KUBU ISLAND - BOTSWANA
8-12 May 2002
"There are some memories in life
that make it worth living for, like walking a few hundred metres into the pan,
breaking the saline clay crust with a shovel, squatting, performing the
morning's "essential", while one's genitals and hind quarters bathe in the cool
morning breeze, watching the first rays of sun tinting the baobabs and rocks
in copper and ochre colours. Oh man, this is life!"
- SW Burger
Kubu Island as viewed from a
distance
The most baobabs per sq.
kilometre I've ever seen
Felix Slier and my long time friend, Willie Botha organised this safari
trip to Kubu Island. Kubu is situated southwest in Sowa Pan, one of the
greater pans of Botswana's Makgadikgadi Pans. It was a self-drive trip
comprising a few medical practitioners and Novartis pharmaceutical supplier,
accompanied by their spouses, all from Pretoria.
Willie was not feeling well at all after still suffering from a severe cold,
most probably from his previous Botswana visit a few weeks earlier. Although
still feeling a bit ill, Willie did not want to miss this trip for the world.
Madeleen took care of Willie and often had to slow him down.
I had to leave my Pajero Diesel in Midrand for a few days to have it's turbo
charger replaced. Conveniently I took the liberty of inviting myself in order
to assist Willie in camp duties like preparing food, washing dishes, cleaning,
etc., while Felix had to attend to the guests. It was my first visit to Kubu
Island and I was stunned by the beauty and aridness of the area.
We left a chilly Kempton Park at 05:00 on Wednesday morning to meet the party
at the 1-Stop filling station just north of Pretoria on the N1 road. From
there on we headed for Ellisras via Nylstroom and Vaalwater. The border
crossing went well, with only one driver having some vehicle registration
dispute, another for having extra fuel inside a container. It was sorted out
soon, while the rest refuelled the vehicles and exchanged Rands for Botswana's
Pulas. One gets the feeling of being done in when you only get almost half the
amount of Pulas back. Soon after we were on the road again we pulled off for
some sandwiches and fruit juice to keep us going for the rest of the afternoon.
Having a roadside brunch
break
What struck me was the newly erected fencing along the road as we
came, to prevent collisions with stray animals, most probably due to the
increase in road traffic traveling up North in order to avoid going through
Zimbabwe. We arrived at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary in the afternoon and pitched camp for
the night.
Our campsite in the Khama
Rhino Sanctuary
A cold front swept through Southern Africa that night, announcing the start
of winter. If Botswana was this cold, how would it be like in Lesotho? Early
the next morning I strolled to the ablution facilities, starting a new fire
inside the "donkey" to have warm water for shower later. Being a spoilt
Lowvelder, I was looking forward for some warmer weather when we packed up,
leaving, heading a bit north. Khama seems to be a nice stopover place that
needs to be explored at a later stage.
We left the Khama Rhino
Sanctuary the next morning
At the town of Letlhakane we took a sand road north to the Makgadikgadi
Pans. We stopped at a well to see how the locals operate it.
We stretched some legs just
outside Letlhakane
The winding sandy road followed through villages, some of them deserted. I
assumed that it would be occupied again later, as it must belong to nomadic
pastoralists. We were getting closer to the pans. At a point just past
Mmatshumo Village, on the edge of the escarpment, one could see Kubu Island
in the distance. We all "ooh"ed and "aah"ed for the beauty that we were
about to explore for the next few days.
Vehicle tracks around the
island
Our well chosen camping
spot on Kubu Island
On our arrival at Kubu Island we went for a drive around the island and
decided on a prime camping spot on the western side of the island. Each one
pitched his own tent and we put the kitchen tent close to an existing
fireplace, which would be our "kuier"-area for the next three days.
Willie on his way back with
some firewood collected a few kilometres away
On our first night at about 8pm, while we were around the campfire, a grey
mud covered figure appeared from out of nowhere. It was a contractor who
worked on the Sowa soda ash mine in the northeast. His vehicle got stuck
somewhere on the pan at about 1pm and was walking towards Kubu Island
since 2pm. Willie and I offered to take him back to his vehicle
(Isuzu 2wd). At first he seemed totally lost and sent us in all directions.
After I learnt that he had marked the vehicle's position on his gps, we
went straight to his stuck Isuzu. As we got close to the Isuzu Willie's
Land Rover nearly got stuck too, due to the thin crust layer. We had a few
attempts to get close, but got stuck every time. We later thought that we
would spend the night on the pan. Eventually when the Land Rover got freed
again, Willie positioned the Land Rover back-to-back with the Isuzu on it's
tracks of the afternoon, I secured recovery straps to both vehicles and
went about like a tug-of-war referee until the Izuzu was on firm surface
again.
