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Published: September 7th 2009
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Botswana July 9 - July 11 From Livingstone we split into two trucks - those who were finishing in Jo'burg (us) and the brave and hardy fools carrying on down to Cape Town.
There were just 8 of us in our truck and it felt good to be able to spread out. By this time it was getting really cold at night and in the mornings so we would be wrapped in our sleeping bags in the truck sprawled out over as many seats as we could.
We did meet up with the other truck at the campsite in Botswana (no hot showers in case you were wondering). As part of our Southern Cross safari we had a game cruise in Chobe national park. This was something different to the other game drives we had done because it was on a boat. It gave us a whole new perspective on the animals as we saw them from a different angle and were properly in their territory as far as the crocs and hippos went.
It was very peaceful cruising along in our little boat and we would go closer to shore if we saw crocs laying out
Crocodile Dundee
Simon, his hat and a croc in the sun. Amazing. I don't think it is possible to ever get bored of seeing awesome animals like elephants, buffalo and crocs up close. We watched a huge herd of elephants as they filed along the beach to their drinking spot at the side of the river. We were still smarting from the close encounter we had in Zambia though so were a bit nervous when one started trumpeting. Apparently the boats aren't supposed to get in the way of the elephants if they come in the water to swim across as they can topple the boats over! But there is an army base on the banks of the river and they have frogmen who have been known to resuce trapped boaters. Thankfully it never came to that for us.
We had our closest encounters with crocs on the river cruise too. They look really mean probably because they look so powerful. We got really close to one that looked like a fake because it was so still. But it's eyes would follow the boat. Very sneaky animals those crocs.
After watching an amazing sunset over the river while listening to the cries of the hippos we
headed back to camp for our final meal with the whole group. Saying goodbye the next morning was quite emotional as we had spent so much time together over the past 32 days. Obviously there were a few I would gladly never have to see again but we did meet some wonderful, friendly people who I'm sure we'll see again.
So the journey was coming to an end for us as we set off for another campsite in Botswana closer to the South African border. And what a final night camping it was. When we got to the site it was dark, it's never nice pitching up in the dead of night, and freezing cold. I'm talking perishingly cold. Fern managed to fashion a hot water bottle by pouring boiling water into her metal water container but we weren't so prepared. It didn't help matters that I had donated my sleeping bag to Becky who was staying on until Cape Town. So me and Simon had one sleeping bag to share on the coldest night we have ever experienced. It was only 6 degrees celsius in the tent at 6am so who knows what it went down to in
the night. We barely had any sleep because it was so cold. We could see our breath. Basically we spent the night praying for morning to come so we could get on the truck. If the first night had have been the same as the last I doubt we would have continued the tour!
We had one last immense driving day left to get to Jo'burg. It was fascinating as we came into South Africa to see how much different it is to the rest of the continent. Throughout east africa we had travelled on dirt tracks and saw mud huts but in South Africa there were motorways, houses, it was like we had entered a different world.
We stayed at a backpackers in Jo'burg for our final night - we were in a 16 bed dorm but at least we had blankets! It was weird being back in civilisation and sad to say bye to our other travellers as me and Simon got on a plane for Cape Town.
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