Day 2 Monday 30th Sep: 116 km, Mlondozi River Camp to Phumbe Camp
Everyone was up early. We had lively discussions about the cacophony of night sounds while enjoying our early morning cup of coffee. The agreement was to leave camp at 7:30 but the temperature climbs rapidly so earlier is better, and everyone was ready and rearing to go at about 7 am, except us of course; we were targeting the agreed time. We left camp at about 7:10 am.
Nico explained why there is so much grass in some places, untouched, while in other areas the veld is reduced to dust, yet the animals still manage to graze there. The palatability is largely dependent on the soil composition and not just on the species of grass. This came as a surprise to us, especially Roger, who believed that, for example, ‘rooi gras’ is always good grazing yet hadn’t been touched in this area. We learn something every day…
We passed the remains of a loading ramp that was used during the 1970s when the Military ran a project aimed at planting sisal along the border to deter illegal entry into the park. The elephants fancied the young plants, plucking them out of the ground and eating them at the same rate that they were being planted. The project was abandoned and today there are no sisal plants in the park.
The mercury soon climbed, and the day became hot; very hot. By mid-afternoon the temperature had risen to 37⁰C. We stopped and walked to a lookout point, feeling the heat radiating from the rocks while the sun beat down from above. And then, while at the lookout, the wind suddenly changed direction; from a warm berg wind to a cool onshore breeze. The drop in temperature was immediately noticeable. It brought brief relief before we started feeling cold.
The wind picked up and by evening it felt like mid-winter! It was blowing at what Roger estimated to be 25 knots, gusting 30, i.e. roughly 55 km/hour. The last time we experienced wind like this, in this tent, was near Solitaire in Namibia. There we spent the night listening to flapping canvas while our legs were being lifted with each gust, threatening to fold the tent closed. To avoid a repeat of that experience, Roger set about strapping the tent down and restraining the flapping flysheet. It took considerable time before he was satisfied that we wouldn’t be going anywhere.
A campfire and braai was out of the question, but fortunately Eugene and Marlene had prepared a delicious chicken dish for dinner.
We were all in bed by 9 pm. It was too cold and miserable to be sociable. The night sounds consisted of nothing more exciting than gusting wind and flapping tents. We even had a few drops of rain.
Day 3 Tuesday 1st Oct: 130 km, Phumbe to Shilowa
The morning was still bitterly cold, windy and overcast. We left camp at 7 am.
Our first stop was at a dried-up pan where Nico told us about the unique fish life encountered there. Lungfish that manage to dig themselves in as deep as a metre where they turn in their tunnel to have their heads up while waiting for the next season’s rains. And then there is the killifish. They are short-lived and were relatively unknown until the locals discovered that the clay of the pan was ideal for plastering the walls of their huts. Much to their surprise, at the next rains, the fish were popping out of the walls! The killifish eggs were embedded in the mud and started hatching when the walls got wet.
In the mid-morning we stopped at Olifants Restcamp to top up supplies; water, fuel for those that needed it, and ice. Steaming hot coffee was non-negotiable.
The weather had started clearing by the time we got to camp, although it was still very cold. At least we had a wonderful social evening around the campfire.