The 2025 Botswana Journals, Ch. 2: The Airlines Agony Continues

Savvy traveler that she is, Marg Wood planned for our group to spend two days in Johannesburg at City Lodge before going on to Botswana, our primary destination.  It’s a nice hotel attached to the airport, and that makes it wonderfully convenient.   As it turned out, we would be a day late, but still on track for our connections to Botswana from South Africa.

 

I neglected to mention a couple of things about the beginning of this trip.   I make it a practice to spend the night before a trip in Anchorage.   That’s because there is only one road to Anchorage (and its international airport) from where I live, and if there’s an accident, avalanche, or any other issue, the road might be closed, causing me to miss a flight.  Sure enough, it happened.   While I was blissfully unaware of a wreck that closed the highway near Anchorage the morning of my flight, I boarded my flight to Seattle.

And, while we were winging our way south to that port city, the Alaska Airlines computer systems went down. It didn’t affect my flight or my connection to Edmonton.

 

That was all before hell broke loose a few hours before the flight to Amsterdam, connecting to Johannesburg.  I told you about that morning as Marg made arrangements, including long phone calls, gathering everyone’s passport numbers, and utilizing her Platinum status with KLM.    I’m glad I was with Marg in her home when this happened, because my email from KLM said my flight was cancelled!

This is the hotel attached to the airport in Johannesburg, South Africa.

We got to Amsterdam and even made up some time in the air.   So much time, in fact, that as we deboarded, we saw our original flight to Joburg being boarded a couple of gates down!   We could have made it, but there were great odds that our checked baggage wouldn’t have.

We had about nine hours to wait until our new flight via Swiss Air left.  Once again, Marg and her Platinum status, and Marshel came to the rescue.   They paid for temporary passes for all to the KLM lounge, something KLM does not usually allow.   Free food, drinks, and a comfortable place to wait!  I took a nap.

I then spent the next ten hours miserable in seat 31A  as we flew to Zurich and then on before finally landing in Joburg and checking into a room at City Lodge, meeting as a group for dinner, and then getting a good night’s sleep before catching a morning flight to Kasane, Botswana, and our first safari outing.  

City Lodge reception desk

Outdoor eating, pool area

Part of the dining room

Name dropping here with no shame:   I once saw Jane Goodall walk past the dining room!!!

In the lobby

Let's get on with it!!!

 I had now been travelling for six days, but I had the next five days to enjoy the Chobe River while staying at one of my favorite places:   the Pangolin Chobe Hotel.   I think this was my third visit here, and I love it.

I was hoping to see Guts and Janine, the owner-operators, but they were away guiding a photo group.   I was pleased to see that their beloved business survived the 15-month COVID lockdown in Botswana!

It was built by photographers FOR photographers and is the only place I’ve stayed in Africa where an experienced photographer is with you on every outing to offer photo advice.

The lowly pangolin is the most trafficked animal in the world.   Its scales, made of keratin like human fingernails, are used in "traditional medicine" in parts of Africa and in Asia.   

As for blaming the pangolin for Covid, "While the pangolin is a likely intermediate host, the original source of SARS-CoV-2 is believed to be from a bat, as seen in other coronaviruses. "

I've never seen one, so I borrowed this image from the Internet.

This is the second-floor lounge.   The colored glass evokes the shape of the pangolin with its golden scales, which are much treasured.   Unfortunately, those scales have crested a crisis for the small mammal.

Creativeness is apparent throughout the lodge, as shown by these empty liquor bottles adapted to hold electric lights and the copper tubing formed as a base.

The room I shared with Sylvia.

Large bathroom with exposed copper plumbing.

 

Two large beds.   The windows offer a view of the Chobe River.

Plumbing in the bathroom.

This is where you can tell the lodge was designed by photographers--the long counter for setting up computers and photo gear and lots of outlets.

 

We had a couple of hours to unpack and unwind before our first outing on the specially designed river boats.   Here’s a teaser for the next chapter:

 

A beautiful flowering tree right where we load onto the boats.

