Kgalagadi to Ghanzi to Windhoek

 

We spent our last few nights in the Kgalagadi on the Mpayathutlwa pan just above the lions. We had a great view and could see the oryx and wildebeests coming and going, and we heard the lions grunting in the distance at night. We had Manny the mongoose come by several times to check us out--completely adorable little guy, though verging on too tame.

I'll miss the Kgalagadi, its pans, A-frames, emptiness, and the surprisingly cool evenings and beautiful thunderstorms. 

We left the Kgalagadi early on the 30th and headed to Ghanzi in Botswana, where we spent 3 nights. It was another long drive, but worth it. We stayed at Palm Afrique about 10 kilometers south of town. The owners were great and gave us all sorts of info about town, crossing the border, and covid tests. They even opened the restaurant for us the first night and next morning so we could have dinner and breakfast before the extended New Year's holiday started. 

Our covid tests were a bit of an adventure. There was only one guy in town who did them. He was nice, but he wasn't really into detail. After a lot of back and forth, we finally got our results on the 1st, but the collection time was mis-labeled so we had to adjust our departure time to 5:30 a.m. the next day to make the 72-hour window. We left at daybreak on the 2nd, early enough to make the border and late enough to avoid hitting any donkeys in the dark. (Hitting donkeys is the number one cause of driving fatalities in Botswana, or so I've read.)

We made it to Windhoek! Three days at the Hilton and now we're off again camping. 

The rooftop bar and pool at the Hilton, downtown Windhoek.