Farewell Mighty Mungo

Tue./Wed. 18^th & 19^th June ‘24

It definitely feels like the end today. Packing up Mungo for the last time and not only our last game drive, but our last drive in Mungo. We’re getting good at packing now with all of the practice that we’ve had and we’re off by 8am – complete with the thermos full of coffee and “emergency” biscuits. Mind you, we do still seem to be the last people out of the camp. We’ve been told that it’s about 3 hours to the exit for Moremi and then a further 2 – 3 hours to our lodge just outside of Maun so we’re happy we have the time to take any detours that take our fancy.

We know the route to Second Bridge from our driving yesterday and it’s all uneventful. Just the usual couple of giraffes and a few elephants – oh, and, of course, the usual mix of antelopes. The imaginatively name First Bridge is close by and immediately wins the prize for ‘bridge in worst state of repair’. We’ve heard from many of our guides about how there has been less rain this winter than usual in both Namibia and Botswana and how the climate trend over the last whatever years has been drier. These bridges that are now no longer used are evidence that there was once more water in the park.

While stopping to photograph a pair of jackals, a car draws up with a couple inside and we start to chat. They’re also heading to South Gate and the park exit but they aren’t sure of the route. They have the Tracks4Africa app on their phone which seems to say flooding ahead. These are the second group using T4A on a phone and it seems a vastly inferior experience than our combination of tablet with Maps.me and paper maps. Not only is the screen so much smaller, but fewer tracks/roads seem to be marked and some of the detail incorrect. The couple decide that we seem competent (fools!) and decide to follow us.

We press on, and fortunately our route takes us past a couple of small lakes where the birds are active. I’m really pleased to have caught the (hammerhead?) duck dancing on the water and the spoonbill having caught something in its beak. However, we’re less successful when we try to find the Xini Loop and the lagoons that are supposed to be there – all we find is plains of grass with no water and few animals. The couple following us get bored and head on by themselves (there was no flooding in the place they were worried about) and so we judge it time to break out the coffee and biscuits.

From here it was literally so uneventful that we stopped taking photographs. We made it to South Gate pretty much spot on the 3-hour budget and signed out of the park. After confirming with the ranger that there was no more deep sand ahead of us, for the first time in over a week, we pumped Mungo’s tyres up and took him out of 4WD. Its dirt road for a big chunk of the way to Maun, though, and whilst there is no more deep sand, we soon wish we were back in the park. The road surface is dreadful – a mix of corrugations, bumps and enough sand to catch the wheels if we are not wary. We just want to be done with this drive.

At last, we hit tarmac and from their it is a smooth straight run to Thamalakane Lodge where we are staying tonight where we are in time to grab a bite of lunch. Then comes the job of emptying all our stuff out of Mungo and getting to grips with saying goodbye to him. We had a fabulous time with his brother (The Beast) in Australia but the driving here has been a tougher examination of the abilities of a Land Cruiser. Mungo has taken absolutely everything in his stride and I’m still not sure where his limits lie. Thank you, Mungo for the trip of a lifetime.

The next morning, we have some time to start to prepare ourselves for re-entry to the real world. Our email inboxes have exploded, and we need to start on a to-do list for when we get home. The flight from Maun to Jo’burg is uneventful and, thankfully, on time. But when we head to the BA check-in desk in Jo’burg we find the flight is delayed until tomorrow morning as our plane is broken. So we get to have an extra night in Africa courtesy of BA – a final reminder that ‘This Is Africa’!

Thank you to Safari Drive for putting together an incredible trip for us. Thank you, also, to anyone who has been been reading these posts. We mainly write for ourselves to help hold on to these memories, but we are very happy for anyone travelling vicariously with us.

Signing out until our next adventure!