Day 12. Wed 28th April
Return to Planet Baobab
Up at first light, we grab a couple of Weetabix (we're fresh out of Granny
Flokkers) and a cup of coffee and strike camp, keeping a sharp eye out
for biting beasties under the tents.
As we drive away from Sunday Pan a single lion, obviously hungry after
an unsuccessful night's hunting, raises his head above the grass and watches
us as if to say farewell, or maybe he's just sizing us up as a possible
meal.
We drive out past Deception Pan and stop to look at the site of Mark
and Delia Owens' camp, where they lived for seven years. There is nothing
to see now - it is just camp site number CK D6. (I am actually a little
confused, as the camp site is surrounded by woodland, whereas the camp
site described and photographed in "The Cry Of The Kalahari" is a small
island of trees surrounded by scrub)
Plan A today is to drive all the way to Kasane on the Zambian border,
and we make good time until, half way between Maun and Gweta, shortly after
joining the main road, disaster strikes. Ken's makeshift repairs to the
cooling system fail and water jets out of the bonnet all over the windscreen.
He sizes up the situation and decides to operate, cutting an inch off
the damaged end off the rubber water hose and reattaching it. Luckily the
hose is just long enough.
We drive on to Matopi, a tiny town but big enough to have a petrol
station although the diesel pump is hand-operated. We fill up with diesel,
thoroughly bleed the cooling system, and fill up the two 20 litre water
containers in case of further problems. However the repair holds, although
the engine continues to run hot for no apparent reason.
In Rakops we buy bread and more pink sausage. Rakops is a grubby little
town, and we drive out and find a tree with minimal litter to make sandwiches
for lunch. On the way out we see a huge bull elephant plodding along beside
the road.
By four o'clock it is clear that Plan A is not going to work. Although
we have lost less than an hour through the problems with the water system,
Kasane is still about five hours away. We revert to Plan B, which is to
get to Gweta and then return to Planet Baobab and the husky Amanda.
A hot shower is desperately needed after four days in the bush, after
which we sit down for dinner greatly refreshed. After dinner we sit around
the open fire and drink beer and reminisce about our experiences in the
Kalahari.