Contractor Bruce thanked us, but then he did the dumbest thing of all. We
assumed that he would've gone back on his tracks and follow the shoreline to
the mine, but when he steered the Isuzu directly across the pan towards the
distant lights of the mine, I got the feeling that he will pitch up again
during the course of the night. Two days later he arrived with a party of
rescue vehicles at Kubu on their way to recover his Isuzu. He didn't get far
that night, perhaps too ashamed to bother us again. I was the moer in
as we risked Willie's Land Rover in the recovery attempt, and also because
Willie wasn't feeling well at all. Spending the night on the pan would've
worsened his condition.
When we arrived back at camp, with a mud-covered Landy, the air was a bit
somber, perhaps due to being worried about us being so long on the pan at
night, but mainly because the party was interrupted by the local ranger,
reprimanding them about the annoying volume of their music. While we were
away, some Dozi music was played, a bit too loud for the German overland
tourist adjacent to our campsite, so he went to the ranger, complaining.
After all, this is African bush and for those who prefer enjoying nature at
it's best, music should rather be left at home. There's a place and time
for everything.
*
The campfire evenings will
be remembered for long
The Friday morning started off a bit lazy, everyone hanging around at the
camp, and that afternoon we went for a sundowner trip to Ntwetwe Pan. The
vastness of the pan seems endless.
Driving on Ntwetwe Pan
Enjoying a sundowner on
Ntwetwe Pan
The Botswana sunsets are
amazing
*
Some members of our group
The endless striking beauty
of Kubu Island
The best view for a bush
shower in the world!
On Saturday morning a local 6-foot tall field guide named Shorty, and his
companion took us for a guided tour on the island. We first visited the
ancient lost city, which was built about 700 years ago. It is speculated
that it was built by the same empire that built the Great Zimbabwe. On the
northeastern end of the island there are heaps of stones, of which the
original purpose is also not clear. There's no proof of any burials either.
It could be that stones were gathered from around the island to a certain
collecting point, in order to be like a store for building material. It
seems like if building activities came to an abrupt stop for some reason.
We also visited the shrine on the holy northeastern area.
That night we again enjoyed the campfire, being the last night of our stay.
*
The circular wall of the
Lost City
The end of the last day
also indicated the end of a marvellous weekend
We woke up early the Sunday morning to break camp, having a quick last time
breakfast before we cleaned up the camp. Bottles, crushed tins and other
rubbish were put in separate refuse plastic bags to be taken to Matshumo
Village, where the locals will sort it out further for their recycling
programme. After all, Botswana is known as the cleanest country in the world.
*
Busy packing up very early
on Sunday morning
*
"Aagh tog! A flat wheel!"
Everyone wanted to assist. There's still a long way to go.
We all traveled together to the border where we said goodbye to each
other, as from entering South Africa again, everyone traveled at own pace
back home.
Many thanks to Felix, Willie and Madeleen who made this a memorable
long weekend in Botswana, and also to the Novartis staff taking the
initiative in entertaining some of their clients, the medical practitioners,
who's presence helped made this brilliant outing possible.
__________________________________________________
Some information on the Makgadikgadi Pans
The Makgadikgadi Pans are the remnants of a large ancient super lake in
southern Africa, which covered an area of nearly 80 000km². At present the
two greater existing pans, Ntwetwe and Sowa, form part of the 12 000km²
Makgadikgadi Pans. About 2-million years ago the rivers that fed Lake
Makgadikgadi courses were altered mainly by the great Mababe Depression
fault line that formed in the northwest, caused by tectonic movements,
also resulting in the formation of the Okavango Delta.
*
*
The only areas that support
vegetation on the pans are the higher lying areas, like Kubu Island.
Nothing grows on the salt saturated clay surface. The depth of the clay is
said to vary between 50 and 100m, and at some places estimated to be 200m
deep. In the dry season the surface of the clay hardens and a vehicle is
capable of running on it, but there are still spots with a thin crust that
can turn into a sogging mess, leaving a vehicle stranded. In the rainy
season most of the surface is covered with water and average 200mm deep.
Flamingos from East Africa flock in their thousands to nest, breed and feed
in the shallow water. It is a race against time before the pans start to
become dry again. Many of the new young flamingo chickens do not make it in
time to be able to leave the pans with the others, and face fate on the
drying pans, leaving the pans littered with dead chickens.
The beginning of life, and
...
*
...death on the pans.
All pictures by SW Burger except pictures
marked *courtesy Aldia du Toit van Wyk
__________________________________________________
Sadly Willie passed away on 2 September 2002, a few days before his 44th
birthday, after struggling with cancer for a year. I was very fortunate to
share in his remarkable character for 25 years. He will live in our memories.
.jpg)
1990: Willie hiking the
Uitsoek trail near Nelspruit.
.jpg)
1990: Willie taking a bath on
the Fanie Botha trail near Graskop.
.jpg)
2000: Willie
enjoying a serious "pão"
on a lunch break when we worked at Maputo harbour.
Willie Botha (Eng)
Willie Botha (Afr)
