Botswana Wild Day 17 - Oct 14

---

Savute to Chobe River

We left camp early for the morning game drive (6:00 AM) and almost right away spotted two lions resting under an acacia tree. At one point along the way a huge male elephant came directly towards us where his track crossed our track. Guess who got priority for crossing!

We followed a firebreak for quite a while, going over many sand ridges that changed colour from deep red to light yellow. Very pretty. Leaving the firebreak, we traveled along a horrible wash-boardy gravel road that ran through a few villages. Beside this road was another road under construction that would eventually be paved all the way to the village of Kachikau. Botswana still has lots of money from diamonds, and so is putting that to good use by building roads, schools, good health care and other things for the benefit of the population, which numbers only about 1.8 million. But meanwhile, back to the trip; this was the worst stretch of road we encountered, and Chris could only speed through it as best he could, while all the dust and gravel filtered straight up into our faces. We were coated with dust from head to toe after this stretch.

At Kachikau, Chris stopped to get more ice. No sooner had we stopped then a whole bunch of local kids popped out from seemingly nowhere, just to stare at the visitors. Kayla struck up a conversation with one girl about her favourite subjects in school, and other things, while the other kids just stared at us. Most were quite shy. We thought the kids in their school uniforms were very cute. A different uniform for each grade level.

We went through a few more villages after that. As the afternoon progressed we saw hills on the horizon - a welcome change to the never ending flat plains. Baobob trees sprinkled these hills. We then hit the pavement for the road to Kasane and crossed it immediately into Chobe, back onto the rough mud and sand roads we were used to. Although Chris had originally planned for us to arrive at Chobe River mid-day, it was very late in the afternoon when we finally reached the river banks overlooking a large flood plain filled with wildlife: impala, cape buffalo, hippo, zebra, giraffe, warthog, crocodile and of course, elephant - very big and very small. This was where the elephant breeding herds hang out - near water. We couldn't figure out what took us so long, but Chris had been very patient with our group, stopping for every bird and every animal, no matter how many times we had seen them.

This would be our last night under canvas and the last night with our camp staff. So after the evening meal we held a thankyou ceremony for the camp support staff with lots of laughing and Botswana hand shakes all around.

Then we had a little fun with Chris. Kayla and Richard had prepared a WANT AD for Penduka Safaris, in case they need to hire another Safari Guide:

WANTED - SAFARI GUIDE

1. Must be able to drive through deep sand, deep mud, deep water, or any combination thereof without a shovel, chains or come-along or any other means of escape from trouble.
2. Must be able to navigate by gut instinct, know which unmarked fork in the bush trail is our route without the aid of directional signs, GPS or any other navigational aids and deliver guests to camp shortly after dark.
3. Must be able to forge new roads where necessary and drive through thick bush to deliver guests within 10 metres of game and birds without them fleeing the site.
4. Must be able to serve the following meals on the trail with dignity, decorum and 5 star service including table cloth: Elevenses, Lunch (4 dishes minimum, 5 preferred), High Tea and Sundowners.
5. Must be able to identify with patience, all flora and fauna that guests point out, no matter how many times the flora or fauna are the same as seen before.
6. Must be able to give the complete full name of all flora and fauna. For Example: Grey Striped Bleeting Warbler, not just Warbler.
7. Must be able to give fine detail of habitat, feeding habits, mating preferences and any other details guests require no matter how trivial.
8. Must have in-depth knowledge of photography and technical knowledge of camera operation for all makes and models.
9. Must know the difference between an elephant highway (which has one track) and vehicle track (which has two).
10. Must be able to spot all animals, birds, insects or other flora and fauna on guests check lists, before guests spot them.
11. Must own a used and abused peak cap.
12. Must have the patience to repeat the name of EACH bird siting TWICE for EACH guest (ie: 24 times)
13. Must have master automotive mechanic skills.
14. Must be able to provide guests with live on-site entertainment by the local lion pride bringing down fresh kill, preferably within 100 metres of camp in order to facilitate frequent viewing while carcass is being devoured.
15. Must be able to shoo away lions when they come into camp and lie down around the fire and ensure a safety zone of 5 metres between lions and guests, stopping guests in their tracks if necessary to maintain said safety zone.
16. Must simultaneously: drive, navigate, talk on the radio, spot birds and animals, answer guests questions, plan coffee breaks, time game drives to arrive at camp in time for supper and entertain guests with explanation of sexual practices of all wildlife.

If you have these skills or know someone who does, please contact the management at Penduka Safaris ASAP as we have not been able to figure out how to clone Chris.

------------------
The Chobe River area of Chobe Park is much more populated and accessible from Livingstone, where a lot of tourists start and end. So, we had company in many of the areas through which we drove. More lodges seem to operate in this area too, so some of the vehicles were from the private lodges, which charge a small fortune. Anywhere from $500 US per night all the way up to $1,000 US per night.

The Botswana Government has planned it this way. Low volume, high price. For most trips to Botswana, you need a LOT OF MONEY. There are no cheap ways to travel if you want to get into the parks and see the game. It's either a fly-in lodge on a private concession, which is very expensive, or an organized tour like ours, or else you rent a vehicle and do the driving and camping yourself, which is also very expensive and will no longer be allowed in the parks starting next year. We are OK with that because it means the safari experience is not commercialized and is as wild as it can be without running into crowds. We have heard that in Tanzania and Kenya, you literally join a convoy of safari vehicles to see the game. After Botswana, we feel very spoiled and we're not sure we would enjoy an area that is more crowded.

---

Photos

At the Water Hole
This big old bull had priority over everyone else already there.

Sandy Track
Along the fire break

Comments

[Mom]

I've been noticing quite a lot of greenery along the way. I figured it would be much more baren. Really like the the elephants. African elephants are much cooler than Asian ones.