We are at the Gweta Lodge in Botswana, we arrived in the late morning from the Boteti River, that marks the Western border of the Makgadikgadi National Park; as soon as we arrived we parked our car, then we relaxed and settled some things waiting for 4:00pm to arrive.

At 4:00 pm we have an appointment with Chif, our guide, both for today and tomorrow morning; we go to see the baobabs at sunset at the Ntwetwe Pan; there are us two and four Chinese girls.

We get in the car, it's a Land Rover open with the roof coverage only; we leave, we go out of the gate, we pass next to some house of the village of Gweta and then we take a dirt road that seems to go into nothingness, we try to see on Tracks4Africa where we find ourselves but it doesn't even know it, we are exactly in the middle of nowhere!

The road becomes narrower and at times it is very sandy, by our car it would be difficult to travel and we would not be able to figure out where to go; at some point, all around us, there are mopane bushes with few leaves because in this period it is winter.

At a certain point we stop near a large Marula tree that is on the corner of a large enclosure where the cattle are and Chif tells us many interesting things about this tree: with the pulp of the fruit, that looks like a yellow plum, you can make a juice or marula beer, in addition to the famous Amarula that has accompanied us on many trips; this sweet fruit also appeals to elephants, monkeys and goats.

The seed of this fruit, once dried, can be opened; inside it contains an edible nut, the locals eat it as a source of nourishment, usually together with vegetables.

The bark of the marula tree is also used by people, who use it to make slits when they have problems with epistaxis.

baobab botswana

We continue our journey in this marvelous landscape among the mopane bushes and some majestic baobabs; at some point we see some gigantic baobabs, although they are not comparable to the Baines' Baobabs that are found in the Nxai National Park.

Chif stops the car and we go down, seen from close up the baobabs are really impressive, we take a tour around these giants, we admire them and we take photographs, meanwhile the sun is going down on the horizon and colors these giants of nature with the warm colors typical of sunset.

We also take some photos with our Lensball, even if in reality it is not a fundamental accessory in a trip to Africa, I really like the effects that can be created, it's fun.

Chif takes us to see a well that the locals dug to find water for the cattle; it is 220 meters deep and they can extract water using a generator that drives a pump.

We wait to see the sun go down over the horizon drinking a Savanna, what a sight this place is and these beautiful baobabs that will have thousands of years

The warm light of the sunset makes the yellowed leaves of the mopane appear golden and the soil, that is originally white, looks rosy; very beautiful.

While the 4 Chinese girls are delighted with a flurry of selfies and several photo shoots, we chat with Chif and 2 Belgian who followed us by their car.

We enjoy an amazing sunset and then we return to the Gweta Lodge and we still enjoy a bit of relaxation before dinner.

baobab botswana

Data di inserimento: 
Monday, November 11, 2019