Victoria Falls to Chobe
October 12, 2000
It Begins...
After a nice relaxing breakfast and taking a few shots of the hotel, I waited in the lobby for the
rest of the gang to appear. Taking advantage of the time, I wrote my obligatory
postcards to the immediate family: they would be the only postcards I would actually send
(the rest I use for my photo albums), and I would beat them all home by a week!
I spotted Katja in the lobby and joined her and the rest of the troop
outside. I was really surprised at how few people were going on the trip: there were
only nine of us! Including Martina and Katja, I met Chris
and Joanne (from Australia), Jan
and Geraldine (from Holland), and Antonio and Christina (from Italy).
Everyone was paired up, so it looked like I was the odd man out!! Such a small group can
be good (you get to know each other better) or bad (if there's friction, there's no where
to go), but everyone seemed very nice.
Along with Susanna, we also met two other people who
would be with us the whole trip: our driver Emaeus, and our cook Bentsen. Both were
very friendly and very professional.
I also got to ask Susanna a question that had been bothering me: would my
luggage fit?? (Since this trip was mostly camping they were a bit more strict about such
things..) Fortunately since there were so few people on the truck (it was designed
for more that 20 people) this would not be a problem. Another crisis averted. :-)
Our truck was built for safaris: the passenger section was very high off
the ground, and the sides rolled up to allow for pictures (and also to let the air in!).
It would prove to be a bit chilly in the morning sometimes, but most of the time it
was great to have a bit of a breeze!
Unfortunately Susanna was riding in the front of the truck with Bentsen
and Emaeus most of the time, so she was not able to talk a lot about the tour and
surroundings when we were driving. I had really liked that during my Australia tour.
Off to Chobe
Our first stop was to be Chobe, Botswana. Driving through Zimbabwe,
you really got to see how dry everything gets in the
early summer: it reminded me a lot of Southern California.
At the border, we went through one of many hoof & mouth disease
checkpoints (which is a fatal disease of cattle that has broken out on occasion). We
had to get out of the cab and walk through a puddle of disinfectant, while the truck
basically did the same thing (only with a larger puddle). They also did a quick
inspection of the truck (for cattle smuggling?) and we were on our way, with some fresh
stamps in our passports and a smell of disinfectant. :-)
We settled in at Chobe to some nice bungalows, with private bathrooms and
beds with mosquito nets. Being the odd man out, I got a bungalow to myself!
Ah, luxury. :-) We couldn't get used to it, though: it would be the last time we slept in
beds for over a week!
We all had lunch in a little cafe: one of the waitresses there was highly
amused at the fact I was American, and would call out to me "Hello, Mr. American
Man!" several times that day. :-)
River Cruise
There was an option to take a river cruise that afternoon, and we all
jumped at the chance to see some of the native wildlife. Susanna joined us as well.
The cruise boats were small pontoon boats, with upper and lower levels, and
swiveling seats.
Right off the bat, we saw a pod (herd?
flock? buncha?) of hippos in the water, keeping themselves cool. There were a
few crocodiles on the banks, and some ground hornbills running around. Guinea fowl
(reportedly the stupidest bird in Africa, at least according to Susanna) were abundant.
We had an amazing sight right off the bat: three
elephants *swimming* in the river! They crossed over from one side to the other,
where some of their companions were having a mud bath.
Great shots!
There were lots of Impala (no, not the
car) and Cape Buffalo around, grazing peacefully.
Various fish-diver birds dove in and out of the water, looking for, well, fish I
assume. This was a really great cruise, according to Susanna: usually you don't see this
many things on the first day!
The captain was suddenly excited: a lion
had been spotted in the distance! They were hardly ever seen, and unfortunately
my camera wasn't quite up to the job of getting a good picture, but I had a look through
Jan's telephoto lens: amazing! I did get a much better picture of the hippos as they jostled with each other: my timing was
just right!
Dinner
That evening, we had a buffet dinner
and Susanna had us fill out and sign "Next-Of-Kin" forms (hmmmm....). I
tried to get pictures of everyone (nearly blinding Joanne
in the process). We couldn't stay up too late, though: tomorrow we had to get up at
5:00 am for a game drive! I was up all night checking my watch (I get so paranoid
about being late for things!)
