Surprising meetings at the CKGR

We spent two days at the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and, while we ran through its sandy tracks or camped in designated pitches, we made some memorable meetings.

Most people who meet here, who do self-drive and camping, are South African, usually lovers of wild nature and endless spaces; they told us that, according to them, there are so many people in South Africa in the national parks and reserves that they prefer to come to Botswana where there are few people and the parks and reserves are uncontaminated.

On the first night we shared our pitch with a family of three people from Pretoria who are coming to Botswana every year; we sat around the fire with them and we talked a bit about trips to Botswana and how much they love camping and they told us some of their experiences, some very funny ones and others a bit more extreme.

They do not have a simple off-road vehicle with the tents, they build a fortress impenetrable by any animal: they place the car and the L-shaped trailer and then erect a two-meter high green fence inside where they place the table and chairs for dining, while at the corners of the fence have lights pointing outward looking like lighthouse towers.

With the heat of the fire they cook and then close in and no longer go out.

The car and the trailer are super organized and efficient; you can see they like this kind of travel and they love the contact with wild nature.

It was nice to know them and to chat with them.

The next day, near the pond of Passarge, just where the cross is between the two main streets, we see some cars standing right in the middle of the street; as ugly Milanese we immediately thought "but look at these where they stopped."

We stop and, as always on dirt roads or in remote areas, we ask them if it's all ok, and they, who were laughing and joking, say "surely! Where do you come from?" and we exchange information about sightings of the day; at a certain point they tell us "do you want a coffee?" it seemed ugly to refuse and so also we leave our car there in the middle of the road and go down.

We thought they had the thermos with hot water like us, and no, they took the gas canister, mounted the stove, and put on fire a sort of Victorian teapot.

We take a pack of cookies to share them while they open bags and boxes and begin to cut pieces of kudu and impala biltong; they give us some bits and they are really good, they said they made them and in fact they are much better than those bought at the supermarket.

We drink coffee, eating biltong and dried fruit, it seems they have to be eaten in sequence, and our lemon biscuits; a mix that seems absurd, but, all in all, it was ok.

They are one from South Africa, one from Lesotho and two from Botswana, they are muttering each other joking with us; they make too much laugh.

They are also intrigued and want to know about us, they say they have never found other Italians here and ask a thousand questions; we also exchange emails to send us the photos and, who knows, maybe one day we will see them along some of Southern Africa's dusty roads.

These meetings are part of the experience of this trip, and you can never know who can be found and this is just the beauty of a trip on the road.