jalanjalan

we travelled around in a truck, camping at towns of maun and nata, around the kalahari desert. we also took the opportunity to visit the magadikgadik salt pans, and witnessed a mirror lake and amazing sunset. before we could cross the border to zimbabwe, our 4WD broke down. a temporary replacement would be a mini lorry. and we dumped all our stuffs at the back, and then hopped in together with the load. hahaha, it was goddamn fun to have the wind blowing in our faces. hehe. our guide was stressed not only because of his car, but also the fact that we were not complaining. he said "you ladies, i see you smiling and laughing even though we have no vehicle. you're making me feel bad!" and we said "no worries, we are quite easygoing people. that's what makes travelling fun, you never know what can go wrong haha!". and he smiled and said "good to hear that!" anyhow, botswana was truly wild. animals just kept popping out everywhere from the bushes along roadsides. sights along the way...

for my africa pictures, click here

the guide told us we were the first singaporean clients she has had since she started working 7 years ago. she said camping was never popular among asians so she was rather surprised to see us wanting to "rough it out". actually, i didn't find it all that uncomfortable. we just had to help cook, wash dishes, set up tents, clean up, find firewood, no shower for a few days, and drink water from the stream. ok what, not that bad. the campsite was fairly clean. singapore toilets are 100 times worse, even though they're made of ceramic or marble. i am really very impressed with african toilets, even dug up holes in the bush. the people have good toilet habits.

the first two weeks of our trip, we had to set up and break our shared tent every day. it could get quite chilly during the nights in winter, and the urge to pee was quite great. but the howling hyenas, snorting hippos, and roaring lions could be heard quite clearly and i held my bladder till morning most times. i wouldn't want a hyena pouncing on me while i bombed in our "bush toilet". i was glad that i brought enough ammunition to keep me warm. okavango was a time for cultural exchange (will put up some videos in the next entry), we were quite a hit with the locals. they said we were the first to have asked if we could learn to paddle the mokoros (they were initially afraid we would break their paddles), we picked up their language quite fast, and learnt some of their games. our genuine sincerity in wanting to know their way of life touched their hearts i suppose, we could see pride in the eyes as they showed us the way.

i loved this leg of the trip best, because time stood still. we cooked fried maggi mee for everyone, joked and laughed. we got to see happy giraffes and zebras galloping freely, ostriches, wildebeests, impalas, steenboks too. we saw plenty of perfect sunsets and sunrise, clear blue skies, we heard hippos splashing away in the stream. by this time, i had chucked my watch aside. there's no need for a watch in the wild. to survive, trust in your senses, natural instincts, and your heart.

for my africa pictures, click here