Day 65-70 | Km 9686 | Botswana
Akhirnya setelah menunggu hampir 2 pekan di Windhoek - Namibia, akhirnya visa Botswana di approved. Kami pun langsung gas ke Botswana melewati border Mamuno, proses sangat cepat dan untuk motor wajib mendaftarkan 'road fund' yang ada di gedung imigrasi juga. Dan petualangan di Botswana dimulai.
Setelah riding sekitar 220 km dari border, kami tiba di Ghanzi, salah satu kota transit di bagian barat Botswana kami disambut Romo asal Larantuka - Flores yang sudah tinggal di Botswana sekitar 10 tahun. Romo Hilarius namanya, menjelaskan seputar Botswana terutama Ghanzi sambil sampai kami dibawa ke salah satu Logde tak jauh dari kota untuk bisa melihat Singa dan beberapa hewan liar lainya dari jarak sangat dekat. Sungguh luar biasa. Hari itu kami tutup dengan braai (barbeque ala Afrika) bersama.
Kami lanjutkan perjalanan ke Maun. Disana terdapat Okavango Delta sebagai delta terbesar di dunia. Kami kemping di salah satu logde disamping sungai Okavango namun sayang hari itu angin bertiup kencang disertai hujan lebat sewaktu disana. Hari selanjutnya lanjut ke arah Francistown, melewati Makgadikgadi Pans National Park & Nxai Pan National Park, berkendara di area ini harus berhati-hati karena area taman nasional yang terbuka dan tanpa pagar memungkinkan binatang liar menyebrang jalan. Dan benar saja kami melihat langsung Gajah Afrika berada di pinggir jalan dan yang lainya menyebrang jalan. Kami dan kendaraan lainya pun berhenti sementara sambil menunggu gajah tersebut berada jauh dari badan jalan, agar tidak terlihat atraktif ketika kami melewati Gajah tersebut. Selain itu daerah ini terdapat rumah semut yang mirip di Merauke Papua.
Tak lupa juga saya berpose dibawah pohon Baobab karena keunikan batangya yang sangat besar, diameter pohon ini bisa mencapai 15 meter dan menjulang tinggi. Sampai di Francistown kami disambut Romo Elfridus asal Sorong, Papua Barat yang sudah menetap di Botswana dari tahun 2005. Luar biasa bisa jumpa orang Indonesia sudah cukup mengobati kangen kami akan Indonesia karena bisa ngobrol dan bercanda tawa bersama.
Salam Adventure
English Version :
Day 65-70 | Km 9686 | Botswana
Finally after waiting almost two weeks in Windhoek - Namibia, the Botswana visa was finally approved. We also directly riding into Botswana through the Mamuno border, the process is very fast and for motorbikes is required to register a 'road fund' in the immigration building as well. And the adventure in Botswana begins.
After riding about 220 km from the border, we arrived at Ghanzi, one of the transit cities in the western part of Botswana. We were welcomed by Father (Priest) from Larantuka - Flores who had lived in Botswana for about 10 years. Father Hilarius was named, explaining about Botswana, especially Ghanzi, until we were taken to one of the Logde not far from the city to be able to see lions and some other wild animals from very close distance. Truly extraordinary. That day we closed with braai (African barbeque) together.
We continue the trip to Maun. There is the Okavango Delta as the largest delta in the world. We camped in one of the lodges beside the Okavango river but unfortunately that day the wind blew hard with heavy rain while there. The next day continues towards Francistown, past Makgadikgadi Pans National Park & Nxai Pan National Park, driving in this area must be careful because the open and no fence national park area allows wild animals to cross the road. And sure enough we saw directly African Elephants on the roadside and others crossed the road. We and other vehicles stopped temporarily while waiting for the elephant to be far from the body of the road, so as not to look attractive when we passed the elephant. Besides this area there are similar ant houses in Merauke Papua.
I also did not forget to pose under the Baobab tree because of the uniqueness of the stem which is very large, the diameter of this tree can reach 15 meters and towering. Arriving at Francistown, we were welcomed by Father Elfridus from Sorong, West Papua, who had been living in Botswana from 2005. It was amazing to meet Indonesians to treat us enough to miss Indonesia because we could chat and joke together.
