Blogs from Botswana, Africa - page 55

We have had limited access to internet since we have arrived in Botswana. The experiences are incredible. Just this afternoon while sitting by the pool we could hear elephants in the distance bellowing. On the horizon we could see a whole herd walking single file. We went in for lunch and the poor waitresses (porters) spend the whole time shooing the monkeys away. They are always trying to make up with some morsel of our food. I tried to shoo one off yesterday and she challenged me and stole my napkin. I sure wasn't expecting that! Today while walking down to our cabin (#5) the couple from #3 came to us and said don't go down there, an elephant is blocking the way. We couldn't resist - sure enough just down the path a massive male ... read more

Botswana - Francistown and Nata After being really surprised by Joburg, we were really looking forward to Botswana. We stopped over in a place called Rustenburg to get to Botswana, which wasn't all that nice, so we went to the pics to see Keanu Reeves and Forest Whittaker. We then did a really long drive the next day across the border and up to Francistown, which was about 600km. Immediately, Botswana feels very different to South Africa. For a start it is a lot hotter, but also feels a lot more haphazard and African, if that makes sense. We stayed the first night in a lovely hotel by a dry river bed, so our time here started to feel like a holiday from our holiday! We didn't do much in Francistown, other than chill out, so ... read more

Planet Baobab From Vic Falls we did a big 6 hour drive to a place called Gweta in Botswana. We had to go back along the previously ill fated pot holed road, but a little less bravado on my part meant that we got there without crashing into any 4ft holes! We were staying at a place called Planet Baobab for a couple of nights to do a trip out to the Magkadikadi salt pans. This place was really cool and we stayed in a mud hut surrounded by the massive Baobab trees, which are thousands of years old. It is also a sister place to Jacks Camp, where Giff used to work, so they all knew him which was a bit strange. We ended up doing the trip out to the pans with an old ... read more

I cannot believe how long it has been since I last entered a blog - so much has happen and I’ve seen so much its hard to know where to start! The lack of blog entries and photos has mostly been due to being on the move a lot or just not having internet, and usually when we do it is sooooooo slow (i.e. 15mins to get into Hotmail - that sort of thing!). Anyway, the only reason I’ve been able to put the following blogs on is because one of the guys on the trip kindly lent me his laptop (its cost me several bags of harribo and several beers!). Since leaving Namibia along the Caprivi Strip (the long thin strip at the top of the county and our first insight into the ‘real’ Africa ... read more

Since our stay in Zimbabwe was cut short, we drove straight to Botswana and Chobe National Park. We had a full day there of non-stop game viewing. We went for an early morning game drive followed by a boat cruise on the Chobe river and finished with an evening game drive. We saw a large assortment of animals and even saw a leopard crossing the road on the way out (no time for pictures unfortunately). We also discovered that wine is very cheap in Botswana (and the rest of Southern Africa) and now have a favorite evening ritual that consists of sharing a bottle of wine at dinner time and having hot chocolate and Amarula (similar to Bailey's except made from the Marula fruit) for dessert! ... read more