24 August 2025 Namibia!

Today we left Swamp Stop and headed to Namibia! We were facing a 5-hour drive over a variety of road surfaces. 

We are travelling in a 16-seater plus driver van that is not particularly comfortable or with great windows for viewing. We have taken turns in the back seat, which is a little more cramped andhas  less visibility. On this day, Sandi and I took two of the four back seats. 

The walk from the Botswana border to Namibia was only about 500 metres, and on the way, we did need to wait for a troop of baboons to cross the road. We were quite cautious. 

The border from Botswana into Namibia requires a visa, and it is preferable to have an E Visa, which we had done and printed before leaving New Zealand at a cost of approximately $150 NZD. 

Lance and I got through smoothly and were waiting outside. I was a bit concerned that Sandi hadn’t emerged from the building, and it had been quite a long time. I poked my head in and saw our tour guide with her. After a while he came out and shared the problem with us. 

The customs officer had done everything and stamped all of the passport. Then tersely said, “You must leave, you can’t come into the country, go!”

Poor Sandi called out to Richard, and they pointed out that she had her visa and it had been paid for. The officer did not elaborate on what the problem was. Richard scanned her visa and noticed that the date was wrong. Sandi had accidentally got the date wrong when doing her online visa!

Another $150NZD equivalent passed hands, and a new visa was issued. Phew! Apparently, sometimes they are offline, and if you don’t have your paper visa you can’t come into Namibia! Another of our party hadn’t completed an E visa at all. 

Richard told us that a couple of months ago, he had to leave two people behind to be picked up by his company and delivered to him a few days later when the customs were back online.  Disaster avoided, we headed on into Namibia. 

The road in Namibia was very good, and we passed loads more villages.  The villages are very orderly, and most have bush fences around each dwelling. There appears to be a communal toilet, which I assume would be a long drop. 

Along the way we were regularly delayed by goats or cattle meandering across the road. At one stage we stopped for elephants!

It was a long journey with several stops at very clean toilets. 

Finally, we arrived at the Zambezi Rive,r where we boarded a tin flat-decked vessel with folding chairs and whizzed along to the Zambezi Mubala Lodge. 

Small dwellings dotted the shoreline with families fishing from the shore and in dug-out canoes. 

A couple of small crocs glided by with their wicked smile. 

The Zambezi Mubala lodge is outstanding. All cabins are reached by boardwalk. Which was a comfort when thinking of crocodiles. That was until I saw the ramps leading up. Hmmm, will be snappily walking whilst here. Also at the bar, we heard another tour guide telling the bartender that he had just seen a black mambo snake! 

The cabins were really lovely, and Lance adored the ginormous rainforest shower head. 

Dinner was enjoyed under the African-style thatched dining area after a few drinks with our toes in the sand around the brazier. 

We slept like babies, and everyone felt that it was a shame that we were only there for one night. 

23 August 2025 Cruising the Okavango Delta

 23 August

Our accommodation at Swamp Stop had the weirdest power points with three huge holes that would not engage in any way with our multiple plug options. Fortunately, we have power banks with us and managed to charge essential items like my hearing aids and our phones. 

For all its rustic quality, the chef took the food to a higher level. The food was homemade and delicious. When have you ever had scrambled eggs from the bain-marie that are perfect and not overcooked?

On the last night we had a braai. An African bbq. Long tables were set outside with lights, and that is where we enjoyed our last evening meal at Swamp Stop

That day, we were taken out on a small 16-seater vessel, which was tied up in the river almost outside our room. 

Pete, our captain, took us through huge channels of the Okavango Delta where we saw all sorts of creatures. The birds were everywhere, large and small. He spotted a monitor lizard, which was camouflaged in the papyrus grass. Monitor lizards feed on crocodile eggs and small crocs. This helps to keep the population down. Once the crocodile gets larger, he has no predators in the delta. The papyrus grass forms a floating island and filters the water of the channels, resulting in lovel,y clean, clear water. 

After passing a couple of medium and smaller-sized crocs, we came across this monster. We never got to see the rest of him, but we can imagine just how massive he must be. 

Which made us a little nervous when we switched from the larger vessel to a makoro. Makoro are traditional canoe although these were made of fibreglass. There is not a lot of freeboard, and we were told not to make any sudden moves, or we may capsize. Standing aft was the poler who propelled us through the water and kept us balanced. It was such a great experience! Sliding through the grassy pools and slipping past the pretty water lilies was very peaceful. But lurking in the back of our minds was that huge crocodile tail, or the chance that some elephants may come down to the water for a splash! 

It was already blistering hot when we arrived at Makoro Island. Our guide gave us a bit of a talk about the creatures and said it depends on nature as to what we will see today. Well, we only saw a few birds, so he gave us a talk about poo! I know, right up my alley!

You can tell whether droppings have come from a male or a female elephant by checking how close the urine patch is to the dung. If it is close, then it is a female, whereas a male's is a little further away. I did see an elephant having a wee the other day (not a phrase that I have ever used to start a sentence), and now I know that it must have been a female because of the direction of the flow. 

Hippo, on the other hand … the bull hippo comes into land to poop. Have you ever seen a hippo poop? It blows it out the back end using its tail like a propeller, and it flicks everywhere. So the bull hippo does this on land in a bush to mark its territory. If another bull comes along, it can tell by the smell of the leavings how strong the bull who did it is. If he thinks he might have a chance of taking him on, then he will fertilise the bush in the same manner. The original bull regularly checks his markings, and when he finds the new spray, he starts looking for the other bull. Finally, they meet and a fight ensues, and the lucky winner gets to look after the herd. 

