15 September

15 September

Back to the wilds, but first - a game drive and breakfast. Nothing too exciting on the game drive, most spectacularly a baboon mother clutching her dead baby (all dried and shriveled) and sitting with the other mothers. I commented on how denial is the first step in mourning and the Australian lady mused that they are so like us. My dad then pointed out that we tend to bury our dead.

After breakfast we checked out. I will miss the Chobe Game Lodge and all the people working there.

We first headed to Kasane to refill our tank and buy two jerry cans with extra petrol. On the way we managed to run into some huge herds of Sable. Sable are very shy and we’ve been lucky enough to spot them on a few occasions, but they were absent from the riverfront so far.

Kasane was quite amazing. It was like being back in Europe, in a middle-class town where people wear D&G and happily walk in the street with money in hand safe from robbery. Botswana is a rich diamond-mining country and it shows. The GDP is $15,000, which is three times that of Namibia.

Immediately after leaving the town a herd of elephant crossed the motorway ahead of us, one of them stopping to pick up and devour a rubbish bin bag full of food. After exiting the Chobe NP on the western side we drove through some communal land which began to look a little more recognizable. Clay huts and reed walls, though it seemed they all still had electricity. After a town named Kachikau the tarmac quickly turned into sand.

We had read so many warning about deep sand, bumpy road and big puncture-causing thorns. It turns out that it was all fine and we didn’t have any problems due to the road. We did however lose our power-steering system, and heard a strange hissing sound. After locating the source at the petrol opening, we unscrewed it, standing well back, and petrol bubbled out and the fumes were evident in the shadows cast on the ground.

After a few hours we arrived in Linyanti which is a section of the Chobe NP bordering on the Linyanti river. Along the river is a tall, dark forest. The river is the border with Namibia, and I am looking back over the Mamili swamps.

For all the amazing luxury and comfort of a lodge, there is still nothing greater than the feeling of sitting in the forest, watching elephants graze in the reedbeds, listening to the many birds, the gas cooker on and your feet dirty in the sand.

PS – We have seen a lot of elephants here and they seem to be a little afraid of vehicles. Not as much as in Namibia, but more so than Chobe. We have passed groups huddling in the shade at the side of the road numerous times only to be greeted by big ears and roar.