It was hard to leave our beautiful accommodation, Zambezi Mutubala lodge on the edge of the Zambezi River. But at least we had a sleep-in because the drive for today was not too far.
Our boat picked us up, delivering us back to the spot where our van had spent the night. Once again, we passed people going about their daily lives on the river banks.
After around an hour drive, we were at the Namibian border to go back into Botswana. Once again, we pulled out all of our shoes and dipped them in the solution, which had turned into a thin muddy puddle after so many had been before us. Getting out of Namibia is painless, and Botswana does not require a visa, so getting back in was just a stamp in our passports.
As soon as we were in the gate of Chobe National Park, we came across a grazing tower’ of giraffe.
And then we arrived at Chobe Safari Lodge, which was another step up in accommodation! This resort is much larger than any other on the tour, and luxury abounds.
Lunching in the terrace restaurant, we could see elephant and water buffalo on the riverbank just across the water. This is what movies are like!
Before long, we were on another game drive howeve,r this time the drive to the park entrance was only 10 minutes, and before we knew it, we were surrounded by animals. Chobe has around 50,000 elephants in the dry season, so it was no surprise to find elephants around every corner. There is also an abundance of giraffe. We found out that you do not need to look underneath a giraffe to tell its gender. The ossicles (little horns) are different between males and females. Females have slightly smaller ossicles with little brushy tips, whereas males have thicker, larger ossicles, which are good for fighting.
A highlight, apart from elephants, was finding a small pack of African wild dogs. These dogs are very rare and are endangered. One of our guides said that he had been working in the park for 6 months and had never seen any. And you could tell the guides were excited because they too had their phones out taking videos! There are only around 6000 African wild dogs left, so we were very lucky.
A ‘stretch stop’ came next, and out of the cooler came wine, beer, gin, and soft drinks. It felt very special to be drinking a G & T in the game park.
Along the side of the river, elephants roamed in abundance, and as the evening set in, the babies frolicked together, practicing using their trunks that at times seemed to get away from them, flapping wildly around.
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| Kudu |
Even though we hadn’t found any lions, we left the game park as the sun set, feeling very satisfied.
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