Page 22 - Cape-Camera-Jan-Feb-2022

January/February 2022 Cape Camera

A Member’s Travelogue

Enjoying Botswana & Namibia during Covid

by Jean Bradshaw

When 2020 dawned, we could hardly wait to start our planned and has basic camping facilities. The campsite is run for the ben-
holiday to Central and Southern Namibia – but it was not to be! efit of the local population. Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson
Fortunately all out booked places were most accommodating described the island as "just about the most astonishing place
and let us reschedule our stays for the following year, and be- I've ever been" on the Botswana Special episode.
cause we had already planned a trip to Botswana with a group To photograph Kubu Island at sunset or sunrise, and especially
of friends for 2021, we decided to combine the two travel plans. the magnificent Baobab trees set against the vastness of the salt
Before we left, we had very anxious moments, not knowing pan, has been a longstanding dream of mine. I was very happy
whether the authorities would suddenly close the borders or when I could spend a bit of time exploring this magical place on
whether one of us would test positive for Covid. It was not until my own with my camera as I was the only photographer in the
we were at Touws River that we got our negative results and group and so my photographic time was always limited.
found the borders posts still open. Now we could finally relax
and enjoy our holiday!
Once across the Botswa-
na border, we headed for
the Khama Rhino Sanc-
tuary which is a com-
munity based wildlife
project, established in
1992 to assist in saving
the endangered rhino
population, restore an
area formerly teeming
with wildlife to its pre-
vious natural state and
White Rhino in provide economic ben-
Khama Rhino sanctuary efits to the local Botswa- Kubu Island
na community through The next highlight was a flight over the delta which still had
tourism and the sustainable use of natural resources. Covering plenty of water after the heavy rains earlier in the year. The
about 8 585 hectares of Kalahari Sandveld, the sanctuary pro- game was difficult to spot except for the many elephants, but
vides a prime habitat for white and black rhino as well as over it gave us an excellent sense of the fascinating ecosystem. We
30 other animal species and more than 230 species of birds. We then spent a few nights on the banks of the Kwai River in the
were lucky to see both rhino species one evening at a waterhole Khwai community game concession area between Moremi and
- apparently a rare occurrence. Savuti, Chobe Game Reserves. Again, we experienced plentiful
We had met up with the rest of our group that joined our Bot- water around, making it very difficult to track game which could
swana part of the camping tour in Khama, and left together for swim or jump over the water, whereas we had to find our way
our overnight stay on famous Kubu Island. This is a dry granite around it. However, the wilderness experience and beauty of
rocky island in the middle of one of the largest salt pans in the our camp made up for the lack of game viewing opportunities.
world - the Makgadikgadi Pan, covering about 16 000 km², and We visited the Chobe National Park from the Ngomo Bridge and
is part of the bed of the ancient Lake Makgadikgadi that began also from the Kasane ends. Whereas the Ngomo bridge end
evaporating millennia ago. The entire island is a national monu- was teaming with game with huge herds of antelope, giraffe,
ment, and is considered a sacred site by the indigenous people elephant and buffalo all along the water’s edge, there was far
of the area. less game at the Kasane end - but we managed to get close to
The island is a few kilometres away from the Orapa and Letlha- buffalo, giraffe, hippo, and elephant during our sunset cruise.
kane mining towns and can be accessed through Mmatshumo We left Botswana and crossed into Namibia (another negative
in the Boteti district. It is accessible by four wheel drive vehicles Covid test later!). We became very quickly aware of the lack of

21 Cape Town Photographic Society