Day 8. Sat 24th April
Into the Kalahari Game Reserve.
We leave at five for the Kalahari Game Reserve. We drive to Ghanzi where
we turn off the tarmac onto a sandy track. It is not a long way, but difficult
driving, and in addition the land rover has developed a leak in the water
system which is rather worrying. We have pink sausage sandwiches and cake
for breakfast.
The central Kalahari is not a true desert, as it receives on average
more than 10 inches of rainfall a year, and sometimes a great deal more.
This year the rains have been good and the "desert" is a lush green. However,
moisture evaporates quickly from, or is absorbed into, the sandy soil,
and sometimes there may be little or no rainfall for several years.
We eat lunch, pink sausage sandwiches and cake again, at the Game Reserve
gate, while Ken pays. He also manages to do a temporary on fix the coolant
leak in the Land Rover engine using a plastic bag.
The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is one of the largest wildlife protectorates
in the world, at over 32,000 square miles it is about the size of Ireland.
From the gate it is about 70Km to our camp site at Piper Pan, and we
get there at about three o'clock. We have three tents between us and, in
view of my tendency to snore rather loudly, Ken decides to share with Blondie
instead, so I get a tent to myself. Ken shows us how to put up the tents,
and also gives us a talk on good camp practice, which includes never
leaving them open, not leaving shoes outside at night, and peeing round
the tent to "mark the territory" which will discourage predators. We are
a little doubtful about the latter idea, and the women don't attempt it
at all! The tents are basic but ideal for the purpose, very easy to put
up once you get the hang of it, but roomy and high enough to stand in.
They have integrated floors to keep out unwanted visitors, and are fully
mosquito-netted. We also get nice thick mattresses, which is good, as I
didn't have room for an air-bed.
For the first time ever we see Ken wearing shoes. The ground in the Kalahari
is covered with tiny thorns, designed a bit like those things they use
to puncture tyres - which ever way they fall theres a spike sticking upwards.
Knowing this Ken has brought along a pair of sandals that he has kept since
he stopped wearing shoes thirteen years ago, and are definitely looking
their age. Nevertheless it doesn't stop him and the rest of us getting
thorns in our feet, and thorn removal sessions become a regular event.
Once the tents are up Blondie and I are given the task of setting up camp
while Sunshine and Pirate go off with Ken in the land rover to gather firewood.
It seems that Big Pirate Pete is ideally suited to this task as they return
scratched and dirty but with the roof piled high with branches and full
of tales of his prowess. The fire is soon blazing and steaks sizzling.
Sunshine, as a vegetarian, is a little out of her element with such serious
carnivores, especially Ken, who can devour a T-bone steak the size of a
dinner plate and order extra sausages. However, we are well stocked with
tins of beans and vegetable curry, and she does OK.
After supper Ken decides that it's time to open the duty-free Jack
Daniels that I have been carting around in my rucksack. I'm not feeling
quite up to an evening on the whisky, and neither are the others, but Ken
is quite happy to polish off most of the bottle without any assistance.
We decide to leave the washing up until the morning, and sit around
the fire instead, telling jokes and trying to remember the words of songs.