Stage 65 (46): Pandamatenga to Elephant Sands camp
A long day but it turned out not as warm as feared; partial cloud cover and a cooling cross breeze sure helped. Once again away just before 6:30 as the sun is rising; perfect temperatures for the first 1-2 hours. Karin is riding with us today.
I really did mean to remind David about his power bank when I unplugged my phone about 04:30 from an overnight charge on one of the camp’s plentiful power points, but didn’t remember to actually do so until we were approaching 5 km out of camp. Well, nothing for it, but he’ll have to back-track.
Aside: all AC receptacles so far encountered in Botswana are the old round 3-prong types. My new ‘universal’ plug adapter has a square 3-prong plug. I’m dependent on David’s plug adapter which does work here, for my various re-charging demands. So really, he has to go back!
Karin and I continue on at slower pace knowing he’ll be able to catch us up easily enough. Which he does after about 90 minutes into the ride.
We cross over a Texas gate and pass thru fence line into fields of maize and sorghum laying on both sides of the road, which extend literally as far as we can see. Dead flat terrain - old lake bottom, i think. Out the other side, another fence line, another Texas gate.
Elephants start appearing, whether crossing the road way in the distance, or suddenly popping into view out of the bush, roadside. One gets very upset as I coast to a stop, still 100 m away; he really doesn’t like the sound of my freewheel whirring. Ears flapped, he turns and disappears into the bush.
We see a pair of Crested Grey Cranes (national bird of Uganda as it turns out) wading or standing beside a small water hole. That’s cool as I think they’re not common at all, here.
More elephants, especially as the day warms.
We finally reach the turn off to camp for the night; a 1.2 km sand track providing a last hurdle to the day. That and the now omnipresent thorns. They easily penetrate my Crocs.
We’re camped at Elephant Sands - a private place which is mostly camping but includes some huts and a restaurant/bar. Also good showers and toilets, thankfully. The owner has dug a water hole, which he refreshes daily(?) with fresh, not saline water which I’m told he trucks in from some distance. The upside is Lots of elephants!
Rain theatens but passes us by; I sleep without putting up the tent fly tonight.
photo courtesy Dennis Joe
Others hear a lion roar during night; not me, I’m sound asleep.
photo courtesy Dennis Joe
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