My last weekend in Gabs

Last weekend was my last weekend in the city of Gaborone. I can't believe I am going home soon. We were going to try to go to the Kalahari again but decided that since it was my last weekend there that I wanted to try and do and see all the things I hadn't. It was actually a pretty long list for 1 weekend but we managed to do it all except the aloe forest. We wouldn't have been able to manage al of it if we didn't hire Tendai to go with us. Some of the places we never would have found.

We started off early Sat morning to the sewage ponds to see if I could find more birds. We went to 2 different ponds and then to the Booka dam. I did see a few more birds. After Booka we went to the Matsieng footprints. It was my 3rd time there so I went off and took pictures of birds while Uma and Nha listened to the guide. From there we drove south to go to the Mannyana rock paintings. The painting were on the rocks in a big rock mountain. The kept talking about rock rabbits and didn't know what they were taking about. They were rock hyrax! That is what the locals call them. There were so many of them there. The Livingston tree was near by so we stopped there as well. THe gate was locked but we just looked. It wasn't on my list but it was right there. It is where Livingston preached to the locals. The last thing we did that day wasn't on the list but I am glad we did it. When we were at the footprints the guide gave Uma a brochure for another place, it was the Mmamotshwane gorge and it looked pretty neat. Tendai asked if we wanted to go see it since we still had plenty of light left and we all agreed to go. It took awhile to get there since we took a couple wrong turns but we finally made it. We had to hike and climb up rocks and cross water. It wasn't too bad of a climb but Tendia kept saying this was just a warm up for tomorrow. We were going to climb K'gale hill in the morning. We made it up and down with just a few spills and wet shoes.

The next morning Nha and I went with Tendai to climb K'gale hill. It is supposed to be a rough area but it wasn't. Early in the mornings people go there to excercise. There were so many people there climbing the mountain. We met one of Tendais frineds there since he goes there everyday. We took the easy way up. Ha Ha if you can call it easy. I thought I was going to die! It was tough and they went too fast for me so I just went at my own pace stopping several times. I did make it though all the way to the top! We were supposed to go down the hard way but I said they could go ahead I was going the easy way. I told them I was leaving for Jo'burg in the morning and didn't think they would lke it if I didn't make it. It was a steep climb down that was and I probably would have fell and hurt myself. After K'gale hill Tendai took us on the No 1 Lady's Detective Agency tour. I saw all the places they shoot the movies. That was pretty cool. Nha and I went to the Tea Garden for breakfast then met Uma at the apartment and tried to go to the Odi weavers. It was closed but it was a nice drive and I probably wouldn't have bought anything anyway. We headed back and went into the Gabs game reserve to teach Uma to drive a stick shift. Bull and Bush for dinner and that was the end of my touring of Gaborone.

Kalahari

We started out on Sat morning early to drive to the Kalahari. It was Amos, Uma who just arrived the evening before from NY, Nha and I. We decided to take the long route so we could see more of Botswana and drive by the Jwaneng diamond mine. We went through Lobatse, Kayne and Jwaneng. We were looking for a dirt road to turn off at. We missed it and asked a woman at the combi stop. She told us we hadn't come to it yet. Of couse she was wrong. We turned back and turned at another road. We asked a local that was on a donkey cart and he told us we were on the right road. We went down the road a ways and there was a large group of female ostrich trotting down the road. We contnued on and there was a bend in the road. The road isn't marked at all. I asked where on the map does the road bend and Amos said we were fine. To me it seemed we were going in the wrong direction. I guess I should have stopped and checked but we continued on. We came to the end of the dirt road and ended back on the original highway type road we were already on back near Jwaneng. I couldn't believe it! That was so far away. We decided to go back to that town and fill up the tank with gas and have lunch. We had lunch and were looking at the map and the tour books when I discovered you have to book in advance to get into the Kutse Game Reserve in the Kalahari. The officv ein Gabs was closed so we called Maun. I couldn't understand the woman so I made Amos talk to her. She confirmed that we had to book in advance so we drove back to the apartment. It was a long drive that day but we did see the mine from far away and the ostriches.

The next day we got up early and went to Otse to the Mannyelanong Game Reserve. This is where the endangered Cape Vultures breed on the side of the cliff. The name Mannyelanong means where vultures defecate in Setswana and it is true, the side of the cliff is all white from all their poop. It was cool seeing all the vultures in the air. The cliff was too far away to get a good picture of the hanging out on the rocks but I got a bunch of good in flight.

After that we went to Mokolodi to drive around but there wasn't much out because it was already hot. We left there and went to the Gaborone Dam. You are supposed to get a permit to go there in advance but we didn't and tried anyway. The guard at the gate said he would let us in if we did something for him on the way out which we did, we gave him 30 pula. We drove to the Gaborone Yatch Club and walked around and took pictures then drove around the dirt paths. I did see a couple new birds. 1 I can't identify and the other was a Black Heron. We then went to the tea garden for lunch.

After cooling down on our lemonades we went to the 3 D'kosi monument near squaremart. I took pictures of birds while Nha and Uma listened to the guide. I had already been there twice so I didn't want to stand out in the sun and hear it again. Next we went to the Gaborone Game Reserve and drove around. That was the 3rd time I have been there and was suprised how much the water had gone down in the 2 weeks since I was last there. THe 1st time you couldn't drive down 1 road because the water was too high and was blocking it. When I went back the 2nd time we were able to drive throught the water to access the other rode. This time there was hardly any water. I was so mad at myself I took a picture of a bird and said oh that is another sacrid Ibis so I didn't take another picture even though it was blurry. I got back to the apartment to look at the pictures and it was a juvinal lesser flamingo. Hopefully I will see another one to get a better picture. It was a fun weekend!

Tau Lodge, Madikwe South Africa

I left work early on Friday and was picked up by Tendai (he drove my dad and cindy to Madikwe too) and he took me to the lodge. It was great going across the border with him. He told me where to go and what to do. Everyone knows him so they don't give you any hassel. We got to the lodge and I checked in. Tau means lion so everything there has lions on it. It was great! The lodge is entirely fenced so you can walk around where ever you want. I was shown to my little cabin and right outiside my patio was a waterhole. There were waterbuck, impala, warthog, zebra, wildebeest, 2 elephants and a ton of birds right outside my door. It was amazing! There weren't many people at the lodge when I 1st got there. I was assigned a guide, his name was Denzel and a couple from Australia were also with him. We went out on our 1st game drive and that is where we saw the lions from the previous post with the warthog kill and the lions mating in the road. We also saw a black backed jackal and a steenbok which were new animals for me. Our guide wasn't the best for stopping for birds. I liked the guides better in the Delta. They were more about the people and letting them see everything not just the big animals and talking on his radio.

They have a rare bird at this lodge and people come there just to see it. They call it the "morph" it is a crimson brested boubou that is yellow instead of red. I followed it around until I finally got a good pic of it. They had a lot of good birds there. I am still working with the ID on quite a few. I gave Aunt Susie a lot to work on! I have 22 new ones that I know the names of but have to figure out the rest. I have 135 birds so far! I will have a scrapbook just of birds!

Another exciting thing I saw was a black mamba. It was inthe road and Denzel stopped realy fast. They are very aggressive snakes. It went back into the bush. We sat there for a while and it raised its head up to see us. I got a good picture of it! I did complete the Big 5 while I was there so I was happy about that. I saw the white rhino and the buffalo. I unfortunately didn't see the African wild dog. I will see it before I go home! Enjoy the pictures.