Botswana
Tuli Block
About 65 km from Mapungubwe, we passed through the Pont Drift border crossing to the Tuli Block in Botswana, where Molema Camp offered an unfenced wild experience.
To our surprise and delight, all five sites had a little toilet, open-air shower and dishwashing station, complete with hot water. Rustic, but a luxury for sure, because elephants, lions and leopards can frequently stop by for a visit.
Walking to the ablution block—toilets—in the pitch black with only a headlamp or flashlight can kind of raise the hair on the back of your neck a little.
Camping near us were two German couples with whom we shared a morning game drive, but it was the evening before that the excitement really kicked in. It was dark, and I was in the process of searing and charring our peri-peri chicken.
The evening was quiet and relaxed when, all of a sudden, four bright headlamps were pointing our way and quickly moving towards us. Through the darkness, the Germans were running towards us, pots full of rice and chili con carne in hand.
Elephants! Elephants had invaded our campsite! We had no choice but to run!
The minutes turned into about an hour, so we offered them some bowls and utensils, and we proceeded to chow down, all the while keeping our lights and my super-duper 1,000-lumen flashlight pointed towards their camp.
As the ruckus at their campsite settled down, all of a sudden, we heard noises behind and to the side of our site. Oh-oh, more elephants!
We all stood, watched and shone our lights, waiting in anticipation for the next invasion. Fortunately—or not; it all depends on whether you like this kind of action, and we do—the beasts, the elephants, ha ha, dispersed, and we were able to wish our visitors a good night.
Joyce and I sat looking at the incredible night sky, listening for any further visitors, but none arrived. Off to bed we went, hoping we would have another encounter tomorrow, but alas, it was not to be.
At this point in time, I was really getting into building fires and cooking on the braai over the embers. I chopped wood, collected kindling and used my bare hands to move burning logs and place them exactly where they needed to be. I need to come up with a better way of moving burning logs!
