Chobe National Park, Botswana

I got up for last time in Victoria Falls, packed up my very wet, muddy, insect infested tent, had a light breakfast and boarded the truck to head for Botswana. It had been nice to be in one place for a few days but I was happy to be 'on the road again', as the famous song goes. It did not take long before we were at the Botswana border. We had an easy and efficient passage through immigration, but had to disinfect all our shoes on a dirty mat in a tray that seemed to leave the shoes dirtier than when we started.
We stopped in a shopping centre where I bought a new t-shirt in a clothes shop. While I was waiting a long time for the credit card machine to make a connection to process my card transaction (a common problem in East Africa), the woman serving me complained about how the town has a problem with elephants, lions and other wild animals coming into the town. Running away from lions in the high street is a very different kind of issue to deal than we have to deal with in Europe. I had a baked potato with curried vegetables for lunch and boarded the truck. Again, it was a short journey to our next campsite, Chobe Safari Lodge, which, like the previous town is ensconced in the Chobe wildlife park right on the banks of the Chobe river that flows into the great Zambezi river. We had a wonderful, sandy spot to camp on and I pitched my tent overlooking the river, a little way from sign saying 'Beware of the Crocodiles'. I got out my binoculars and could already see buffalo and antelope feeding in the long grass on a large river island in the distance. Then I focussed on a large male hippo surfacing in the river. A short walk up to the nearby bar offered superb views of the river through reeds. The camp we were in was literally teeming with wildlife. As I walked up to a very plush bar, restaurant and pool at the top end of the campsite, I passed a family of wild warthogs very close by. The camp was also filled with tame birds of various bright colours. Insects and beetles also abounded. There was one enormous flying black beetle the size of a bat - it looked like it would be too big and heavy to possibly fly. On the way back to my tent I saw banded mongoose nearby.
We met at the campsite reception at 3.15pm for our planned wildlife boat cruise on the Chobe river. After a short bus ride we boarded the double decked boat and most of us went up to the upper deck. The boat backed out of the docking point and started to slowly make it's way down the river. The scene was beautiful looking out over the wide river and the sun soaked grasslands of the park bordered by tree lined forest. We soon began to see groups of hippos in the water, with some occasionally making impossibly large yawns with their huge toothed jaws. We saw crocodiles lazily basking in the sun on the river bank with their mouths open to try and cool themselves. We then saw many hippos out on the land feeding on the lush green grasses. We were passing a huge river island favoured by the animals because lions and other cats can't swim out to it so they are safe. We saw buffalo and antelope grazing on the island. We rounded a wide bend in the river and saw dozens of hippos, some with very young infants. We were able to sail up very close to some of them and watch them munching through the grasses with their huge jaws and lower teeth. There were also many egret, herons, storks and other species of birds in the grasses. We were surrounded by animals in this lush, wet garden of Eden. As we continued on we could see large numbers of elephants in what appeared to be a large water hole near the river. As we got closer, we could see dozens more elephant families with very small baby elephants running excitedly down to the water hole and drinking lustily from the waters. It was wonderful to watch the youngsters rolling and playing in the mud around the water hole. All in all we counted over 60 elephants in this huge evening congregation. It was such a privilege to witness this timeless scene. We began to return down the river and continued to see groups of hippos on land and in the water, crocodiles, buffalo, and a large, skittish herd of impala. The sun began to reach down towards the horizon and the light began to go golden. We sat relaxing on the upper deck, drinking our drinks and drinking in the wonderful vistas all around us. I reflected that I had now done every kind of safari - walking, vehicle, horse and boat safari. This safari had been a really special one - I never expected to see such a carnival of life all around us - the density of life in the Chobe park was astonishing.
We eventually returned to the dock seeing more hippos in the water along the way. We disembarked and rushed down to the campsite bar to witness an amazing sunset which turned from bright oranges to the deepest reds and auburns. This was the classic African sunset I had been hoping and waiting to see and was a perfect end to a remarkable day. We had our camp meal as the sky darkened into a galaxy of bright stars. I spent some time in the bar/restaurant area of the campsite before retiring to my tent to sleep. There was a loud symphony of animals and insect calls all around. I could here the snorts and rumbles of hippo groups very nearby. I eventually put in my ear plugs and went to sleep. almost reluctant to leave the festival of life calling all around me.Read more