39. Makgadikgadi Pans

elephant on side of road

Once the driver met me at the airport, I hit the ATM, we found Dawne and our travel partner Kathie from Canada, and we were on our way to Gweta, 3 hours away. However, it started to rain as we got closer, which did not bode well for our “sleep out under the stars” trip. We did see a lot of animals and got more excited than warranted at seeing goats, donkeys, and cows in the road. Then we saw our first real wildlife…a feisty elephant walking alongside the road in the rain. He seemed annoyed and flapped his ears a bit but we got some good pictures with his trunk curled up.

cleaning shoes to prevent spread of foot and mouth disease

we were excited to see goats

we got excited seeing donkeys too

leopard turtle in the road

Next our driver stopped in the road for a leopard turtle. It has spots on its shell resembling leopard spots. Unfortunately when we arrived at the resort it the rain was pretty solid. We would go out 90 minutes to the “other side” (the salt pans) with our guide Charles in the 4x4 and if it is raining out there we would have to come back and the resort would find a place for us to stay. Worse yet there would be no meerkats out in rain. Though we can try tomorrow morning to see them before heading back.

ready to go in our 4x4

Luckily it cleared up as we progressed through the bush on the other side. It was soon like a whole different world, sunny and dry dry dry. Charles showed us a termite mound that was growing in symbiosis with a mopane tree. Termites eat dead leaves and branches and build a hill which provides nutrients for the tree. The tree then gives shade to termites. Bush people also use the mounds as a compass because they lean towards sunset i.e. the West as they'll build towards the cooler side and the morning sun is hotter. Incidentally this is the same mopane tree that helps the mopane worm which I ate in Namibia. The mopane worms are technically caterpillars that eat the heart shaped leaves of the mopane tree. Somehow I feel worse about eating a caterpillar than a worm, but they are an important food source here providing a good source of protein. It seems strange that the locals fell that goats are dirty and unclean so they won’t eat them, but they are fine with worms.

1700 year old giant baobab tree

Our next stop on this bouncy ride through the sands was to see the biggest baobab tree, which is 1700 years old! Unfortunately our truck wouldn't start after our guide Charles stopped to explain about the tree. He tried for several minutes and called someone but we were already an hour into the bush. Walking would likely be 2-3 hours and my gear was a bit heavy. I asked about push starting it but the vehicle is too heavy.

truck won't start

Some farmer kids had come over saying hello and hoping to sell is a watermelon. I had a 50 pula (about $4) and we bought a watermelon and took a picture with them. Kathie and I had pens so we gave them two. Then our driver talked to them in their language though I did hear the word “battery” but they did not have one. He said something else and they came over to the truck. We were going to try push starting it! I really wanted a picture of that but I needed to push. Anyways, it worked! We thanked them and exchanged handshakes and hugs. I gave them another pen and soon we were on our way.

great farm kids who sold us a watermelon then helped push start the 4x4

first sunset in Botswana

in the salt pans

The camp was on the salt pans, a giant expense of white. Dinner was served in near darkness though we had headlamps if need be. Delicious pumpkin soup and fresh bread, stew and rice and veggies. Stars were everywhere. So many and so bright! Pictures only capture a small section and really don't do it justice. Charles had an amazing green laser that went way into the sky so he could point out various stars and constellations. As we sat around the campfire with the group of Japanese tourists in the other jeep, they asked what animals we had seen. Dawne said we had only seen one elephant and then she stopped to think of the name of the turtle and said “leopard?” and in the short pause that followed everyone gasped as seeing a leopard is quite rare. Then she said “turtle.” I had to confirm with them that we saw a leopard turtle, not a leopard. We all laughed and they were no longer crazy jealous of us.

dinner in the dark

our guide has a cool pointer to show stars

campfire with the other group

sky at night

our disgusting toilet

The only downside was the toilet. They had dug a hole and placed a toilet with 3 walls over it; however there was a 3 inch section of wood between the seat and the edge which was impossible not to touch. By the time I got a good look at it, this area was covered in pee. Completely disgusting. Our group of 3 decided we would do our business after dark walking off away from the camp. We dragged our sleeping bags a bit further from the others. Some beautiful moths gathered around our sleeping bags overnight and even into the morning (see pics) perhaps because the wind kicked up at night and it was cold and nippy.

tons of moths were on my sleeping bag all night into the morning

our sleeping bags

breakfast in the pans

guide with 4 meerkats on him

The next morning came the highlight of our trip and what I had come for. Then meerkat colony. They were so cute with small young meerkats playing and running around. They're quite curious as well. Our meerkat guide was lying down with four meerkats on him when we arrived and we each got to take a turn lying down on a mound to act as a higher viewing platform for the meerkats to stand on so they can look around. The babies were very curious and also playful wrestling with each other and playing chase. Dawne even managed to stand up with one on her shoulder holding firmly to her hair for balance as he peered around from his “tower.”

meerkats playing

Meerkat on me

selfie with meerkat

meerkats playing near Dawne

Two meerkats on Dawne

Cute little guy

he went from my shoulder back into his hole

Meerkats standing tall to look around

holding a scorpion: keep your hand flat

After that we had a bushwalk with two local bushmen. They showed us a tree critical to their lifestyle: branches they use to start fire, beetles that fed on it make larvae that they use for poison, the sap is used for soap, and they can chew roots of small ones for moisture (elephants like the roots too). After burning, they use the ash for hair conditioner! They also showed us a scorpion and played with him. If you lay your hand very flat and show it nothing to grab onto, it will not sting you. I think they said it has to grab something in its pinchers before it stings, but DO NOT quote me on that. Anyways, I kept my hand flat and they placed it on my hand for awhile. Long enough for a handful of pictures anyways.

got a shower at Gweta Lodge

We had a long 90 minutes bumpy ride back to Gweta where our driver Chanda wrangled us some wonderful showers before our 3 hour drive to Maun. It was a couple long days filled with driving, but totally worth it to see the meerkats and have one sitting on your shoulder! We grabbed lunch at beer n boar pub and met Maria the tour operator who informed us of the rest of the day which was a 2 hour bumpy drive to our first camp in the Okavango to start our safari. More on that next blog.

lunch with Maria our tour coordinator