7 Apr 2019: On the Road Again

Packing, like rush-hour traffic, always takes much longer than anticipated. Some excess baggage, not used in the last three months of travelling, was thrown out, but Daai Dêng seems more crammed with must-have’s and nice to have’s than ever before. Anita, a friend of mine, baked enough rusks and cookies to see me through a famine, and in addition threw in a few bottles of wine so that I won’t die of thirst. It will take some innovative loading to smuggle all the liquor through the border posts.

Birding Guides in Daai Deng

Departure out of Pretoria took place a day later than planned. This allowed for an impromptu farewell party at a local pub and grub with some birding friends – Rob & Tisha and Klaus & Ria. Anita, a beginner birder, alternated between bemused and amused by all the birding terms and locations being bandied about. The only time the conversation flagged was when an LBJ flew into a nearby tree and six birders tried to ID. The identification was inconclusive, so we drank more beer to forget our ineptitude.

Daai Dêng crossed the border into Botswana just south of Lobatse. The sun was setting when I turned west onto the Trans Kalahari Highway to Namibia. This beautiful road soon became a driving nightmare as I dodged cattle, donkeys and horses while blinded by the lights of the oncoming vehicles. A very helpful lady at the Jwaneng Golf Course allowed me to camp next to their clubhouse. There a mighty thunderstorm shook the overloaded Dêng and I fell asleep feeling like a baby in a rocking cradle.