Botswana has an impressive record. It is one of the most dynamic economies of Africa, it has the lowest corruption rate, exceeding some European countries (Hey Greece!) and it offers one of the best investment opportunities in the developing world. Unfortunately, it is a country with one of the highest HIV rates worldwide; its government however, in 2002 became the first in the world to offer free antiretroviral treatment to its citizens!
Apart from that it also offers some of the most dangerous driving we had experienced so far. The North of the country’s road network is covered by potholes and cattle, the few vehicles driving along the road do so with an average speed of 150km/h. Driving in such conditions at night is quite exhausting.
We arrived in Maun at night, waking up the next day we discovered that Maun must have been Maun to have the highest concentration of 4x4 vehicles. One rarely sees any other vehicle than a Land Cruiser or a Defender. Safari hats and khaki coloured clothes everywhere.
On the road again, this time towards the famous Okavango Delta! Just a month ago we were watching the BBC’s Nature’s Great Events – The Big Flood, of which the Okavango is the star and now we were actually there, ourselves! And this, despite the Okavango Delta being one of the most costly destinations in Africa because of its remoteness and the need to use private charters in order to reach the secluded 15-star, $2000 per night lodges but also because of Botswana’s low volume low impact tourism policy. A very sustainable and respectable approach to economic development which makes visiting a unique experience to those lucky enough to get there.
Within an hour from Maun had reached the South Gate of the Moremi National Park. We enquired at the entrance about the state of the roads, we were told that this morning another vehicle had passed through and made it to the camp. One vehicle only?
We needed to drive about 70 km to reach the Xakanaxa camp we could stay in (of course we had not made a reservation). The stretch started off with waterholes across the whole width of the road. The further into the park we were getting the less recognisable the road was becoming. Here and there we could spot an elephant, some hippos and giraffes. We were already driving for at least two hours at 15 km/h without meeting anybody else along the way. The road at this stage was more of a swamp, we could hardly make out a path which we followed and hoped that it was the right direction. The waterholes became dense mud pulls, before each the co-pilot needed to get out and with a long stick and assess its deepness. At one of them while I was standing knee-deep in the mud I suddenly distinguished marks of big claws in the mud next to me, this made me suddenly realise that we still were in a territory with wild animals, the need to reach the camp at day light had somehow overcast this thought. I rushed back into Cruisi and as we were turning around the next bushes there was the lioness walking just in front of us.... 
Assessing the obstacles became somewhat less important. And immediately it paid off. The next pool of mud was deceiving, the moment the front wheels drove in it they sank into the mud up, the rear followed and the whole car was up to the chasis in deep thick mud. No tree, not rocks no nothing around. Us in the car slowly realising the situation we were in. An attempt to put in the reverse simply made the wheels spinning and sinking deeper.
The moment we stepped out of the car, we saw another a car started approaching! The first one in 4 hours, here in the middle of nowhere! Two young guys and their mother, Germans, came to save us. We could not believe our luck. Within minutes both cars were standing on solid ground again, not even time to take a picture. We travelled the rest of the stretch together. Many times we needed to step out of the cars and search for the road on foot. We raced with the remaining daylight and reached the ‘camp’ by dusk. 70 kms and 8 hours later.
Xakanaxa is not a usual campsite. It is in the middle of the Park with no border around it. Kruger Park compared to this was a high security prison! We were glad we had arrived and could still not believe the luck we had had with the Germans. We put up the tent and started our usual evening routine of slowly cooking around the fire and enjoying where we were. At some point, an awkward feeling overcame me, as if there was another presence around us. We could not see anything. The feeling of something around us became ever so more evident until at some point we looked up towards the trees and there it was!
In the light of the fire the only thing that one could properly distinguish were his huge ivory teeth. The elephant was standing a meter and a half distance away, he had come that close without us noticing in the dark as his legs and lower trunk were well-camouflaged in the dark and our visual range had not included looking upwards. So now we had this huge bull standing just in front of us. His ears were started to expand towards the sides, this did not seem like a sign of friendliness. After unfreezing from the initial shock we quickly moved into Cruisi. Once sitting inside, the elephant came closer, by simply lifting one of his legs he could have landed his foot right in top of Cruisi, it seemed like a toy in front of him. We were looking into the eyes of this huge creature and he was looking back at us, until he lost interest and moved on. Slowly we got out of the car and sat again around the fire, rather tensed this time and with no great appetite. This might seem made up now but it truly is not. After 10 minutes or so, I hear, the cry of a hyena, of course Fred does not believe me. Until just a minute after we see two simmering little spots approaching in the dark and there she was! Wow, those things are actually much bigger than what they look like on the screen. Just three years before, a little boy of 7 years was eaten at exactly the same camp site while he went out at night to go to the toilet, by a hyena. Very quickly we were sitting again in the car. The hyena walked around it and left. As for us, we forgot about dinner and went to the tent. It was a rather un-restful but truly unforgettable night.
The way out of the park the next day was great fun as we had gotten a bit more used to driving in mud and we felt happy in having been able to reach a place like this. We drove back to Maun and straight through the centre of Botswana towards the East and its border with Namibia. Back to German-Land!
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