KarenDay 3 & 4 – Boteti River Camp and back to Planet Baobab
Day 3 – all about decadent idleness, as we did not have to pack up camp – this is one of the things we learned about our bike/camping trips. Commissioning and decommissioning camp every single day is simply exhausting and eventually if done too often, the joy evaporates! Thus, we made a rule – every third day on the road, we just stay put wherever we are for two nights. No early wake-ups, our laundry can be done, and we can just relax.
Our rest day was perfect, the only effort involved moving our chairs around, following the shade of the trees in our bush campsite. Wherever we are, depending on network coverage, I am always on and off in touch with work, staff, customers – this might sound strange, as part of a holiday, but I never have a problem with that, as it liberates us to travel, knowing that everybody is still being taken care of, and I do not need to be glued to my desk in the office!
It was HOT in our campsite, and we could see the washing on the line drying out in front of our very eyes! Eventually we just moved ourselves along to the pool for most of the afternoon!
Eventually, the sun set, the earth cooled off, and we enjoyed another peaceful Boteti evening under the stars around the campfire with our beautiful Owls (and Owlets) in the background! I have to admit to a Domestic Goddess fail moment, where I brought out some fabulous happy anniversary Lindt dark chocolate.. as I opened it up, it was, of course, the consistency of soup – a lake of chocolate contained only by its delicate foil covering, and had to be handled with teaspoons in a highly messy and inelegant sort of fondue!
Lindt dark chocolate (fondued), with bonus touch of shredded teaspooned foil!
PS For the Owlet fans: Both the Pearl Spotted Owlet and African Barred Owlet were around both nights!
Day 4 – to Planet Baobab
To start off our 150km of backtracking to Planet Baobab, we sailed confidently through those patches of deep sand in the village. Early in the morning the sand is cool, and just that slight new familiarity with the route out of the maze, translates to no hesitation and no subsequent loss of momentum! Before we knew it we were crossing back over the Boteti river…
At the junction back onto the A3 – the open road ahead… always something very appealing about this!
I spotted this group of black crows keeping to one side of the National Park Boundary, no doubt feeling safe on their “No Hunting” sign!
I absolutely love the palm trees along this road… over the years I have photographed them thousands of times, but never from the back of a bike, until now!
Here is an idea of the impressive lakes of standing water on the side of the road – flooding due to the local rainfall.
After a completely uneventful and scenic ride, we reached the turnoff to Planet Baobab. Here the bike poses with the iconic giant anteater, one of our favourite landmarks.
After covid check-ins at the gate, the Planet Baobab reception is a welcoming and cool space. So typical of the unique style of this place…
Thanks to covid, we discovered the usual campsite was closed, and there were now only 3 campsites in use, in the “overlander” section so we were quite glad to have pre-booked one, as between us and our neighbours, a German couple in a Landrover – we had booked out two thirds of the current campsite!
We co-incidentally found their travels on Instagram, and realised they were actually the same people who were camped next to us, and now we are following their long journey @stahlroth1
The ablution block in the overlander campsite sports the funkiest wall art!
At this time of year, afternoons are still incredibly hot and our campsite not being very shady, we spent the time enjoying one of our most favourite spots in Botswana. It used to be advertised as “The Coolest Pool in the Kalahari”, and in pre covid times you could expect to find this whole huge pool filled with overlanders.
The Coolest Pool in the Kalahari – yes, absolutely, always!
It was amazing to have the pool entirely to ourselves…
Let us never forget the magnificent Baobabs dotted around this property, that give the Planet its name..
Several years ago we went through a stage of annual visits here for our wedding anniversary so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane once again!! I have blogged about Planet Baobab over here, and again here, in the past! We treated ourselves to dinner to celebrate, and it was good to see a couple of other tables set for visitors.
Day 5 Planet Baobab to Eselbe Camp
Just a short ride of just under 100km to our friend Rupert’s Eselbe Camp on the banks of the Nata River. On the way in, we have a landmark spot where the bike gets parked on the Last Outpost – a patch of firm ground, where I summarily get off and walk (wade!) the last 300 metres through the most ridiculous deep, thick sand. We have tangled with this Eselbe approach sand one too many times, until the final insult one day, with in me being flicked unceremoniously off the bike and deposited in a sand drift! Since then, we don’t even bother fighting with that sand anymore, and I do my Biker Chick duty to just walk it, shedding layers of heavy gear as I make my way through the sand, (usually in the heat of the day) and arrive just a while after the Biker Boy!
The river is so tranquil here and has permanent pools, even in the height of the dry season when the main river downstream is dry. Find them on Instagram @eselbecamp
We enjoyed the luxury of not putting up our tent, and we always love the backpacker accommodation here – one of my favourite features is the recycled bottle bathroom wall in the chalet! A labour of love, hand created by Rupert. I am sure many of us helped him over the years to empty the contents of these important recycled architectural features!
After a great late evening catching up with Rupert and Silvia, we stayed up even later with our instant new Canadian friend Petrena, as one does in backpacker places! She is a travelling Youtube video blogger, (Petrena Schell) and I was quite intrigued about the world of vlogging, where videos, voice-overs and the odd subtitle take the place of my word pictures and photos.
Next morning, the last dash home was a 300km standard ride, where we always say “we are back home now” as soon as we spot the first elephant on the side of the road!
The few days we were on the road felt like a month, and we are more than ready again by now, to do another mini break to fit in with our newly redesigned covid restricted lives! As I always say, watch this space and thanks for reading all the way to to the end 🙂
