Spring Break: Maun to Kasane

While Lonely Planet contends there are buses from Maun to Nata and then Nata to Kasane, our safari guide told us not to hold our breath on getting a seat. As we were six and my travel protocol is never to leave a stranded American tourist behind, we had to come up with a way of ensuring all six of us arrived in Kasane safely.

Enter good cop (Alex), bad cop (Max).

Near the vending stalls, in the unofficial bus station, we started chit-chatting with some combi drivers; asking them the best way for us to get to Kasane.

Stage left, Alex, perhaps one of the most affable people I've ever met. He butters up the combi drivers with the bait. Six "clueless" Americans looking for the easiest way to another tourist trap. They're thinking gold mine. After some of the craziest calculations on a cell phone, I've seen, they offered us a one-way to Nata for 1700 pula ($25o).

Spot light suddenly turns to Max, stage right. An unassuming stand-up comedian in the making, from Harvard. Unexpectedly, Max clears his throat and says with the straightest of smiles, "1200 pula."

Long story short, the ploy worked, but we wound up getting a combi all the way to Kasane from another driver for about $65 per person. A bit steep by Botswana standards, but as my friend Tlotlo says, "You Americans will do anything to get anywhere."

The three hour journey was fairly uneventful. I underwent my first foot-and-mouth clearance: a simple check of my bags for meat products and then a gentle cleaning of the shoes. Almost more symbolic than practical. Crossing nearly the whole of Botswana from east to west, our combi ride took us through the Kalahari, a mixture of scrub and tall grasses. A bit off in the distance we could see the beginning of some of the largest salt pans in the world, the Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pans.

*Before we get to the pans, I simply have to say that no road trip is complete without a gigantic fibreglass statue of an animal. See my previous writings.

As for the pans (right), when we drove past them, the terrain turned incredibly arid with occasional white expanses and several seasonal ponds.

Our mid-way point was the tiny but vital transportation hub of Nata. After a quick lunch, we jumped back in the combi for the equidistant stretch to Kasane. Our ultimate aim was to go to Chobe National Park to see its earth-shattering (literally) elephant herds which can reach upwards of 100,000 in the dry season.

But as many of travel guides and websites warned, we may see that many simply on the way to Kasane. And moreover, see that many simply crossing the road in front of our vehicles.

Which is precisely what happened.

Aside from potholes as wide as the road and nearly a foot and a half deep, the most dangerous part of the only road crossing the northeastern part of Botswana was the foot traffic. Namely, elephants and giraffes. One particular elephant came a bit too close as it stepped out from the bushes twenty meters in front of our combi and I nearly got whiplash as we went from 120 km/h to a dead stop, then reverse.

Some of the on-lookers looked unfazed, though (left). Despite lumbering elephants we made it safely to Kasane just in time for the electricity to go out and go to bed.

You'll just have to wait until the next blog to hear about my stay in Kasane and enjoy this sunset over the only cultivated land I have seen in Botswana. Until next time, ciao chicas!