Day 3. Vic Falls, Botswana & our first g

What a day! The Falls were great and a pride of lions at the end of the day was the icing on the cake!

We started the day soon after 5.30 as the camp gradually awoke in the unfamiliar setting. Tents came down before breakfast and bags were packed. Munya produced a great meal which was most welcome.

After breakfast we left the Shearwater Explorers Village camp and drove the short distance to the Falls car park where we met our guide, Innocence. He talked about the falls in front of a large diagram and then took us, walking on the back path, to the Victoria Falls bridge. From there we walked to Danger Point where we looked down at the Boiling Pot and the Zambian side - which had no water going over it.

Gradually we made our way west to the waters on the Zimbabwean side where there was water going over the Main Falls and the Devil’s Cataract. We finished our visit with a look at David Livingstone’s statue.

From the Falls, we left the township and headed west, reaching the Botswana border over an hour later. Formalities there finished with a walk through a ‘foot and mouth’ prevention chemical mixture, designed to protect Botswana’s cattle industry.

From the border we drove the 20 minutes to Kasane where we had an hour in town while our crew shopped for fresh food. Once completed, we moved quickly to the nearby Thebe River Lodge campground, our home for the next 3 days. We put up our tents while Munya, aided by Bheki and Brian, prepared the ingredients for our DIY sandwich lunch.

By mid-afternoon we were ready for our first game drive of our tour and were soon heading for the Sedudu Gate of the Chobe National Park in a Jeep and larger viewing truck. The landscape was incredibly dry with the only greenery on the floodplains and river bank of the Chobe River.

However, in the 3 hours we were there, we saw some amazing game - including dozens of elephants , impala, kudu, giraffe, hippo, crocodile, Maribor stork, lilac crested rollers and vultures. The best was saved to last when were lucky enough to see a pride of 5 lions, dominated by a magnificent yellow-maned male. Fantastic!

There was mad rush afterwards to exit the park at the mandatory 6.00 pm but we just made it. Back at camp, exhausted but happy, we unwound before dinner and then showered before bed.

It had been a special day for all involvedRead more