No lions overnight. I finally figured out how to film overnight with the GoPro outside the camper,but nothing turned up. I got going early, leaving at 7:15am, it was a fair drive to the gate.
I remembered from doing this drive years ago, that this bit of the CKGR is not difficult to drive. Its mostly through pans, and not very sandy. I made pretty good time, having a couple of people pass me coming towards me. I eventually met up with an enormous Isuzu camper.It was twice the height of Clancy. I thought it was a Unimog truck, but no. I stopped to talk to them, and told them where I had come from. They asked about the sandy tracks, but I told them there is no way they would fit in the narrow tracks to Khutse.
I made it to the CKGR gate at Matswere. I paid the bigfoot lady with my rapidly dwindling amount of cash for the two campsites (bigfoot only take cash, no credit card) The I went to pay my fees for the park. They at least take credit card. However multiple attempts with multiple cards, and the machine didn’t work. So in the end (because I didn’t have enough Pula) I paid him Rand, which I had plenty of.
So onwards down the rough road to Rakops. I got to Rakops and the first thing I went to was the ATM – not working – dead. I had tried two ATMs in Letlhagkeng, both not working. I had paid so much Pula cash to people who wouldn’t take card I had used it almost all up. I was down to about $A20 in Pula. I tried a couple of places in town who said they did cash out, but they didn’t. I said about the non functioning ATM at one place and he said it was a power cut, but he didn’t know when the power would be back on.
So I decided I would spend my last Pula on a campsite about 6km out of town. I got through the first gate but was stopped at the second. 20 minutes of pressing the intercom and blowing my horn got me no response. So I gave up and tried the ATM again in Rakops – still not working. I decided I needed to hang around town, so I backtracked 10km towards the CKGR on the rough track to a wild camp on iOverlander next to some power lines. Seems OK, no lions only cows.
