Day 132: Limpopo River
When we woke up in the morning our worst fears were realized: we were sick. Somewhere, some inconsiderate, sniveling tourist (probably French) had infected us with their germs – CURSE THEM!!! We rolled up a heathy supply of toilet paper to use as tissues, and headed out on the road, as we had a long drive to the Southern border of Botswana.
Our accommodation for the night was at the Limpopo River Lodge, which would be our only self-catering hotel in the Green Bushpig itinerary. As delicious as all the food has been in Africa (seriously – we’ve put on *a lot* of weight in the past 6 weeks), we were really excited to cook for ourselves and control our portion sizes. The only complication was finding a supermarket. Our itinerary recommended that we buy supplies in the town of Selebi Phikwe, which was about 2hrs away from the lodge. After a LONG detour around construction in the crime-ridden city of Francistown (well, that’s the reputation anyways), we finally reached Selebi Phikwe, just as Igor’s cell phone died. Our instructions did not specify a grocery store, and as we didn’t have data service in Botswana to Google anything, we decided to just drive down every street in the town until we found a market. After all, it wasn’t that big of a town and we didn’t have a deadline for when we had to reach the lodge. After driving from one end of the town to the other, we finally found a large building that said “Supermarket”. Since we didn’t have an ice cooler anymore, we decided to go vegetarian for dinner & breakfast (plus, the meat counter smelled kinda off). With our food supplies in hand, we were able to get the cell phone charged just long enough to lead us to the highway, where we could then follow Russell’s directions.
It was a long, bumpy, dusty drive off the paved road to the Limpopo River Lodge, but when we finally checked-in to our riverside cabin and soaked in the remote serenity, we decided it was all worth it. We had a low-key and sober night, as we attractively hacked up all our phlegm by the campfire (we felt SO BAD for the poor family in the cabin next door – we totally ruined their night), then fell into bed before 9PM. Hopefully this cold will be short-lived.
The long, bumpy dirt road to the Limpopo River Lodge Reception. Any place that is *this* hard to reach (and is still in business), *must* be good!
We passed a herd of impalas drinking at a waterhole along the way to our cabin
View of the Limpopo River, from our al fresco kitchen
A charming cabin, and outdoor loo (with a view!) at the Limpopo River Lodge
Even if it is just pasta, Lindsay is excited to be cooking again, in an outdoor kitchen no less!
Enjoying a romantic dinner for two by the fire…in between the sniffles and nose-blowing
Enjoying the outdoors as the stars come out
We tried to stay up, but once the fire died down, we took our sickie selves to bed, around 8:30PM.
So sorry you got guys got sick—at least you enjoyed a romantic dinner by the fire and the accommodations looked really charming…hope tomorrow is a better day.