 

 

First bird of the trip:   the elusive giant kingfisher and it has a fish in its mouth.   The giant, or Goliath,  kingfisher is 42–46 cm (16.5–18 in) long, with a large shaggy crest, a large black bill and fine white spots on black upperparts. The male has a chestnut breast band and otherwise white underparts with dark flank barring. The female has a white-spotted black breast band and a chestnut belly.

The pied (having two or more colors) kingfisher is prevalent across Africa.   From the Internet:  The pied kingfisher is apparently unique amongst kingfishers, having a bony plate that slides across their eyes when the bird hits the water. The kingfishers are fairly distinctive as a group. They have large heads, long, pointed bills, short legs, small feet, and short tails.

The freshwater Nile crocodile.   These highly aggressive ambush predators are responsible for about 1,000 human deaths every year.  Some of the largest specimens were 20 ft. long and weighed more than a ton.

Ah, crocs and birds and what else awaits us?

Photos from a previous trip to the Pangolin hotel:

Even the roof trusses evoke the curved shape of the pangolin.

The lounge.

The sunken fire pit.

The outdoor eternal pool and the fire pit.

Dining room.

Some photos of the wonderful river boats designed with photographers in mind.   Cameras are mounted on gimbals that allow the camera to move in many directions, and the chairs swivel completely around.

(Note:   Blogspot has decided that my commentary should be underlined, and I can't get away from it.   It's always something.)

Room for eight photographers.

The Chobe River can be seen from my hotel room.   Borrowed photo.

We are located along the river, quite near the border with Zimbabwe.   As you can see, the river forms Botswana's northern border with Namibia, and also a point where the borders of four countries meet--Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.

The 2025 Botswana Journals, Chapter 1: To Fly or not to Fly, that is the Conundrum

             

(Note:   To keep all the text from becoming boring, I will drop in some non-related photos taken during the trip.)

Two pied kingfishers hover as they look for prey in the Chobe River.

I just got home from the trip that wasn’t supposed to be.   Three weeks of safari game drives and brutal travel.   Lots of surprises, sightings, some exciting adventures, and places familiar and new.

            I decided a couple of years ago that my bank account was correct when it told me I shouldn’t travel anymore, especially with the increase in prices of everything from food to utilities.   Besides, I was nearing 84 years of age and slowing down.   I hated feeling like I needed assistance.   I felt as though I were becoming a burden on those I usually traveled with.    (Okay, “...on those with whom I usually traveled.”)

            I was gob smacked when the call came.   Someone had to drop out of the group due to medical reasons, less than a month before blastoff.  Normally, I would have declined, but I had recently received a message that I would be getting a check soon from my friends who had taken my Alaskana to sell in their gallery, and when I contacted them and asked, the check would be in an amount that would more than pay for the trip.

A Nile crocodile basking in the sun on the banks of the Chobe River in Botswana.   These massive reptiles can weigh more than a ton, and ambush mammals that come to the water to drink.  This I found on the Internet, so it must be true:  "The sex of each hatchling is determined by the incubation temperature of the egg. Females are produced in temperatures between 26 to 30 degrees and males in a higher 31 to 34 degrees."   Those temps as in Centigrade.

 

There’s more.   My Canada travel pals Marg and Shelly had formed a company called Marshel Adventure Tours, and this trip was their maiden voyage, so to speak.   I know how these things work.  The venues that take a group reservation quote a specific rate based on the number of clients.   Those clients provide—through tipping—income for their staff and guides, so it’s important to have a full group complement.

I accepted the invitation, convinced that The Fates decreed I should make one last trip to Africa.

The rolling camera bag.   Never checked in as baggage.   Always stays with me.   It weighs more than my checked bag.

The trip was advertised as the Botswana 2025 Hide and Seek tour.   Clever name, as we would be seeking birds and animals on game drives as well as photographing from the underground hides that put you at eye level with a waterhole.  That’s exciting stuff, those hides.

My travel “plans” called for me to fly to Seattle and then connect to Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada, where I would spend a day with Marg Wood, a long-time friend and mentor, and the “Mar” part of Marshel.  That part went well and as planned.

