travel – Page 14

Aardwolf …

Early breakfast, game drive, late lunch, three hours down time compressed into one and a half by the late lunch, high tea, game drive, late dinner, drop exhausted into bed. That sentence may seem longer than you get for murder but there was an awful lot in it and Pete Oxford made sure there was an awful lot in every single day.

Early morning is magical. It’s cool enough to send a shiver through you, the world seems huge and so much more special than you. The light is gentle. This is the time that you get your best photographs, initially in cool colours becoming warmer as the sun rises. In the tropics at this time of year blue hour plus golden hour combined last about 45 minutes. Treasure the moment.

One morning, just as the sun was breaking the horizon we encountered an Aardwolf, a creature I had never seen before. The Earth Wolf from Dutch via Afrikaans. Or if you prefer a cocktail of pseudo-classical languages Proteles cristatus the first word from Greek, the second from Latin. A Hyenid, but unlike it’s cousins not a killer or scavenger of other mammals. Its diet is almost exclusively termites, as many as a quarter of a million in a night. Unlike the Aardvark (Earth Pig) it does not break into termite mounds it laps them up off the ground. They depend on termites of the family Hodotermitidae which themselves depend on dead grasses thus tying the Aardwolf to savanna country.

Aardwolves are territorial, mark their domain frequently with their anal glands (see the first photo), feed almost exclusively at night and late afternoon and spend their days in a burrow. We were truly fortunate to get stunning views as the sun rose …

Botswana …

We left a few footprints, we took more than a few photos.

Six guests were in the very capable hands of Pete Oxford Expeditions. Pete and his wife Renee are energetic, knowledgeable and passionate. Pete is charismatic, a biologist and renowned photographer (it’s worth visiting their web page just for the stunning headline images). Renee is the organisation and in her spare time godmother to the baboons of Bettys Bay on the south coast of South Africa, and they are probably more easily managed than Pete.

Botswana is one of Africa’s success stories. It has a population of 2.63 million, the capital is Gaborone. You’ve probably not seen the president in the news – for all the right reasons. His name is Mokgweetsi Masisi. Most people speak Tswana but English is the official language and is spoken very well indeed.

The country is landlocked, surrounded by Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It touches Zambia at a single point on the Zambezi River and is separated from Angola by the narrow Caprivi strip of Namibia. It is largely an arid land. The exception is the Okavango Delta which receives its waters from the Angolan highlands.

The expedition started at Maun and visited three lodges, Qorokwe, Little Vumbura and Chitabe Ladiba. Little Vumbura is situated on an island accessed by small boats. The other two are savanna camps. All were comfortable, the service was impossible to fault. I have a fondness for timber and thatch. The latter two were the epitome of rustic charm.

So much for a few details. Stand by for some highlights.

This is how our days started …

Homeward …

Zimbabwe at the beginning of the journey and Broome at the end, not the route most traveled. In fact it’s a journey of connections that don’t quite connect. As a consequence Gayle and I will be over-nighting in Johannesburg tonight and then again in Perth. There’s a time change of 6 hours to contend with as well.

There’s one problem we won’t be having at home …

Trip of a Lifetime …

Not a moment left spare, game drives, night drives, river cruises. Details will have to wait until I’ve caught up on sleep! Next stop a very brief visit to Zimbabwe.

In the Delta …

A crazy Pete Oxford Expedition, rarely a moment to edit the photos and I think my record so far is 1600 images in one game drive. I may be publishing them way after I get home. But here’s one as proof of life.

Lazy Day …

The Thalamakane River is due to arrive in June. Like some inland Australian rivers it depends on rainfall in distant parts, in this instance it’s the highlands of Angola. Meanwhile I can forget about hippos and crocodiles and wander along the river bed with the cattle, donkeys and goats.

Today we fly from Maun into the Okavango Delta. I’ll post when I can. Internet speeds are excellent at the Thalamakane River Lodge. So is the food.

Maun …

Only four letters. How many ways can you pronounce it? So far I’ve heard a lazy two syllable version – mah oon, or make the au a diphthong and say it quicker as a single syllable. Or make it rhyme with lawn. Or from our pilot (white South African from the voice) – Marn. The local who drove us from the airport to the Thalamakane River Lodge said mound without the final D. Should be definitive.

However you choose to say it Maun is in the north of Botswana, the fifth largest town in the country with a population getting on for 66,000. It’s close handy to the Okavango Delta so it’s the unofficial tourist capital of Botswana. Presently it’s dry and dusty.

The Thalamakane River Lodge is lovely but no river cruises or risk from crocodiles just at the moment – the river is bone dry. I had a couple of hours yesterday afternoon to get a handle on some of the common local birds. More revision today. Tomorrow on safari.

Wet & Dry …

I’m not trying to get a good finish. I’m talking about the weather. Broome’s average rainfall in December, January and February is 441mm (a little over 17 inches). We’ve had just under 29mm so far. January was the third lowest rainfall total on record. It’s the slowest start to the Wet season in living memeory (Yes, Dr John, several years at least.)

A cyclone or a decent tropical low can deliver sufficient rain in a single event to put us back on track – we may yet be cut off by flood – it’s just that no such event has hit us yet. My garden plants have their tongues hanging out.

I know a place where an air conditioner serves fresh water straight into the mangroves. I was there this morning. The birds were queuing up.

Instant Birds, just add water …

Home Safe …

Next stop after the coast was Northam home of the sublime Mute Swan …

and also the decision point. Two roads lead from Perth to Broome, an inland route 1970km or a coastal route 2368km.

The inland route has the advantage of being 400km shorter and in the event of a cyclone there would be a greater chance of the caravan staying on the ground. We’d have chosen the shorter route but it was closed by flood.

In particular, the Fortescue River near Newman was close to setting new records. The coastal route was open but what falls inland then sets off towards the sea. We decided to put in a couple of very long days in order to get north of the Fortescue and the De Grey.

There is a roadhouse overlooking the Fortescue River and we stopped for a yarn. A young lady working there had been looking for the water coming down for a couple of days but not a trickle so far. A local elder was of the view that the desert would swallow it all on the way and there’d be little or none to see. It just hadn’t rained for long enough. A trucky taking a break had caught the arrival of a flood in 2021 and recalled how impressive it was on that occasion. When we crossed the bridge there were just a few puddles to be seen.

On the second long day we crossed the De Grey. It too was underwhelming. That night we stopped at the Sandfire Roadhouse. Home of the ridiculous Peafowl.

Last night we slept in our own bed. It was a bit on the warm side!

Albany …

Because we made good time across the Nullarbor we have had four nights in the Great Southern region of WA. The first was on the edge of the Sterling Range National Park and then three on the Kalgan River just outside Albany. The birding has been excellent, Two Peoples Bay and Lake Seppings especially. My target species was Western Whipbird and, once again, I managed not to see it. Regional endemics such as Red-capped Parrot and Red-eared Firetail have been easier to find but not prepared to pose for me. Here are some of the photographic highlights …

Our decision not to travel north via the Stuart Highway then west through Fitzroy Crossing was a good one. Flooding has closed roads in a number of places and it will be a while before they reopen. Not that we are completely out of the woods. Our intended route was closed by fire a day or so ago near Newman. That problem is solved – the road is now closed by flood. Hopefully that will soon reopen. No cyclone brewing off the west coast presently. We head north tomorrow, only 2000km to go.