Botswana - Elephantastic!

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Next stop Botswana... a country where the focus is on high end, low volume tourism... but it can be done on a budget, with your own tent, campfire cooking and a bit of hitching! To be honest wasn't so keen on Botswana, in fact I didnt feel like i was in "real Africa" anymore, however...

first off we went to Chobe National park, we did a morning game drive, which was rubbish! set off at 6am in the freezing cold (yep Africa gets cold too!) and evidently it was too cold for the animals too! we saw absolutely nothing for 2 hours (not even one of the 70,000 elephants that inhabit the park!) Although the drive was worth it, when on our way out of the park we herd some impala "barking" in distress, sometimes a sign of a nearby predator... went to investigate and just caught a leopard dragging a freshly hunted impala into the bushes, we missed the kill by minutes (without sounding morbid, thats the one thing we really want to see!) but was a great, if brief, sighting.



We also went on a sunset river cruise, which was amazing... there were huge herds of elephant everywhere, drinking, bathing and crossing the river... also got a bit too close for comfort to a very large croc and saw more hippos, monitor lizards etc



Had the first of many random reunions with Hugo + Hannika as they turned up on the same pitch as us in the campsite! Got to see the champions league final (cant say i was disappointed with the result - not the biggets Chelsea fan in the world!)

Hugo + Hannika joined us for the journey to Maun... typically the bus broke down so we used the tried and tested method of sending the girls to hitch as me + Hugo hid, until someone stops! Stayed in a cool lodge, cooking up a feast on the campfire... Patsy joined us here and was a bit miffed to hear that after spending the last 24 hours on a plane we had booked a scenic flight the same day (chartered our own plane, naturally)! The flight was cool, pilot explanied the route and that the legal min altitude was 500ft... then proceded to fly at 250-300 ft and regularly dipped so we practically skimmed the lagoon! flight was nice and saw loads of elephants, giraffs etc...



next day headed off on dug out canoes (makodas, or something like that!) with a local guide punting us along - very pleasant... the delta itself was a bit disappointing, the highlight being when we decided to sneak down to the river and have a go at punting ourselves... after a while me, Anna + Hugo went for a real life game of battleships, where we capsized 2 boats and managed to sink the other! Managed to haul them out and drain them without anyone noticing!! Game walks were pleasant but not much game!! had a good night camping and drinking wine around the campfire... before punting back the following day, to be honest i think we saw the delta far from at its best, we were too early for the floodwater from Angola so it was too dry! We were met by someone from the lodge with a coolbox full of beer, by the end of the half hour boat ride back we were all getting quite drunk!





Next stop Namibia!

Photos are uploaded at the following location:

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