Anchorage to Seattle, done it dozens of times.

Seattle to Edmonton.

A flowering tree along the Chobe River.

What wasn’t planned was the message Marg got as we were getting ready to leave for the airport for a flight to Amsterdam, connecting with a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.   The flight was a) late or b) cancelled, or c) any other thing that meant we were going to miss the connecting flight.  

Marg immediately called the special number for KLM Platinum members and spent the next couple of hours making sure all of us would get on the plane after it arrived, as well as getting reservations for the flight to Joburg the next day.   It would put us into Joburg a day later than planned, but Marg, a well-experienced traveler, had planned for two nights at the City Lodge in Joburg airport.

The rolling duffel bag is my checked bag.   The small chartered planes we will use in country request soft-sided bags for better sowing in the bellies of the planes.   And, there was a weight limit of 25 lbs.

It wasn’t as easily resolved as it sounds because removing one flight from the airline’s schedule means hundreds of passengers must be rebooked.

My hand-carry item. to be stowed under the seat.   I call it the Football.   I carry my iPad, Kindle, paper and pens, plus miscellaneous stuff I might need in flight.

Nonetheless, off to the airport we went.  Our late-arriving plane landed, we boarded, and off we went to Amsterdam.   The show is finally on the road.   Had I known of the travel difficulties that lay in wait, I might have stayed home.

 

I’ll tell you something: travel these days is not for the faint-hearted.

Edmonton to Amsterdam to Johannesburg.   That was the plan.   Who could have guessed that before the trip was over, I would have touched base in five countries, and almost a sixth?

 

Yoo Hoo, Clyde

 Hey, Clyde.   

The only place it snowed on your birthday was on the mountain tops, but the snow level came down the lowest  for this season.

Belated  birthday greetings.   

Been busy these days getting ready for safari.....and I raided my closets and pantry to round up donations for the Yukon/Kuskokwim Delta villagers affected by the death throes of the typhoon.    Took a car load to Soldotna yesterday and dropped it off.

Many agencies are collecting donations.   Villagers are being eveacuated and brought to poipulation hubs like Bethel and Anchorage., many iwth only the clothes on their backs.   The lucky ones were able to pack a single bag each.

Many lost not only their homes but also  the subsistance foods they gathered for the winrter.

We have it lucky, don't we?   Wish you were oon Facebook.

Hugs and love,

Oscar

My Dance Card is Full for the Next Month

 

Botswana 2025 Hide and Seek Safari:

It appears I will be stowing my hand carry, closing my tray table, and fastening my seat belt quite a few times.

Just a round trip once.

Edmonton to Johannesburg

In country:

Johanneburg to Kąsane, Bostwana

        Pangolin Chobe hotel

        Kasane to Tuli Lodge

Tuli to Maun

        Thamalakane River Lodge

Maun to Johannesburg

        Johannesburg to Mashatu Lodge

Back to Johannesburg, Edmonton, Seattle, and Anchorage in mid-November.

And return.

Hallowe'en Memories

 

Many, many decades ago, my parents sold the log home that they’d built in Woodland Park on the outskirts of Anchorage, and went looking for an unfinished house to buy.

They decided on one in East Anchorage, quite far out from the city at that time, and on a street with no streetlights.  It was built by a married couple, who lived in the basement apartment while they continued working on the two upper stories.   The house had a lot of potential.

There was just one problem:  any kid in the neighborhood could tell you that the house was “haunted.”   

The original couple died in a murder-suicide.   How we found out is another story.

My folks and two younger sisters moved into the basement.

Anyway, the unfinished first floor featured two huge, almost floor-to-ceiling windows on either side of the front door.  That Halloween, my mother rigged up a ghost in the kitchen-to-be window, with strings attached that made the ghost’s arms rise and fall when someone manipulated them.

So there my mother sat in the darkened kitchen, pulling on the strings when she saw trick-or-treaters coming up the walkway.

I don’t know if any kids made it as far as the door to get their treats, but my mother had a lot of fun.

.