Well, just when we had given up hope of getting going, off we went into Botswana despite the fact I had picked up tick bite fever.  So long as the border officials didn’t think I had plague, we would be OK.

After a smooth border crossing, we set up camp in Kwa-Noneng, had some soup and went to bed.  First impressions were how green Botswana was compared to when we left and how much cooler it was (it was 35 instead of over 40).    For anyone travelling from Martins Drift to Palapaye, pls take care as there are super-sized potholes from the border until after the second Vet post.

We then stopped at Nata overnight and treated ourselves to a chalet (and a bath).  Luckily for us, they had just re-opened after the floods.  Despite the luxury, we had to get used to being munched by everything and covered in tabard again but otherwise we were all good and excited to be back on the road.

The drive to Kasane was still a challenge, the roads are being re-done and should make the journey easier.  Luckily, we had an assortment of bird life and animals to keep us amused – including a few elephants.  It felt like forever, since we had seen any Ellies, when in fact it was only a month. It really did feel much longer and made us realise that we need an Ellie-fix on a regular basis.  This definitely rules out Jo’burg as a future place of residence.

We decided to camp at Chobe Safari Lodge for 3 days as we had enjoyed it so much last time.  The first night was great and we even managed to get booked on the sunset cruise down the river.

 

Again, what a different experience to the first time. Apart from a major increase in water levels, mammals were few and far between but the bird life was prolific. We even managed to get 2 new birds, one of which was the Black Heron. He is such a clever little chap and uses his wings to form an umbrella, fooling the fish into thinking there is shade. When they all gather underneath, he quickly bends down and has a munch. we have added a couple of photos for you to see what we mean.

 

And just because he is so pretty and not often seen, we have included a Malachite Kingfisher.

 

 

Little did we know that a treat was in store for our remaining two nights.  Some (about a dozen), kind, blue bulls supporting ‘gentlemen’, driving white non-Landrover vehicles, had the generosity to share their music with us until the wee, wee hours of the morning.  Thank goodness or we would have been left listening to hippos and fruit bats instead instead of the dulcet tones of Kurt Darren and Patricia Lewis.    

After two nights of almost no sleep we were feeling a bit bleak and somewhat tired.  There was only one thing we could do.  Head for the pool and relax.  Yup – we did nothing but lazed around until 4pm when we really did need to get some chores done.   Andrew did, however, manage to drag himself from his lounger to move a Boomslang to safety.  The poor snake had mistakenly ended up in the restaurant where the staff were trying to brush him away.  So before any harm was done to either the staff or the snake, Andrew picked him up and put him in a tree by the river.   My hero !!

One word of warning if you are going to camp at Chobe.  The baboons and vervets are a huge problem.  The baboons are still jumping on nylon tents then ripping them to get in.  The vervets on the other hand are a bigger problem.  They are surrounding unsuspecting females as they come out of the ablutions, trying to steal their wash bag.  They are fairly aggressive, so you need to take care.

Although we were sad to leave Kasane, we were quite excited to be heading back to Vic Falls. 

 

So until the next post – here’s looking at you !!!!!!!!!!!