Into Botswana (and a bit of Zim too!)

Our last day in Zambia was a great one.  Our last evening was spent drifting up a channel of the Zambezi on a luxury boat called the Lady Livingstone.  We were treated to a 3 course snack dinner which included pate on toast, mini pizza and other yummy delights ending off with chocolate brownies & as much to drink as we liked.  I couldn't think of another way to enjoy our last Zambian evening with Alex's parents before they headed off back to Cape Town the next day.  While on the boat, we spotted crocodiles, hippo's, buffalo's, buck and some stunning birds along the river banks.

The next morning we chilled out at the campsite and packed up ready to head down towards Botswana via the airport to bid farewell to Reg & Eirene.  It was so nice to share this part of the trip with them.  Thanks Reg for being with Alex from Nairobi to Livingstone, and thanks Eirene for flying up there with the kids and I - the tents are on the top of the truck if you wish to fly in to meet us sometime in the next couple of weeks again...!

The border from Zambia into Botswana was fun!  We had to cross the Zambezi on a ferry.  I don't know why they don't just build a bridge, it really wasn't very far across.  The ferry was quite small, it only fitted us and another truck behind us.  Unlike our ferry crossing in northern Mozambique in December, this one was motorized & very efficient.

Into Botswana we filled up with fuel and after a quick look at the map we headed down towards Chobi (Savuti) - well thats where we thought we were headed until we saw a sign for Nata, which was in another direction.  We shrugged off the mistake and decided that we have a couple of weeks for this trip down so a diversion or two wouldn't hurt.  We spend the night at a dusty campsite near Pandamatenga, and after chatting to a group bikers from Jhb we were convinced to do a little one day trip into Zimbabwe as the border was just oh so close and couldn't be resisted by Alex.  So off we went, across into Zim through a tiny border and onto a 'hunter's' road heading towards Hwange National Park.  We were totally isolated, and rather nervous to get out the truck because in 1996 we had travelled here before and remember the number of wildlife - amazing.  We stopped along the track for lunch (pasta followed by pancakes), and then decided to turn back and find a place to part and sleep for the night.  We drove off the road for a bit and found a piece of veld that had obviously been used once as an elephant clearing.  We couldn't resist.  Unfortunately we didn't spot any Elephants, but we did see a giraffe, some buck and some baboons - all good considering we weren't in the official Park yet.


The next morning we crossed the same little friendly border post (the officials were very surprised to see us so soon), and headed back down the highway in Botswana towards Mgkadikadi Pans (TopGear did an episode driving through & wrecking the place..... it was a good one as always).  We saw Elephants on the side of the highway, that was a surprise!  We did a lot of driving, and got all the way to Maun, on the southern part of the Okovango Delta.  This is where we are now, and I think we'll stay here for a couple of days because this Campsite is Great!  Its got a swimming pool, wifi that reaches our truck, a restaurant where we enjoyed a yummy breakfast thismorning, and lot of activities to enjoy right from our riverside doorstep.  From here we can do a day drive into Savuti (Chobi), or go explore the Okovango Delta by plane/boat if we want.  Right now today we are recovering from our last 2 days of heavy driving.  Xan seems to be down with a bug so I'm managing his high temps with lots of love and panado (and DVD's of course).  Kaylin had the same high temps a few days ago but she's over it now so I'm sure it's nothing serious (so don't worry Eirene & mom....).