Today we go to Botswana!

We are at the Marakele National Park in South Africa, but today we leave, our destination is Botswana!

We wake up at 6:15am, late for the standard of this trip but today we can afford it, we have breakfast and then we close everything and we leave; today we have to travel about 400 km so it is better not to waste too much time, at 7:30am we leave the campsite and go to the gate.

The ranger at the gate asks us if during our stay we have spotted felines and other animals and some information is written in a notebook; we greet him and leave the entrance.

We go towards Thabazimbi, the town that is near the Marakele National Parkand then we continue towards the North-East.

This road is spectacular, first of all it is much less busy than the road that runs from Johannesburgto Botswanato the border post of Gobler's Bridge and Martin's Drift, and up to 10 km from the border we are immersed in nature, on the road in fact is a succession of farms with wild animals and nature reserves; we are happy to have discovered it, from now on we will always pass by here.

We travel quietly and make a stop in Lephalale, we go to the Elegant Fuel, we have never seen these gas stations, we obviously make fuel and then we go for a ride in the shop; we buy some things we need and then we go to Mama Africa's Kitchen, a small room behind the store and order two cappuccinos, we want to drink something warm and break the journey a bit.

When we reach the town of Tom Burke, that is 10 km from the border, we stop to check if we have all the documents at hand to cross the border and then leave.

The border post between Botswana and South Africa has a double name: the South African side is called Gobler's Bridge while the Botswana side is called Martin's Drift; this can create a bit of confusion for travelers following the signs since, in their respective countries, only one of the two names is indicated on road signs.

We arrive at Gobler's Bridge, there is a column of trucks that must pass the border, while on the car side there is practically no one, better like that; we enter the building and in a moment we leave the country.

We pass by the checkpoint, but since we're leaving the country, they don't even look at us.

We arrive at the white-arched bridge that crosses the Limpopo river, that marks the natural border between South Africa and Botswana; the Limpopo has little water, this year's drought was heavy.

We arrive on the side of Botswana, park and head towards the building where we have to do the immigration, the last time we were here we had an endless queue, we hope that the situation is better today, also because it is Saturday, maybe there is less people.

There are many trucks out in the parking lot, but inside there will only be a dozen people, moreover they seem a little faster and, not to be believed, this time the pos works and therefore you can also pay by credit card.

The fee that must be paid when entering Botswana by land is only for the carand not for people, it is about € 12.50; one part subsidizes road maintenance, one part is for wildlife and another as insurance for the vehicle.

It is only 1:00pm, we are doing well with the time also because we do not have to stop even for lunch, yesterday we prepared the sandwiches and we eat them while we travel so as not to waste too much time.

Before leaving the frontier place we must pass the control of the goods because, coming from South Africa, we cannot import some products such as meat, milk, fruit, vegetables and all that is fresh; but we don't have any of this, so when they open the fridge they only find things to drink.

From here we head towards Palapye, this is the somewhat larger town that is in this area of ​​Botswana and here there are some shopping centers; we have to do the shopping and look for a local phone card to use in these 3 weeks.

We have never stopped at Palapye, but, from what we see, the whole town and the commercial structures are almost all located near the main intersection, quite typical.

We go to the Junction Mall, that looks like a brand new building, and first we see if there is a shop where to buy the card, but it's closed, gosh; we ask other stores if they know when it opens but nobody knows anything; this is also quite typical.

Here at the Junction Mall there is also the Spar and we take the opportunity to do the shopping for the next few days; when we are at the cash desk we ask the cashier if she can show us another place to find the card but she looks at us and does not know what to say, we have not understood if she has not understood or if she has no idea what to tell us, patience.

When we are about to leave the girl who was in the queue behind us tries to explain us where we need to go, now we are the perplexed ones because not knowing Palapye we don't have references to understand her indications, then she tells us to wait for her outside that she accompanies us, she is really too kind.

We go out in the parking lot, we load the groceries and then we follow her red Golf and we go to the Diphalane Mall that is 500 meters away, here is the Orange shop but, once inside, the boys tell us that computers don't work and therefore they cannot sell us the card and suggest to come back on Monday; to think badly it is only 10 minutes before closure and they don't want to do the operation, but in reality we don't know what the truth is.

We are resigned to not finding the local card, we will use the South African one even though it will cost us a little more and will probably have less coverage.

But our new friend tells us "there is another mall, it is not very nice but it is safe and we certainly find the card there", we follow her and in fact if we were alone here maybe we would not have stopped; we follow her to a store run by a Chinese who seems to sell everything, including phone cards, we can even choose the operator because he has them all.

What to say in the end the Chinese, who is always open and sells everything, solved the problem for us; we have the Pula, the currency of Botswana, but he accepts all currencies: South African Rand, Euro, Dollars, Pounds ...

We also buy a 100-pula refill and our friend also gives us a hand to activate the card, she's really too cute and, when we say goodbye, she says "come and see me at the bank when you get back!", she works at a branch of one of the Palapye banks, who knows if we can pass by.

From here the Khama Rhino is about 70 km and at 3:30pm we arrive at the entrance; we think we have plenty of time to go on a safari before going to the campsite; we enter the gate and go to check-in, finally we returned to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary.