Day 17 - I wanna g'wanna Botswana

14:15
I sleep through till past 06:30, which is a result. I’ve had a little over 8 hours. BOOM! I wanna get away in decent time, as I’ve heard the Botswana border can take as long as a couple of hours to get through. There are various checks to be completed - particularly for foot and mouth (FMD) and hand, foot and mouth disease - which I’ve not heard of before, and which apparently is a danger to humans as well. Think I mentioned yesterday that there are super strict rules on what can and can’t be brought into Botswana, and it’s as a result of these disease outbreaks.

Stefan cooks me a fabulous breakfast, including the best beef sausage I’ve had on the trip so far. I’m on the road by 08:30, and on the straight shot through to Ngoma border crossing. I’ve not really done land border crossings much in the past 30 years. Plenty of immigration/customs in airports, but land borders? A handful at best. The wonders of the EU, and freedom of movement I guess…

Anyways, I have to depart Namibia, and then arrive into Botswana. The Namibian side is slightly chaotic. There are people I’m supposed to talk to, and forms I’m supposed to fill in, but the people won’t talk to me, and I don’t know which forms I’m supposed to complete. I ask the immigration dude, and he points me to the customs dude. I ask the customs dude, and guess what! He points me at the immigration dude. I make to walk out, at which point they both get quite excited, and insist I speak to them, and complete forms. TIA.

Now, it’s the Botswana side that might be tricky. I drive through the section of no man’s land between the two countries, and pull up at the border crossing behind a long queue of trucks. I sigh, kick back the seat and turn the A/C up to max. I’m stunned when a border guard knocks on the window to tell me that I can skip round the trucks. Normally, that kind of crucial insight is provided when you’ve already been waiting two hours, and are basically at the front of the queue anyway. I scamper round the queue, park up, and enter the arrival office. An actually helpful immigration person asks me all of two questions (what’s yer name and where d’ya come from, but a VERY different accent to Cilla’s), before stamping my passport, and pointing me to the customs dude sat next to her. He looks at my passport, then at his immigration colleague. She gives him a knowing nod, and he gives my passport back. That’s it. They don’t even ask me if I’m transporting meat, or FMD, or Ebola. I’m through the Botswana crossing in less than 5 minutes.

From the border crossing, there’s nowhere to go but into Chobe National Park, one of the richest and most diverse ecosystems in Africa. There’s a tarmac road running through the middle of the park, and gravel paths either side to disappear into the bush. I’m just aiming for Kasane, my home for the next 3 nights, so stick to the tarmac road. Other than a herd of perhaps 20 elephant that pad across the road in front of me, I’m not looking for game. I’m planning a several hour game drive late this afternoon.

I arrive into Kasane around 11:30, and declare myself to my accommodation, on the off-chance my room is already available. It is. It is huge. I’ve lived in houses with smaller square meterage. It is so big that it has not one, but two air-conditioners, both of which are set to high in anticipation of my arrival. There is a bath upstairs, part of the mezzanine bedroom, and not one, but two showers downstairs in, well - the living room, basically. There is a piano, but unless I have several too many Savanna, it’s probably safe…

I head out for some lunch. There aren’t a ton of great looking restaurants in Kasane, but a few to keep me interested over the next 3 days. I plop myself down at Di Kubu. It has a beautiful view over the river, super cold Savanna, and an interesting menu. I ask the waitress what she recommends for someone that’s never been to Botswana before, and she recommends…. a pizza. It’s a nice pizza. It includes something called Seswa, which is a local beef dish. I’m not sure it necessarily represents the very best of what Botswana has to offer though. I’m gonna eat at my hotel tonight. Hopefully they can give me a bit more of a local eating experience.

It is once again, crazy hot. The truck reckons 38C. I grab a few supplies, and DISASTER. There is no Savanna. I have to make do with Hunter’s Dry, which is an acceptable alternative, but really not quite as beloved.

Back at Rustiek, I decide the pool is gonna save me from the ridiculous heat, and briefly - it does. Wonder if I have time for a nap before game drive….

22:00
Decided against nap, as I wanted to get out in decent time for a game drive this afternoon. People have asked me whether 9-10 days of safari gets too much, whether I get bored of it. My game drive this evening is a perfect example of why I don’t. The terrain and ecosystem in Chobe are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. This is the beginnings of a huge river delta system, and the juxtaposition of land and water, supporting huge amounts of wildlife is staggering. There’s a sand road that runs along the waterside. I spend some time with a herd of elephant, a family of giraffe, MANY hippos who are out of the water grazing, and some crocodiles. I’ve seen many of these same animals already on this trip, but seeing them here, in this ecosystem that is new to me is as exciting for me as seeing them for the first time. Not a sniff of any predators this evening, but I’m up in decent time for a morning drive tomorrow, when I’ll hope to have more luck.

I’m back at the lodge by 18:30, and can’t really figure out why I said I’d have dinner at 20:00. Perhaps I thought a later dinner would mean I’d stay up a little later, and thus sleep a little later? Anyways, my nap-forward brain tells me that 90 minutes is PLENTY of time for a nap before dinner, so I curl up on the sofa, and quickly fall into a dreamless sleep.

Dinner is nearly superfluous to need. I had breakfast AND lunch today, so I go for a Greek salad for dinner. It’s good - some really good feta, and tasty salad leaves. I’m a little less convinced by the chunks of lemon that are nestling in the bottom of the bowl. Not lemon zest, actual lumps of lemon. I assiduously avoid these, but why? WHY? It irks me all the way up until I sleep.Read more