It was time to leave Zimbabwe behind and head on to
Botswana. We along with our 6 Danish, 4 Aussie and 2 other Canadian travelling
companions travelled only 100km yesterday to our new Safari Lodge on the Chobe
River. Entering Botswana involved walking over disinfected mats to protect
against hoof and mouth disease and a thorough inspection of our vehicle for
beef products. We headed out on another safari in the late afternoon which
proved to be interesting as we saw 100’s of elephants , some in large herds and
very active. We were in an open jeep and you certainly were up close and
personal. I didn’t mind until some of the males trumpeted near us!! We also
were very close to a herd with a very aroused large male who thought he had
found his mate and wanted all the other males to take a hike. Just like on TV
the herd was crashing through the underbrush with the male trumpeting. A little
unnerving but our driver was totally at ease. We were lucky on our way out of the
park to spot a leopard lounging in a tree, a rare find according to our driver.
This is an area with lots of colorful birds and also we saw both a small
crocodile up close and a larger one floating in the river. Mid afternoon we
headed out on a water game drive and saw our first crocodiles up close. There
were a lot of them sunning along the riverbanks and probably many more that we
didn’t see. They are rather ugly animals. Hippos were also numerous along the
drive and they were all out of the water munching on the grass. We are in the rainy season here so the
vegetation is lush and although we are told this is the malaria area we are not
having to deal with mosquitoes. Most of our beds are covered with a mosquito
netting. Tomorrow morning we are departing
for Ndhovu camp lodge approx. 450 K’s
A rare photo of a leopard found in the chobe national park
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