Botswana. Central Kalahari, Moremi and Khwai. August - September 2021.
2. Maun.
Boteti River Lodge
From the Central Kalahari we decided to spend a night at Boteto River Lodge before carrying on to Maun.The campsite was very quiet. The sites had plenty of shade, the ablutions were clean and the pool was clear. From the deck we had a great view of the Boteti RIver, which still had water from the good rains earlier in the year. When there's water in the river you can cross to the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park via a ferry.
A small group of nyala came down the drink.
The ferry crossing the RIver.
Maun
We arrived at Supa-Quick in Maun at 8.10am on a Saturday. By 8.45 we had a new rim and 2 new tyres fitted to the 'van. We asked about getting the brakes looked at and were told where to go, however they were closed at the weekend so went there on Monday morning. We were able to leave the 'van with them while they checked it out. They were unable to get any brakes or bearings locally and it would have taken quite a while to get them from South Africa so they dismantled the brakes. For the rest of our trip we had no brakes on the 'van so when we were parked up we used blocks by the wheels to stop the 'van moving and driving was OK as long as you avoided braking too quickly.
We stayed at the Sedia Hotel Riverside campsite while in Maun - we've stayed here on several occassions and always found it to be quiet. There are a 3 new camp sites which each have a shade area, sink and table.
One of the new campsites.
We had some excellent meals at the hotel.
Flight over the Okavango Delta
We've stayed in Maun on many occassions but this is the first time we've taken a flight over the Delta, which we thoroughly enjoyed. On the advice of Blessing at the Sedia Hotel we booked a 40 minute flight with Major Blue Air for the 2 of us.
Our plane with our pilot and co-pilot.
Maun airport - which is now an international airport.
The amount of water in the delta depends on the rainfall in Western Angola. This year they had good rain and there was still plenty of water although a lot less than a few months ago. seeing the Delta from the air gives you a idea of the vastness of the area which consists of wetlands and islands.
The trees show where the dryer islands are.
Lots of animal tracks.
Some elephants down below.
A large herd of buffalo.
One of the larger rivers we flew over.
Coming in to land.
While in Maun I organised a trip to Moremi and Khwai with the help of Botswana Footprints.
The day before we left Kevin accidently walked into a wooden hippo at the hotel. His foot was a bit sore but not too bad. While in Moremi his foot became very swollen. We both thought he was suffering from gout but as his foot was still very swollen and painful after a week he went to see a doctor on our return to Maun. She took some x-rays and said that he'd broken a couple of bones in his foot - hence the removable plaster. We obvioulsy couldn't carry on with our trip so I drove us back to Richmond over the next 3 days.
On our return he went to see our doctor who said no way had he broken any bones and that he had almost certainly been suffering from gout!
Last updated: December 2021