Liuwa Plains - October 2012

Liuwa Plains Trip - October 2012

Two years ago we went to Liuwa Plains with Bhejane and we enjoyed the trip so much that we decided to go there again with them.

We were lucky enough to get a place on one of their tours this year.

To start the holiday we went to Khama Rhino Sanctuary where we managed to get our favourite camping spot. After two days we left and traveled north via Kubu Island. It was extremely dry and we had a little adventure when we missed a track and explored an area to the east that we had not seen before. The area was extremely dry and looked uninviting so we pressed on north to Elephant Sands north of Nata. When we arrived a herd of elephants was drinking at the trough where they had pumped water for them. This is a great tourist attraction. Later a water tanker arrived and pumped more water into the area. Two days later we arrived at Kasane where we met the group who would be traveling with us. A section of the group spoke no English and this made communication rudimentary at best.

The next day we set off through the borders and began the journey north. Sections of this road are now tarred and the tracks we had driven on previously had been straightened and widened into corrugated dusty gravel roads. The ferries were all in a state of relative disrepair but they managed to get all our vehicles across safely.

One of the lovely things was that we had four nights at Liuwa which gave us three full days in the park. Also Petri carried an extra sixty litres of petrol for me and this allowed us to explore the park even more extensively than we had before.

The sand was deep and soft on the way back but I preferred this road to the one going north.

At Sioma we saw the falls again and this is really a lovely waterfall - to me it is second only to Epupa Falls. It was very hot however and we could not stay out long.

The Picasa link is here or you can look at the snaps below as they load.

https://picasaweb.google.com/SiggyBishop/LiuwaPlainsOctober2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCLbKqZyUibzAbg

We love this camping spot at Khama Rhino Sanctuary - this is the one where the rhino opened the tap on a previous trip.

Delicate flowers which appeared just after the rain.

Please note the eye - I am very happy with this snap.

Near the waterhole, while looking at the animals we noticed a tortoise heading in our direction. I think it liked the shade but we had to make sure it was away before we drove off.

From Google - Hoodia gordonii is one of the most sought after succulents due to its medicinal properties. It has been called one of the wonder plants of the twenty first century. http://www.plantzafrica.com/planthij/hoodgord.htm