November 1st – Day Thirty Eight
Everyone was keen to be back at the truck today so we were up early and sitting around waiting for the boat to arrive for our gear at 7am. All the gear was quickly loaded once the boat had turned up and we were on our way with a quick wave goodbye to Elton. The boat trip was nice and we were soon at the point where our Delta aqua adventures had started
ready to load everything back on the truck for the final part of the journey. As before the loading was completed quickly and we were out on the sandy track back to the Africa in Focus truck. A little over an hour later we were back with a smiling Charles and the familiar green-blue of our truck and the process of removing all the black bags commenced. In short order everything was back where it belonged, black bags a memory, and after a quick stop in Etsha 6 for a bit of shopping it was on the road once more heading for the Botswana/Namibia border.
The now empty campsite on Makwena
Helen with Elton
So we drove and rested and then arrived at a clean and rather quiet border to first get our Botswana exit stamps and then after a short ride our Namibia entry stamp. Both border buildings were quite new and tidy and there was hardly anyone around, I guess most people don’t travel between the two countries at this point. Shortly after leaving the Namibia border post we stopped on the side of the road to watch a herd of elephants pass in front of us. Animal encounter over it was onward once more. There was another roadside stop for lunch and then we were on the last leg of our drive, set to arrive at the N’Kwazi camp site near Rundu in the mid afternoon.
The N’Kwazi campsite is situated on the banks of the Okavango river and is in a very dry and dusty area. We were beginning to believe we’d be staying in the dustiest site so before we drove in through the gate and found nice and grassy grounds with plenty of vegetation and good looking accommodation. Unfortunately it turned out there were no upgrades available so those looking forward to spending a few dollars to get a bed were disappointed. Not to worry, the bar area was very nice and there was a swimming pool so after erecting the tents most people found themselves having a swim or a drink. Steve, Bindi and Corey went for an evening boat cruise which was nice but a little bit boring, though they did get to stop for drinks on the far shore of the river which was actually an illegal entry into Angola so that was something else to add to their list of countries visited.
We had a bit of fun juggling the available power at the bar, what with generators needing to be turned on and then plugs and adaptors found for the round pinned South African sockets available. I found a socket near one of the couches in the bar area so settled down to download photos, charge various things and do a bit of writing. Near dinner time the bar area was cleared out and a local dance group came in to perform for a group of German tourists, a nice diversion from the writing. Then it was dinner time so I left the dancing as quietly as possible and back at the truck a nice dinner was had. As it has been in the past this night was an early one, off to bed to dream of the coming days (or for those on Larium to dream of multi coloured electric sleep being chased by wind-up lions over a powder-puff plain dotted with liquorice acacia trees).
