Each camp site came with its own large platformed tent, complete with bathroom facilities, seating/dining/food prep area, and there was a restaurant, bar and swimming pool. All overlooking the Chobe river and the animals wandering the river plain.

The route along the Caprivi Strip was on long straight road through parks and lots of settlements. The Strip is a thin strip of land belonging to Namibia, sandwiched between Botswana and Angola, that reaches as far east as the Victoria Falls.

The town of Katima Mutilo is the largest town in the north of the country. A good place to refuel, provision and get the tent bracket remade! Asking at the fuel station, we were directed to the side where there was an interesting mix of vehicle repairs, a scrapyard and furniture making. The boss, Rasta, was roused and in no time, one of his men made up a new one from some scrap steel. In the meantime, we had gone over the road and bought a new battery for the fridge in the trailer.

One quirk of travelling in this part of the world are ‘vet fences’. Designed to prevent the transmission of foot and mouth disease in cattle and sheep, the fences are punctuated with checkpoints. You are not allowed to take raw meat through them, and vehicles may be stopped and searched, and any meat confiscated. It made provisioning difficult as there were two control points on our way to Rupara, and so we could not buy anything for our braai. Oh, and both were unmanned!

Our night at Rupara was relaxed, our camp being on the riverbank, but then it was a drive straight through to Divundu on the good main road. Even though it wasn’t long since we fueled up, we topped off the tank to maximise our range.

Our destination was Ngepi River Lodge, on the bank of the Kavango river, (think Okavango), a quirky and fun camp.