Day12, Thu, Jan 26, 2017 |
Another repositioning day. We are riding due East.
Start Location: Rundu, Namibia End Location: Namushasha, Namibia Distance: 427 km (265 miles) Hotel/Pension: Namushasha Country Lodge Money Conversion: R1 = $0.0443 USD; $1 USD = R13.459 |
Fuel: 1 liter 95 octane = R11.08
Our typical routine is: 6AM – Awake, dress and pack. 7 AM – Breakfast 8 AM – Rolling |
The Caprivi Strip is a little panhandle that juts east with Angola & Zambia on top and Botswana on the bottom.
Because of overcast and threats of rain, temps are approx. 90°F |
We ride through the Caprivi Game Park with only an occasional baboon sighting. |
The last 4 km to the Namushasha Country Lodge was sand. I think I have said before “Sand is not my friend!” |
As you might have noticed, most of our nightly lodging are on the excellent level. |
Hello Botswana! |
Day13, Fri, Jan 27, 2017 |
Our eastern route takes us through Katima Mulilo, 1km from Angola.
Start Location: Namushasha, Namibia End Location: Kasane, Botswana Distance: 261 km (162 miles) Hotel/Pension: Chobe Safari Lodge Money Conversion: Pula P1 = $0.0952 USD; $1 USD = P10.506 |
On the road by 8AM. It’s a short day, 261 km (162 miles) because of the Namibia/Botswana border crossing. The first order is gas at Katima Mulilo. We all budgeted our Namibia $ to spend the last amount getting gas before we cross into Botswana. |
This was a simple border crossing. |
We are all hoping to see elephants as we ride through Chobe National Park. With a speed limit of 80 kph the only elephant I saw was poop! |
We get to the Chobe Safari Lodge around 2 PM. Tonight’s lodging is on the Zambezi River. Our group of 10 riders were scattered along road. I later learn ~20 minutes after I passed, 3 riders had 2 groups of elephants cross the road! |
The Chobe Safari Lodge is beautiful. We spend a full rest day here. Tomorrow an early morning 4-wheel drive jeep safari then a late afternoon river excursion. |
Will we ever see any animals??? |
Day14, Sat, Jan 28, 2017 |
For the last 2 days, I’ve rode east along the Caprivi Strip and into Botswana. I rode by hundreds of elephant warning signs and massive amounts of elephant dung, but I had no personal elephant sighting!
Start Location: Kasane, Botswana End Location: Kasane, Botswana Distance: 0 moto travel Hotel/Pension: Chobe Safari Lodge Money Conversion: Pula P1 = $0.0952 USD; $1 USD = P10.506 |
Up at 5AM, meet in Lodge lobby at 5:45AM and 10 of us ride a touring jeep Chobe National Park along the Chobe River. |
Camera: 4 year old Olympus Stylus. Shock proof, waterproof, point and shoot. |
The 3 -wheel drive jeep safari took 4 hours. We started act the crack of dawn. |
Our first elephant encounter! |
The first half of the jeep safari was along the river. Now we turn inland to see if we could see elephants. We ride for 30 minutes a see an elephant cross the trail. The driver stops and there are 4 elephants around us. 10 cameras are snapping away. Suddenly, directly in front of us a large elephant comes at us on the road. The next series of photos takes place in about 30 seconds! |
This afternoon, we take a boat safari on the river. |
Photos will enlarge is you click on them!
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CURRENT LOCATION: Upper right corner titled “Current Location” is my Delorme inReach Explorer satellite tracks provided by SPOTwalla. When activated, it provides a real time track of my travels. Select “1 Cape-Cairo” and a map with my latest location comes up. The 2nd banner tab “Cape to Cairo 2017” opens for more options. Select “Adjustments” enables the viewer to select more days to view. Remember we started Jan 13 so factor that in to the total days. |
GlobeRiders has it’s own BLOG “Cape To Cairo Adventure 2017”. There is a complete description of the excursion, rider bios, updates of the ride, and an active satellite location link. |
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WTG Dean. This ride is officially on my bucket list. Glad you got to see the effalumps. Enjoy your ride and stay safe. Looking fwd to your next report.
great……
Wow,Dean. What a sweet adventure so far. Thanks for the great blogging and great photos. That’s probably closer to a wild elephant than I’ll ever get. Take care of yourself. Cheers, Gus
So impressive! Totally my hero!
Wow! Excellent photos!!!! Ride on, CoolestManEver
Dean, exactly what do you mean “and at no time were we in danger”…..?
I’m sitting here in the comfort of my home and ‘I’ saw ‘your’ life flash in front of ‘my’ eyes…WTF just happened?