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One large salt pan, two different places
Our second tour into the Makgadikgadi Pans takes us to the eastern side of the huge Sua-Pan on the largely unknown Kumone Island (also known as Kukonje Island). The first 60 kilometres or so are easy on the tarred road until we turn left onto a sandy track. On our tours, and especially on those where we probably won't have a network at some point, we are always travelling with our *Garmin Montana 700 GPS outdoor sat nav and our *Garmin inReach Mini 2 Satellite Communicator and thus find every track, no matter how small - and above all find our way back 😉 After the first few kilometres, the picture on the way to the Pan is completely different from that on our first tour to the west side to the Lukhubu Island.
Here on this side it is now partly hilly and green with big trees, we see elephant tracks and their dung, cross dried up river courses and huge steppes with ochre-coloured dry grass and small bushes.
After another slow 60 km on the gravel road further inland, we suddenly see the white-grey-blue-green shimmering salt pan on the horizon. We drive past ancient baobab trees until we reach a sign "Campsites": as in many areas of Botswana, campsites are managed by the local communities and thus support them in their projects through the tourist income. Most of these campsites are not classic, precisely marked out, side-by-side sites with wash houses. Instead, they are small open spaces in the terrain, spaced apart and each with a fireplace - and sometimes also with a toilet hidden in the bush: a toilet bowl without a flush hidden behind a wooden shack.
Although Kukome Island is usually marked on travel maps, it is far behind the tourist magnet Lukhubu Island (also called Kubu Island) in terms of popularity. Just the right thing for us! And nothing seems to have been actively used here for a long time. We pass the abandoned reception (three dilapidated huts) and continue along the path until we reach the salt pan. There we drive along the edge, as even in the dry season it is possible to get stuck in the salt crust, which is soft underneath. Up to the sign Campsite 1, from there we turn right through the high steppe grass onto a gentle hill with two majestically enthroned trees. We already feel that we have arrived at exactly the right place.
Arriving in silence and with myself
We park our Prado, check that it is "in the water" so that we can lie comfortably in our roof tent at night, and then we let everything sink in:
The endless expanse above the flat salt pan, the play of light and shadow through the leafless trees, the harmonious colour composition of the soft earth-green-grey tones all around us, the rustling of the warm wind through the dry grass, the whistling and fluttering of a few beautiful hornbills with their orange, curved beaks, the boundless freedom above the bright blue sky - and this silence. No man-made sounds. Nothing. Only the sounds of nature. Nothing else. And the knowledge that we are alone here. Far and wide. On the whole island. Just the two of us. Silence. I feel it getting quiet inside me too. My thoughts are silent. I only feel the power of the place, the closeness to my ego and to my deceased daddy.
Then the day says goodbye, the sun sinks further and further towards the horizon over the salt pan and the fireworks begin: the sunsets here in Africa are incomparable. In this scenario of the golden-orange-red rush of eyes, the peaceful solitude and connected togetherness paired with the incomprehensible silence, we both feel completely inspired. These places and moments are exactly why we love discovering the world. And always a little more ourselves in the process. What a privilege. My heart overflows, my soul laughs and tears roll down my cheeks - thank you!
The freedom to simply stay
After a delicious braai by the warming fire, we look forward to our cosy roof tent and a night under the gigantic starry sky. And it is literally starry-eyed for us that we will stay here all day tomorrow and thus for another night. We call this another form of our freedom: to simply stay in one place when we feel like it. No "can't do it now", "we don't have time", "we should...", "do we have everything we need?" or other mental limitations. They don't really exist, but we make them for ourselves. We are learning more and more not to question or talk down the moment, but to enjoy it to the fullest. And to simply stay.
Possible questions for your personal journey of discovery:
Do you know a place in your surroundings where you can feel yourself and your soul?
Are you open to your deep sense of where you are drawn?
Do you allow a place to bring you into your deep self and into silence?
Do you like listening to yourself?
Have you ever taken the liberty to "just stay"?
Possible questions for your personal journey of discovery:
Do you know a place in your surroundings where you can feel yourself and your soul?
Are you open to your deep sense of where you are drawn?
Do you allow a place to bring you into your deep self and into silence?
Do you like listening to yourself?
Have you ever taken the liberty to "just stay"?
