Blogs from Botswana, Africa - page 51

16 July - 23 July We arrived in Livingstone around 2pm and decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. The next day we went to the falls. It was very spectacular! It looked as though many years ago there was an earthquake (or some natural disaster) that just cut a slit though the earth which created the falls. We did a few walks and got very wet a few times (thank goodness for gortex trousers and jacket). Sometimes the water seemed to be going up instead of down which caused beautiful waterfalls. With the exception of the falls we were not massively impressed with Livingstone. Everything was very expensive (starting with the $270 we paid for visas to get in—got to love being American and/or British!) and we decided that beans on ... read more

Ok I wanted to write about my time in Chobe all on it's own because it was a really moving experience. I spent 2 days Safari driving through Chobe National Park. Initially I was a little unmotivated as we have not had much rest and we were up at 5am for an early morning drive but boy am I glad that I went! Generally when you drive through these parks you are sure to see something but we saw and experienced more that we ever imagined. We drove up to a herd of elephants. I have no idea how many there were, maybe 50 or 60. They had lots of babies with them so the idea of getting close was not the best idea. But it seems that we just had really good timing because the ... read more

Midmorning we departed from Johannesburg to Kang in Botswana with a Pajero and two Landies. Kang is a small village along the Trans-Kalahari Highway. Due to donkeys and cattle on the road, it is not advisable to drive at night. We decided to stay over at the Kang Ultra-Stop Filling Station (+267 6517294) (S23 40.921 E22 45.999) that offers a range of diffrent types of accommodation at a range of prices. Credit cards are generally accepted but my Master Card did not work, so it was useful to have cash (South African Rand) available to pay for the petrol and accommodation. ... read more

I joined another group on the morning that we left Livingstone as I had chosen to go to the Okavango Delta and unfortunately the girls had not. The group I was to join was a smaller vehicle but ironically a larger group. They are a mix of Irish and Aussies and a lovely German lady. Our guide was Wessel from Blomfontein. We crossed the border into Botswana over the river. I have to say the landscape in Botswana is a little uninspiring. It's flat and dry different again to what I have seen so far. The first night we stayed in Kisane which is also where Juliana and Riaan were staying so at least I could delay my goodbyes! We did a game drive in the Chobe NP and got very very close to some Elephants. ... read more

Ok people, so technically, I'm home now, but I had to blog on Maun/Moremi Game Reserve and the Okavango Delta experience. :) SOrry for the delay...Botswana isn't great about having internet connection. I did want to blog this specific experience because it was CRAZY! (Yes, I made it home safely...thanks!) ;) This was from my diary/journal...minus a few details. :) The trip to Maun began Saturday after breakfast. Lasole (our guide throughout the program) had teased us saying that we were taking the combie to Maun (which is 13 hours away, mind you)...I thought- ok, this is going to be one hell of a trip. YIKES. Combies are NOT comfortable...they magnify every pot hole/bump and although it's nice to take one thru town or thru Old Naledi, 13 hours would have been INTOLERABLE. Luckily enough, he ... read more