Day Trip to Botswana

Today we went to Botswana.  We are in the area of Africa where Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana all come together.  In theory, one should be able to get from one country to the other quickly, but it is not so.  You must check out of one country and then check ontp another....along with everyone else.  Since we have had plenty of practice standing n line, we made it from Zimbabwe to Botswana with ittle trouble.

We went to the Chobe Marina Hotel and picked up our guide for the game drive through a tiny portion of Chobe National Park.  The weather was perfect and we set off on what our guide called an "African Massage" or bouncing around in a Land Rover.  Within five minutes of entering the park we saw a lion slumbering after what must have been a big night because he didnot move.  SInce ther are no guarantees about what you will see-except impalas-seeing a lion set a very high bar.  Chobe National park was full of wildlife.  We sawelephants of all sizes, cape buffalos, croccodiles, kudu, impala, many birds, a solitary mongoose and on our way back we saw the elusive leopard.  We saw him walking thhrough the bush.  It was more exciting than the slumbering lion.

After lunch we took a boat ride along the Chobe River.  We went out on the Botswana side and returned on the Namibia side.  Since every animal needs water, they all come to the river.  We even saw a baby elephant so young  (less than 6 months)that his trunk was not working yet.  We watched as the elephants took mud baths and dust baths.  There were herds of old bachelor cape buffalo and a breeding herd too.  The pair of giraffes that came down off the ridge to the river were impressive.  It was a very full day.