the camp.

    Two hours of a bumpy dusty sandy track and we were in the desert grasslands close to the pans. Splitting into 2 groups, we visited seperate meerkat colonies and spent an hour observing their fascinating behaviour. Several insects were dug up and even a large scorpion was consumed by an excited meerkat.

    From the meerkats, we drove a few kilometres to the vastness of the dry Ntetwe Pan (part of the Makgadigadi Salt Pans) and way out on the flat, crusty pan we had a breakfast picnic. The vastness was eerie but breakfast was most welcome.

    The return journey was much the same - sandy, bumpy tracks and clouds of dust - but it had all been worth it.

    Once back at Planet Baobab we took down tents and packed the bus before a late lunch. As soon as we could, we were on the truck for our 3 hour drive to Maun. The road deteriorated in patches but at least we saw the occasional pairs of ostriches.

    Once in Maun we had some free time while Munya and Laban bought the food we would be taking with us to the delta. So some exchanged money, others bought water or snacks and some engaged with a group of kids congregating near our truck.

    From Maun we drove to Sitatunga Camp and pitched our tents before dinner was served. After dinner we had a debriefing and an informative session about requirements for our delta camping

    It had been another interesting day, with everyone tired but happy.    Read more

  • TravelerOxleyinBotswana3
    Day 9

    Mokoros & the Okavango delta

    October 6, 2018 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Probably the best night of our trip - cool but not cold - and everybody slept well. By 6.00 the camp was astir and packing items into their backpack for our mokoro safari into the delta. Tents and mattresses came with us while our suitcases remained in the truck with Laban at Sitatunga.

    We loaded up 2 vehicles (a truck carrying 16 of us plus camping gear, and a Jeep plus trailer brought the rest). The trip to the nearest point of the Okavango delta at Boro took us through Maun and northwards before turning westward along a twisting dirt road. The whole journey took us 1.5 hours.

    At Boro we loaded up 17 mokoros with passengers, camping gear, and food, and were poled for 2 hours through narrow channels in the reeds to the island on which we camped. On the way we saw Maribou storks, water lilies and a pod of hippos in a lagoon.

    We settled in by putting up our tents and then it was time for lunch. It was an extremely hot afternoon and we relaxed in the shade, reading, playing cards or games, swimming or napping.

    As the afternoon cooled, we broke up into 4 groups and with a guide walked into the interior of the island looking at local fauna and flora. In the course of our 1.5 hour walk we saw a herd of elephants reasonably close and buffalo, wildebeest and zebra in the distance. On our return, walking into the dying sun, a reedbuck went passed us.

    Back for dinner around the campfire. Munya had done another great job. After dinner we sat around talking before heading for bed.    Read more

  • TravelerOxleyinBotswana3
    Day 10

    A game-viewing walk & a mokoro sunset

    October 7, 2018 in Botswana ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    A really sleepy group slowly emerged from 5.30 in preparation for this morning’s walk. Morning tea/coffee and rusks to start the day. Everybody carried plenty of water.

    We walked in groups of 7 or 8 with a guide I in front and an associate at the rear. Within a few minutes we had seen a group of 4 giraffes and then, in the course of the walk, hippo (in pools) lechwe, impala, reedbuck, zebra, warthog, wildebeest and baboons.

    After 2 hours of walking we had a break before making our way back to camp. The island we walked on was generally flat grasslands with occasional termite mounds. There were occasional palms, sausage trees, and mapani and then reeds and grass around the pools from which the early summer heat was causing the waters to recede.

    In all, our walk lasted 4 hours and the brunch we returned to was most welcome. Munya had done a great job. After that we retreated to the shade to relax, to doze, read, or play cards with the polers.

    Late afternoon a few were taken by the polers to a pool where they could take a refreshing, and cleansing, swim.

    Just before sunset we all travelled in our mokoros to a large pool and we sat on the reed periphery watching a pod of hippos cavorting and kingfishers dive-fishing as the sun went down. It was a beautiful scene. After the golden globe dropped below the horizon the colours in the sky reddened.

    After dinner around the campfire, a space was cleared, the fire stoked up and we were treated to some local singing and dancing. It was great fun with some of us joining in; particularly the frog dance.

    In return, Oxley managed several group songs including a interesting rendition of the school song and the national anthem.

    It had been a very hot day but everyone coped.    Read more

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