As we didn’t have a big drive ahead of us (only 4 hours), we agreed for a later breakfast of 8am. Some people go up for a 6:30am run or walk and some of us agreed for a 7am birding walk rather. It was a pretty chilly morning with temperatures around 6-7 C. We have noticed the birds aren’t that active too early until after the sun starts to warm up things so even the 7am bird walk was still a bit too early. After breakfast we packed up and we were on the road by 9:30am.
We were continuing north to northern most part of Botswana where it intersects with Zimbabwe and Zambia. B said he reckoned the road improved just past Nata town – I have come to realise not to trust what B says about Botswana roads. The first 30 kms north of Nata the road was basically non-existent. And the trucks were plentiful. At times the dust was so bad that you couldn’t see whether there was a car in front of you or a truck coming the other direction. It was slow going as most of the time it only felt safe driving at around 50-60 km/h.
B suggested we do a short stop off at Elephant Sands. We stayed there last time we did a road trip to Botswana but when we tried to book for this trip they were already full on the days we wanted. We thought we would at least show it to A&O so that they could see what they missed out on. It was as we remembered it though no elephant drinking at the waterhole but there were some (I guess wild) horses drinking when we arrived. A decent amount of birds as well to add to the trip list and some lifers for some people too. We had a coffee and enjoyed the birding and atmosphere and then were back on the road again.
The road from Elephant Sands was generally better than near Nata though there were still sections were it was basically dirt road or it was massively potholed. The speed limit doesn’t change which means you have to be vigilant as you’re driving at 120 km/h and suddenly hit a potholed section that is so bad you really need to be driving at 30 km/h. In addition, you have to be vigilant because it is a wild life area you are driving through. We saw two different sets of elephant right on the side of the road as we were traveling today (and then there are the cows and goats too). The good news is that we navigated it successfully and arrived safely at Senyati Safaricamp just before 2pm.
We have one chalet on left side of reception and two chalets on right side with all three overlooking the waterhole. The afternoon was spent just relaxing and watching the bird life. Late afternoon a journey of giraffe made their way across the landscape. We met at B&S chalet for drinks and the braai tonight (they are central chalet). As it started to get dark, the wildlife action picked up. We could see wildebees in the distance and then out of the bushes elephant started to come to drink at the waterhole right in front of us. When I say “right in front of us”, I mean like 40 meters in front of us. Giraffe, multiple herds of elephant, a large herd of buffalo and black backed jackal are passed the waterhole while we had dinner this evening. We could also hear the ‘whoop’ of the hyena and the call of a square tailed nightjar. What a fantastic experience. Then the moon also rose from the horizon right in front of us too. Could you ask for more?!
The only (minor) downside is that it gets cold as soon as the sun starts to decline and by 8:30pm it was pretty chilly and we were ready for the warmth of the chalet.
Until tomorrow …
P, H