The guy who is running the Outdoor Safari company we have picked for this trip has been acting quite confusing. He has been calling us, all over the world, and once he even got hold of my sister in Sweden. Always asking about things we have already agreed on. With our western point of view. We believe the confusion has something to do with it being unbelievable difficult to understand what he is saying over the phone. So, we are not surprised.
Happy Lucky is very kind and drives us super early to the border witch is Not next door to Vic Falls if someone believed it was. We are supposed to meet up at the Botswana side at 7.30 sharp. Lucky off load our luggage and gives us a little piece of paper with a stamp on that we are supposed to give to the armed guys in camouflage uniforms at the Zimbabwe side of the border. We see him leave, and start to drag the heavy two month luggage (including a lot of stuff we are not at all gonna use on this trip but, where else should we put it?) through no mans land. It's a dump. Wart hogs (Pumba you know) are digging in the dirt, truck drivers are lying in the ditches, we see no signs of neither Botswana nor Outdoor Safari. We ask one of the guys in a ditch that does not look like he is sleeping (or dead?). Ok - got it - we have to walk over there, he is pointing at some houses. Very far away. Our luggage is not arranged for carrying. One step at a time, how can 800 meters be som d . . . ed far! Soaked with sweat we approach the Botswana border, from the right side of the brown building. Which is not the right side, we have to approach from the left side, and there is a fence, another 500 meters. . .
The passport controller wants to know exactly where we are going to put up our tents. We have absolutely no clue. So, he shakes his head, leaves his chair, goes out of the building and stays outside for ten minutes. Maybe meditating, or smoking something funny because when he comes back he just stamps our passports and wave at us to leave. Yihaa, we made it, into Botswana we walk. 7.30 sharp!
And - Outdoor Safari - where are you?? (If you are in a hurry, please don't come to Africa.)
After a couple of phone calls ("where are you?" "At the border! Already!!!")and half an hour waiting the free lance guide he has hired for our trip arrives. We enter the open Safari Nissan truck and hits the road. Talk about windy, and it starts to rain. The nice guide Obert (O) tries to compensate for our waiting time by driving over 100 km/h. Luckily we have our MEC rain jackets to put on, and sun glasses because the rain hits really hard. It's not a long drive. We arrive at a shopping center, meet the other two (mother Secret (S) and son Peter (P) who will look after us on this trip. We drive back and forth in the rain, grab some bananas, pies and drink yoghurts in a Spar store for breakfast and eat it at a pic nic table. Out door safari it is yes. Pumbas on the streets, elephant warning signs, nice fresh pouring rain. We are left at the Chobe Safari Lodge where we board a small motor boat. We are going on a river safari while O, P and S are getting organized for five nights in the bush. The wild life on the protected islands between Botswana and Namibia is just amazing. Big cats don't like water so they don't go there. It is like Eden. So many different animals, strange birds, hippo families and very close encounters with fat crocs. It is hard to describe in words, and even harder to describe with the limited photo resources we have. So we pin up the scenery inside our brains and will never forget this trip.
Back at the lodge we are served a very decent lunch, indoor. A monkey makes a successful smash and grab at the neighbour table. The river floating by just below. On the other side of the river a man in a traditional mokoro canoe, standing up, long pole in his hand.
When our team arrives they have added a trailer.
Hoods up - and into the wild.
After a couple of hours of first not so bumpy and then very bumpy ride we reach our first camp site. No lions in sight, just dry bushes, sand and dry trees waiting for the rain season to become green. But dry is good when it comes to animal spotting. The trailer behind our Nissan must weigh a couple of tons. We look with astonishment when they carry out iron beds, thick mattresses, kleen sheets, duvets, mats, tables, chairs, iron pans, oven, shower, toilet seat . . . S spends at least twenty minutes just making our beds. Our way of camping is very different from this, a terma rest mattress on the ground and a tent you have to crawl into.
We do an evening game drive along the river, spotting lions laying under a tree. At return table is set with candles and clean cloth. Porcelain, wine glasses and so on. Bush restaurant five star, and five millions of them above our heads. We get strict instructions: whatever happens during the night, Do Not Leave The Tent!!
And there I lay in the pitch dark night in my freshly scented clean sheets. Listening for elephants or lion roar. How to distinguish them O did not explain but I fall quite quick asleep and do not wake up until the sun rise.
Finally entered Botswana - by foot. But where is our guide?
One of many amazing birds on the shore of Chobe river
Water buck on Eden Island. They are smart, eats so much water greens so their flesh
become tasteless and are therefore not hunted. By men or animal predators
Cleaning patrol waiting for their turn
Lazy female lion - looking at us, but not moving a bit
