Driving in Africa

Tim-Gabz

Tim-Gabz

Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Messages
5,337
Had an interesting weekend trip. Had to drive across the border to Zeerust, some 70miles to do some urgent banking.

Early morning through the border into an African Winter’s Sunrise. Something really special.

A family of Vervet Monkeys crossing the road, cold and on the move. Guinea Fowl and Francolin in the grass on the verge. A baboon troupe holding court on a rocky out crop.

I managed a good condition plain coloured Nato lined jacket in excellent condition in a camping shop after the bank. Returning I stopped at a lay-by for a breakfast of kiwi fruit and cashews. A tame hornbill scrounged some nuts off my bonnet.

Cold open road, heading towards the border I opened throttle up to 100mph and that was really magic with the window open. I hit some bad tar and there was a horrific crashing noise so I braked hard. I then had to rapidly accelerate when I discovered what the noise was. My tin money can, with small parking change, had fallen from my dash and out the window. The shrapnel was catching up.

No damage but a great trip. In Africa we have some great drives and with the game in Botswana there are frequent sightings of Warthog, Kudu.....
 
It sounds great. Isn't Zeerust in South Africa? Did you have to cross the border, and was it easy?

Closest that I have ever been is Victoria Falls.

It is easy to see how Africa "gets into the blood".
 
Gaborone is 20km from the border with South Africa. So to pick up part of my salary (From our RSA office) I get in my car and head on through the Ramotswa Police border and access Zeerust using a more southern route than the Tlokweng border. Ramotswa is weather dependant as it has a causeway that you have to use to cross to the South African Side.

Victoria Falls is partly in Zimbabwe, my original home. It is plain awsome and I have a great pic of a group piss into it.

Last month I drove across the Kgladikladi pans that had dried up. Many of the locals still prefer horse back and donkey cart, I hate to think where they plug their cell phones into charge.
 
Botswana plates, Uk passport, Zim drivers licence, Nigerian visas has attracted their attention a few times (checking engine no.s, accounts etc) but they are used to me now.
 



The last was just 5m before loosing our windscreen to a stone from a truck.
Google earth Rakops - botswana.
 
WOW!! What a drive! That is amazing.
Do you carry a gun? I have read that car jackings and the like are common place. Please forgive my ignorance.
 
In Botswana crime is very low, carjackings are also very rare. Rifles and shotguns for hunting are difficult or expensive to get but possible. Handguns are nigh impossible to get and only if you buy an existing licenced weapon and no licences have been issued since independance 40 years ago.


South Africa is the other extreme, very dangerous and we loose several cars a year to carjacking, every quarter some colleague is hit and looses his car. No qualms or sympathy, argue or resist you are toast. Last month a E500, new, went from a carjacking in our basement. Last year a 750 and a S600 went with a Rav4 and a Range Rover.
 
I have just done a round trip of 1420km (900mls) to Ghanzi to view a site. Driving through the Khalahari and nux for the last 200miles but a few cattle, semi desert and game. Hornbills, Secretary birds, Kudu, Steinbuck, Francolin, Duiker, Guinifowl and one Cheetah going full tilt across the road and over a small fence. What a great perk. Awaiting the prints and cd as we speak.

Laminated wood dove car of side mirror.
 
That must have been amazing to see a Cheetah running full tilt!! WOW, that had to so beautiful. This makes me want to come and visit you. Thanks for sharing Tim!!

I have a Great Aunt that lives in Africa, that I have never met. I dunno where. I will ask my Mom, when I talk to her today.
 
Here's a few pics, the col (KFC) would be able to make 1drumstick family packs.

Oh and a survey blimp.

Steinbuck

Botswana has areas of untouched wilderness, not like the private and other heavily managed game parks in other parts of Africa. Fishing for Tiger fish is a great sport on the Zambezi, chobe and a few other rivers. In dams like Kariba and Cahorra Bassa there are some huge Tiger Fish and Vundu (giant catfish).

Zimbabwe had some awsome areas for game viewing, hunting and fishing, screwed up.

Had trouble posting the remainder of the pics and will do so tomorrow. Didn't quite react fast enough for the cheetah.
 
Come onto Africa. Later in the year I am doing Windhoek in Namib. I would recommend coming from Windhoek through the desert to Botswana, up through Ghanzi to Maun and the Okavango. Go north to the Victoria Falls Zambia/Zimbabwe and back down to Botswana through the pans, Orapa into South Africa. Sun City to J'burg to Kruger National Park then onto Mozambique Maputo and Basaruto. You will see all the big five, Buck and Buffalo...
 
If you can, do a trip down the Zambezi, From Caprivi Strip through to the mouth. It will include rapids and huge falls (Vic is 104m or 340ft), bungee jumping off the Falls bridge and awsome white water rafting down below the Vic falls. Game drives, the ferry from Binga to Kariba (24hrs) sleeping on the deck. Zimbabwe has some great golf courses and one good one is at Elephant hills hotel at the falls.

Mind the animals, on the road and in the bush. They are usually big and fast. The fatality rate in Botswana is partly due to animals on the road. It is also very inexpensive with small lodges through out the region or some exclusive places at several thousand $ a night.

Mind the malaria unless you want the experience of 1000 buffaloes running though your head.


Transkalahari highway at dawn.


Guinefowl Windscreen killer at speed. Taste great though.
 
Central Africa, and West Africa on the other hand are great if you want to see millions of people, deprivation and next to nothing in developement or maintenance. The entertainment value of brief out breaks of fighting. On Victoria Island, Lagos there was a cripple begger who got around on a single modified rollerscate. Zipping through traffic he could put many X boarders to shame.
 
I would love to be able to come for a photo safari!! One of my hobbies is nature photography. It would be amazing to be able to photography a cheetah running.

I will pass on the malaria!!
 
Tim-Gabz , do you ever run into any animals that would rather not run into ? I mean do you have lions and crocs and such around your area ?
 
Snakes, even in Gaborone. Boomslangs, puffadders and Cobras are nasty but rare. Here's a picture of a shed cobra skin on our site in Gabz:


Baboons are on the outskirts of town and are frequent visitors of our office park. They are very dangerous if you go too close to their food or kids.

Warthog are around in the open areas of Gaborone. They put up with occasional thinning for abscence of big cats.

Going out of Gaborone it gets rural quickly and wilderness after 100mls.
The big cats are rare inside 100mls of Gaborone and those that do stray are old and forced out of the pride. There is a prohibition on shooting them and they are a real problem on farms. My only close call was with a thieving bastard that scared us from our braai at laybye near Kariba into the back of the truck while he scoffed our steaks.

Crocs are in all rivers even near towns. Botwana is mostly semi desert so those rivers are few. My scariest encounter was with Hippo involving a night walk to the river carrying beers for a impromptu party. Somehow a herd of hippo took to running to the river with us between. Dodging hippo while protecting beers is a sobering experience.

Generally animals leave you alone and recorded deaths tend to be Darwinian affairs. Don't go looking for souveniers off dead lion on the road. Hacking off a toe is going to awaken the sleeping beast. In that case the lion hightailed it.

The main towns are generaly avoided by game for the same reason as there are no crocs in Nigeria, they taste too good or have people who want their hides.
 
Tim-Gabz said:
Somehow a herd of hippo took to running to the river with us between. Dodging hippo while protecting beers is a sobering experience.
Click to expand...

Well you obviously survived the experience, but the important question remains, did you spill any beer?

:D
 
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