Male baby bull hippos are hidden from the head hippo until they are big enough to look after themselves otherwise, the bull hippo kills them.  And, did you know that the hippo is the only mammal with no body hair. 

If we thought we were hot in the water, the island was ten times hotter. I kept trying to stand in Lance’s shadow to get out of the piercing sun. 

Fortunately, after the poo talk,s we pretty much got back in our makoro and made our way back to where our boat was. And there we enjoyed a lunch of cold spaghetti bolognaise and once again we hoovered it down. 

A monitor lizard is enjoying the sunshine 

Back on our 16 seater boat, we meandered once again through the channels, spotting the odd croc and a couple of hippo. And later set out again for another beautiful African sunset. 

22 August 2025 Helicopter over the Okovango Delta

 22 August

Our breakfast was had alongside the water, with little sign of any crocodiles and a few hippo snouts emerging from time to time.

A helicopter flight over part of the Okavango Delta had been arranged, and pick up was at 9am.

The Okavango Delta covers approximately 15,000 kilometres of the Kalahari Desert. The water flows down from Angola every year and floods the plains, resulting in an area that has a concentration of animals.

Sandi and I were flying in a two-seater helicopter with open sides, and my main concerns were my glasses slipping off my face as I looked down, and the chance of dropping my phone! I have made a mental note to get some sort of contraption that secures my phone around my neck for future journeys. My glasses ended up being fine because the headset held them tight.

Our pilot was a Canadian and was very informative. Zebra were prolific, and we saw many more than when we were on land at Moremi Game Reserve. Herds of zebra and wildebeest were scattered across the shallow water. They like to stick together because zebra have excellent eyesight and wildebeest have an excellent sense of smell, so they form a relationship that protects both from predators. Also Zebra like to graze on the taller grass, and wildebeest like to suck the juices from the shorter grass.

There were also loads of elephant and at one point, we saw a wee elephant running after the herd and its mother; it was quite comical.

Water buffalo had so far been elusive, and we got to see some for the first time.

There is a long buffalo fence stretching for kilometres through the plains. It is designed to keep the buffalo out of the farming areas and prevent the spread of foot and mouth. They design the fences to be low enough for elephants to step over; however, they didn’t consider baby elephants, and the mother elephants consequently break down the fences to get the babies through.

The 45-minute flight was well worth the $255 USD as we saw the delta from such a different perspective.

Before continuing our journey, we all grabbed some lunch from The Duck Cafe. It was outstanding and is just opposite the airport in Maun. 

Back on the road, the bumps were bad, and after a 5-hour drive, we reached Swamp Stop Lodge. The lodge, which is alongside the river, is a bit more rustic than our previous accommodation, but clean,n and the people are really helpful and lovely. 

The manager was on site and sitting around the campfire, ready for a chat. Especially when he heard that we had some Australians on board. This evening, the Springboks beat Australia, and he has made sure that we know the score. But in saying that, he has been around chatting and this evening cooked BBQ ribs, and we enjoyed a braai ( African BBQ). 

The rustic charm extends to a campfire with chairs set around it to finish our evening. 

Off to the mosquito netting to sleep off our day. 

21 August 2025 Thamalakane River Lodge Maun

 21 August Thamalakane River Lodge, Maun

We were all a little sad to say goodbye to Gomoti Riverside Lodg,e which was such a beautiful and unique place.

Thankfully, breakfast was not at dawn, and we had a slow start with breakfast at 8 and were ready to go at 9:30.

When we went to pack our stuff, we found a bar of soap that we had bought at the supermarket had been nibbled, right through the packaging! I bet whatever it was was disappointed when it got to the soap. Also, we had some muesli bars of Sandi’s in our cabin and again, some little rodent had had a go at them!

 

We were still in the open-sided trucks for this journey and started with a quick game drive.

Back onto the sandy track we went, and we did spy a few small creatures. The,n suddenly from behind the bushes, six large elephants chose to cross the track in front of us and this happened!

What a breathtaking and bum-clenching moment. The only reason I didn’t let out some little squeaks was that this elephant was right in front of me, looking me in the eye and sending me a message to bugger off!

I almost feel like I need to delete all of my previous elephant photos and just save this video. 

On we went, and it wasn’t long before Lance asked me if I had brought the toilet paper with me. “Bushy bushy” went the cry, and Eddie stopped the truck. Lance was out like a shot with toilet paper and wet wipes in hand. He tried to grab the shovel off the side of the truck, but it wouldn’t budge, and he couldn’t wait.

Poor Lance had an emergency evacuation!

You could see the relief on his face when he appeared from the bushes. He shared his technique with us all, just in case any of us were caught in a similar perilous condition. 

1. All pants off
2. Hold on to a firm tree
3. Lean backwards
4. Release

Worked well for him!

The drive back was dusty and bumpy. This is not a track that we were driving on; it is a proper road with road signs and everything.

Arriving back at Thamalakane River Lodge, we left the trucks behind and were met by Richard, our tour guide. Our rooms here are nice, and we have a view over the river containing hippo and crocodiles. And of course, we enjoyed another African sunset.

We had a lazy afternoon, which we really needed, and had dinner under the stars with the rest of our group. The food was really good, in fact, the best we have had since leaving Cape Town.

Writing this from our netted bed, I could get used to this mosquito netting!

USD, Pula and credit cards accepted.