we departed Victoria Falls and drove for about an hour to the border crossing from Zimbabwe into Botswana for the final leg of our journey. (Final for most, but several in our group carry on to the Okavango Delta for yet more TIA adventure).
En route to the border our guide filled the time by outlining many interesting TIA Zimbabwe tidbits. He paid ten cows for his wife. Nobody thought to ask if he has more than one wife. (Mind you, he did not say 'I paid ten cows for my first wife', just that he paid ten cows for his wife, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt). Most Botswanans still live in traditional huts (we haven't seen one). Most still live a rural life, subsistence farming. If you don't grow enough food, you starve as there are no social services to speak of. There are not enough schools for the children and so schools do split shifts. And so on. (I wasn't taking notes and I am writing this a couple of days later).
After exiting Zimbabwe, we waved goodbye to our guide and then hello to a new one after a quick, friendly, visa-free entry into Botswana. (Thanks goodness our fearless leader restricted his UN comments to just one African nation).
Our hotel, situated on the outskirts of the small town of Kasane is the closest community to the huge Chobe National Park, a game reserve of nearly 11,000 sq km.
Our first safari was scheduled for 3:00 - 6:00 pm and we were all excited. Didn't matter that the thunder and lightning was crashing all around us and that the rain was coming down in buckets. Didn't matter that the sturdy lightning poles were swaying back and forth like they too wanted to dodge any lighting strikes. Yes, the rainy season has begun, but we were here to see animals and so off we went, weather be damned,
For a while the rain was sluicing off the canvas roof and Julie seemed to the chief beneficiary of this bounty, but Jane and Laurel were valiant in their rather soggy condition. Eventually the rain slackened then stopped and were we better able to focus on our trek.
The Chobe River runs along one side of the park, separating Botswana and Namibia and our first trek was along the river route.
The island on which these hippos are grazing disappears by March or April, but until then it becomes somewhat of a safe haven for thousands of animals, not to mention a source of that essential of life: water. However, our guide Tony noted now that the rainy season has begun many of the animals head deeper into the park where water again becomes accessible and so the more easily reached parts are now quieter. Hmmm.
The Impala were certainly plentiful.
The Kudu wondered what all the fuss was about.
Even the Jackals were confident of finding something to munch on.
Don't Baboons make lovely tree ornaments?
They also seem to be doing their best to keep their numbers up.
And so ended our first Chobe game drive. Needless to say, we were all comparing the Kapama experience to Chobe, and there are some striking differences, but I will save this for my next post. I should also note here that not only are the animals in this region large and abundant, so are the bugs. Exceedingly so. Getting smacked in the face by a dung beetle while riding down the road could probably break your cheekbone or chip a tooth if you were foolish enough to have your mouth open. The entry way to our room tonight was under siege by a hoard of ground termites looking to establish a nest. Have I told you about the cicadas or even the millipedes? No, but TIA so I'm sure you can imagine!
Location:Chobe Safari Lodge, Kasane, Botswana
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