Cats on Safari Part 3 - Bots to Livingstone

Being a few kilometres away from Sowa Pan, one of the magnificent Makgadigadi Salt Pans ensured that the pre-dawn chorus was magical. Elegantly clad in my PJ’s, I raced from angle to angle, Nikon in hand, desperate to capture the vibrant, flaming sky as it unwrapped. Sadly, no amount of shutterspeed adjustment got the unique shade of pink just right, so that memory remains firmly in our brain cells.

A cup of coffee later and we agreed to press on to Zambia. Freshly showered and packed, Henry started up and headed for the gate. Anushka had enjoyed her brekkie and immediately returned to her spot on the bed and I was pretty sure that Speckle was aboard – there was no trace of her at the campsite and neither of them wandered more than 5 metres away from base when we stopped overnight. At the gate, HO pulled over for a final check, saying that the last thing we needed was to turn around in a couple of hours. Rattling a few bits and pieces finally produced her inimitable howl – the cheeky cow was well hidden but on board. Off we go!

The road from Nata to Kazangula was, if possible, even straighter than the previous day’s. It drove straight as a die over the horizon, at times becoming an airstrip, a magnificent demonstration of dual purpose efficiency.  After all, if you are laying a tarred surface in the middle of nowhere, make it useful!

And then…ahead of us an elephant crossed the road. Seriously. The first of 8 or 9 pachyderms we saw on or next to the road, as well as 3 Ground hornbills, a Leopard tortoise and a herd of impala. Please note, this is not a conservancy or game reserve. It’s a major highway connecting Botswana to Zambia without a fence in sight. The sighting of major game in our dash to the border was simply thrilling and incredible to us. What a country! The cats were hugely unimpressed but Anushka did begin making a bit of noise so we pulled off the road, clipped on her leash and allowed her out for a pitstop. Which she immediately refused to do, being far more interested in investigating the outside world. 

Unfortunately, right behind us was a police van and, suspecting we had a problem, the cop pulled off too and asked for our paperwork. His face when he came around Henry and saw a cat on a leash! That broke the ice, he summoned his colleague from the van to see this amazing sight. Cats for them, elephants for us, everyone likes an unexpected sighting. 

Processed through the Botswana border, the next challenge was a ferry over the Zambezi river. All well and good, I watched Henry and his cargo board then began to follow, faltering when the juggernaut horse and trailer sprinted on board ahead of me. Share a flimsy little boat with that? No chance to rethink as the ferry began to pull away, leaving me no choice but to rapidly leap onto the rising ramp and cling to the guard rail.

Andy’s guide recommended using local help to survive the onerous Zambian border proceedings and he was so right. Two hours at the border, complicated by the fact that although we (and Henry) think he is a campervan, his offical papers refer to him as a commerical vehicle and apparently we needed special documentation. Which we didn’t have. Without Boniface and his contacts, we’d probably still be there. The furries and I sat it out in the offending vehicle but man, it was hot. This was when we needed S and A to be discreet, not that they’d have got out of Henry in the first place – many, many huge trucks and so much noise. I made a tent of a damp towel and persuaded them to lie under that, pouring small amounts of water into a cup for them which Speckle greedily drank but the temperature kept rising.

After coughing up a chunk of US$ we finally got away and stopped at the first local for a cold beer. Anushka was dying to get out and, securely leashed, explored her new turf. A cat on a leash proved irrisistible to the pub patrons who came out to introduce themselves and pet her. Thus began the first of many offers to buy our cats!

Reaching Livingstone, we flowed into Maramba River Lodge 4kms away from Victoria Falls and found our base for a few days. Shady, lush sites, an open lounge with WiFi, pub serving icy Mosi beer overlooking the river and a swimming pool. Heaven. HO climbed down and went around Henry to open up the side door while I gathered up the clutter in the cab. I didn’t think much of his driver’s door opening and looked up to make a remark which escapes me now – HO had shrunk about one metre and gained substantial head and bodyhair – the biggest baboon I’ve ever seen was casually scratching around the cab shelf, treating with disdain my Karen Blixen ‘shoo, shoo’s’ and leaving only when he’d found the lollipops we keep on hand to offer roadside cops. He then sauntered across to the rubbish bin and proceeded to unpack it in the hopes of finding some tasty titbits.

We ‘lost’ Speckle somewhere in Henry’s depths but, leaving the door open and the cat comfort station prepared in the shade, we headed poolwards. She was still MIA on our return which was, I confess, rather delayed as we’d met up with an interesting couple from Johannesburg and shared some war stories. My heart leapt skywards when HO called from the van “I’ve found Speckle. She’s breathing but unresponsive!”

Jumping inside, I swept her up and took her straight to the water bowl. She refused to drink initially, but rubbing cool water behind her ears and across her gums revived her enough to begin slurping up the liquid. We took the water away from her after a bit, thinking her insatiable thirst could lead to digestion problems but her recovery was remarkable and in no time Speckle was bounding up and down, in and out of boxes, stopping every now and then for a drink and some food. Phew.