Hitchhiking in Botswana: North

Friday, 21^st of September, 2018.        

Hitchhiking in Botswana: North       

Daryl makes a sign with his hands that look like a – “Where are you going?”, and he stops. He w this old little man, who looks like the grandpa that everybody wants to have. He is going to Maun and know about Mababe, so he accepts to give me a lift there. 

The road from Kachikau until Mababe is horrible. A bad sandy road. Just 4×4 vehicles can managed to do that. And with quite difficulty.              

Daryl is quiet (he’s kind though) and I am telling him a little bit about my travels. Everything is fine until we get to the entrance of Chobe National Park. He stops the car and say we must go inside and I have to bring my passport. I am surprised and ask, more like a statement, actually, about no entrance fee. He says it should be paid. I ask how much. One hundred Pula. No way! I would have to talk with the guy and try to convince him that I had no idea I would need to pay the fee (which I really had not) because for me, it is just a road which I had to cross to arrive in Mababe and later in Maun. I passed for a lots of other Nationals Parks along so many countries, here in Africa, and I never had to pay any fee.              

The conversation with the guy is not nice. He clearly doesn’t not give a shit in trying to help me. Probably the same thought of the others 90% of local people in Africa: “No shit that this white lady travelling in Africa has no money with her”. Asshole. I could not go any further with my arguments because I am just about to broke down and cry. So I am just waiting until Daryl finishes to fill his papers and I will take my bags from his car to go back and take the Nata’s road next day.              

There is even this nice old lady, from a group which has just arrived, who comes to me and asks what do I needed, and I really think she was just trying to help, but I did not wanted to cry, so I don’t talk with her too much. Maybe she thought I was being rude.       

So I finally realize that Daryl has paid for me. Then I start to cry. I am so ashamed for being a burden to him (even that I had not asked for it), that I could not stop crying. And of course, I am also furious with the fucking National Park, just taking advantage of everybody. Do you know when it is nice that the locals pay less for attractions than the tourists? Right. But the difference has to be 12 times more? In Chobe National Park, locals pay 10 Pulas and foreigners pay 120 Pulas. To what? The road is horrible! So to see the animals then? If you are in your own car with your own cost, it is too much. I hatted Botswana at that moment. And I was quite hating myself too.

For a long time, I could not avoid the tears coming out of my face. They would just keeping dropping out of my eyes, rolling down, very slowly. I started to have some really bad thoughts about my next moves and days and how I would manage to smile again and to be nice with anyone again. I was crushed.              

For some long minutes there is silence on the car. The first few questions Daryl makes, are answered with a very sad voice, and with just a few words. I think that in somehow, he manages get in the profession topic. I first answer, and then him: safari business. At that moment, I felt a little better. He might not be the richer guy around, but at least he would not feel a lot of sorry for the 120 Pulas he paid for me. I wished and I hope so.   

     

And then the day that had just almost killed my mood for what would be the next few days, it turned in one of the best ones: A elephant just about two metres from me, right beside the car. And a huge male elephant (with a huge “excitement” feeling about some female elephant nearby, as you can see in the photo). Then another one in the other side, and then a pool with at least twenty of them. Elephants everywhere. Such amazing creatures they are…

I am already very happy and satisfied with my elephants. I did not need anything else. But then, two female lions, lying down just beside the road, thought I deserved something else. They are in Daryl’s side, and look exhausted because of the heat (which by the way is almost impossible to handle), and because of the big digestion they would need to do for a while (visible at their huge bellies’ size). The two girls are so tired that they do not even get nervous with our presence, even with a cub, just beside them. How those animals can be so fascinating?

I thought nothing could be better than that. Loki, I was so wrong.

Just a few metres ahead, and with not enough time to digest the wonderful two female lions, I see him: a male lion. He is also lying down under a tree, enjoying its shade, and he is on a date. Oh! It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! Judging by its color and its skin / fur, it is a young guy, just entering adult life. And, Loki, he is so handsome! I always wished to see a male lion in my life but I guess I never thought for sure that it could happen. It is like being in my lovely movie The ghost and the darkness. But with no deaths or killing lions, please. It is an amazing moment for me. And I even manage take some great pictures, even with all those feelings and the high emotion I am experiencing. Mainly because my lovely cat contributed some much with me and made some great moves. What a wonderful day!     

 I could be starving (had not eaten anything since morning); almost dying by the heat; not enough water to satisfy my thirst; and my migraine is already knocking on my head; but everything worth it.              

Just some minutes later, we arrived in Mababe. It is already half past four in the afternoon. Daryl is trying to find the right person I should talk to. I end up talking with an old lady, Mrs. Dorin, because the chief would be out until Sunday night. She says I can stay, no problems. I would just need to handle with the fact that elephants and hippos pass by the village every night in their way to the river. They would pass through where I should put my tent. Interesting…