Elephant Sands and Chobe National Park, Botswana

     Leaving the delta we were once again in the mukoros being poled through peaceful waters, then once back at the hotel we collected all the gear left behind and headed out on the Elephant highway.

Imagine these guys along I-65 or 294. It was a quiet drive except for the snores. And no one wanted to be close to anyone else. Deodorant can only do so much. Most of us were sitting in barely dry clothes. Not a bus full of fashionistas. Travel this day was pretty straight forward. Get us to a shower and a place where we can change clothes. Our gym shoes were beginning to stink as were we.

     

We arrived at Elephant Sands and were soon in our “tents” that were very different from our camping experience—en suite with hot water in the shower. We looked out our patio door to find an elephant having a drink. Sounds like a great idea!

        We spent a quiet evening. Had a wonderful dinner. Barry our driver walked us home as we are not allowed to walk once it is dark. The next morning we went for breakfast and enjoyed being on this property.

Morning at Elephant Sands

Weaver birds near the lobby

After breakfast, time to get on the bus…
And as promised words of wisdom from St. Dennis:

    Cindy did a great job of describing our experience of camping in the Okavango Delta so I can’t add to that. This memory will never be forgotten and will produce many stories. Isn’t that part of the fun of travel? What I will contribute here are my thoughts about leaving the camp for a game walk. The trek started with warm winds and a light breeze. Soon, we heard thunder followed by light rain, then heavier rain. After walking for about an hour and spotting many animals we were now soaked. I thought, “It’s time to pull the plug.” We still had an hours walk back and the only thing dry was…well, nothing was dry, the rain was cold and I realized the “shrink factor” had set in for me. 😦

    We got back to camp and it started to rain harder. Shaun had prepared a great meal including hot soup but all the camp chairs were soaked so there was nowhere to sit and no heavy foliage to hide under. Rain splashed into the soup and back in your face. At about 7 PM, everyone, except our wonderful polers and guides who had to clean up, headed for their tents. Water puddled inside the tents around its edges and started to soak into the mattress pads. I sacrificed our sleeping bags in hopes that they would soak up the water and the pads would remain dry enough to sleep on. It partially worked but we “slept” in wet clothes with no covers shivering the night away. It rained until midnight and then slowed and stopped. Thank god for Cindy’s Travel Jane’s so we could pee in the tent or we would have gotten totally drenched. Everyone woke around 5 AM. Shaun and the crew made a wonderful breakfast and we broke camp. Eighteen drowned rats in wet clothes were ready for their next adventure. 😉

    It’s getting more difficult to write about our adventures. No, not because we’re drinking too much. I guess I’d call it sensory overload. There’s just so much to see. After Elephant Sands we took a cruise down the Chobe river in Botswana. One side of the river is Botswana, the other side is Namibia. Our 18 person platoon boarded the pontoon boat around 4:00 PM. The weather was beautiful with clear skies and a light breeze. Within minutes we encountered a pod of hippos.

    While in the mukoros during our camping adventure, we couldn’t get too close to the hippos. They were faster than we were. In our motorized prop driven pontoon, this wasn’t a problem. We could get within 10 feet of them and still maneuver out of trouble if they decided to chomp us.

    Shortly we ran into a group of about 20-30 elephants both in and out of the water. Again, the pilot brought us within 10-20 feet of them, from bulls to babies only a few months old. They divide themselves into smaller groups or families. I’m planning to study them a bit more on Google. The guide provided many fascinating facts about their life in the wilds of Africa but I’d like to know more.

 Watching the adolescent males play fighting with each other was a riot.

        Continuing on, we saw numerous animals—crocodiles, water buffalo, birds of different sizes and colors from the tiniest to the foreboding undertaker vulture, the Marabou Stork. 

        Our bus driver, Barry told us, “Don't miss the river cruise. Among all the options, you must experience this!” He was so right! If we had to endure the rain soaked game walk and night in a tent with “a river ran through it” it was worth it!! Next back on the bus and on to Zimbawe.