Brett and Pixie live in Botswana so, Kate - Brett's wife, Pixie's mother - was there to welcome us. She made sure all our immigration forms would be ready for us, transportation to our lodge ready to go, and cold drinks on ice waiting for us. Perfect! The day was gorgeous and it was an exciting feeling to know we were in a new African country with more adventure ahead and plenty behind to write home about. John Baxter's wife, Janice, flew in from the U.K. to greet us as well. Hadn't seen her since Crete.
The Limpopo Valley Airport is a small but tidy, well cared for facility. It's in the middle of nowhere, but serves a great purpose as there are many tourist lodges in the area so private jets came in here from time to time. After the rest of the rally teams arrived and planes were secured for the night, we piled into one of the many Land Rover, 4 wheel drive vans to go to our lodge. The vans were "topless" so no shade for the 40 minute drive to Mashatu Lodge. The road is a bumpy, dusty trail and was exactly what I hoped for and expected before coming to Africa. We were indeed in the wilderness of Botswana and there would be more game to see.
Our lodge was fantastic. Rustic elegance and quiet all around. African art and furniture decorated the sitting rooms, dining area, patios, and guest rooms. In our room, there was a sitting area across from the bed that had a picture window the width of the room. The view looked out on a gentle slope of thorn trees and low bushes stretching towards a meadow.
Soon after we got settled into our rooms, there was a wonderful lunch buffet in an open patio area with several long tables to accommodate all of us. Beyond the patio is a large clearing with a watering hole where numerous impalas showed up and some very colorful, exotic birds landed as well. At 3:30 tea was served and at 4 we headed back to the vans for a game drive into the vast preserve. We bumped and swayed along the road and I loved every second of it. We saw more giraffe, impalas, some elephants, Zebra, a couple of lionesses each with three cubs, a leopard resting up a tree, vultures perched on high tree branches patiently waiting for the meat-eaters to go hunting, hundreds more impalas, and stork-like birds with broad red bills. I was particularly keen to see the elephants as they are such social animals and they behave with a kind of deliberate decorum though, I know they are capable of turning on a dime and showing some temper. But we weren't going to give them any reason to do that.
It was time to head back to the lodge and the enormous sky started to fill with billowy dark clouds. A breeze picked up and out on the inky horizon we started seeing flashes of lightning. With the speed of a weather front ina hurry to get somewhere, the lightning was soon nearly upon us. The claps of thunder were moderately loud which surprised me. Well, maybe they seemed moderate to me as after ten and a half years working on a noisy Saab 340, my hearing is a little off. In any case, the rain and wind caught up with us and our driver tossed back to us a bunch of leaky ponchos. We put them on and then laughed ourselves silly as we got drenched in a lurching van plunging down into wet ravines and up the other side to rutted roads. Up ahead was a refreshment stand set up for us and we felt happy and obliged to stop and have some drinks. Back in the vans, we continued on to the lodge where all of us - wet, happy, and hungry -- made beelines for our showers before dinner.
We slept like babies in our comfortable lodge rooms though our alarm was set for 4:30am. At 4;29, Estelle knocked on our door - not to make sure we were awake - rather to let us know departure time for the airport had been moved a bit later due to the weather. Ah, another 45 minutes of sleep.
My view of Caravan cockpit and its glass panel of instruments.
Captain Steve in Cessna Caravan enroute to Limpopo Valley, Botswana.
Nick and Joel taxiing out for take off at Bulawayo for flight to Limpopo Valley.
View of 'open road' ahead in the Caravan. The vistas throughout our trip were vast and extensive just like this.
Our fearless leader, Sam Rutherford relaxing in back seat.
This interesting rock formation caught my eye along our flight path. I saw an elephant lying down on its side, its dark ear flap laying flat and an eye looking up at me. Don't ask me about the quadruple trunks it appeared to have.
Johannes coming to greet me after he disembarked from the red Waco behind him.
Wolf walking away from his Pipistrael. Others in background are admiring the new prop he had put on after a slight mishap back in Zambia.
The Limpopo terminal building. No walls. It occurred to me that the airport authorities are an optimistic group.
Jeep vans to take us all to our lodge. Only the one van had shade.
Crossing large, dry riverbed enroute to the lodge.
Martyn hanging on over the ruts and bumbs.
Approaching the entrance to the Mashatu Lodge.
Lodge staff come out to greet us.
Getting checked in.
Our tables set for afternoon lunch buffet. Wild life appeared at the watering hole in the back ground.
A great buffet lunch ready for us.
I wondered if any wild animals mistook the pool for a watering hole.
Our room and the view from the sitting area of our room. I kept hoping a zebra, giraffe or elephant would come along.
The big watering hole as seen from the lounge/diningroom area. Scores of impalas came down to it while we were there.
Nick chatting with Martyn, Graham and their wives in the bar.
Impalas arriving for their Happy Hour.
Wolf and his daughter Emily enjoying a swim. Colin, Fabian, and Yulie in the back ground.
Antonov pilot Mike and wife Colleen in our van ready for the afternoon game drive.
Fabian, Emily and Wolf in their van. Keith and Norman in the rumble seat of theirs.
Ingo, Bob, and our guides getting ready to go. Cedric and Alexandra sitting right in front of us. Cedric had been having some problems with his plane leaking oil and had been dutifully spending extra time at the airport cleaning and nursing his plane. On this day, he looked forward to some fun down time with the rest of us.
On our game drive
One of Africa's endangered vultures. Patiently he awaits the evening hunt. These amazing birds keep the ecosystem clean and inhibit the spread of diseases. To lose them would be a tragedy.
On drive back to lodgings, storm brews across an amazing expanse of sky with thorn trees silhouetted in foreground.
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