Chobe: Limited WiFi

Since there was no game drive for us on Saturday morning we slept in (each morning game drive starts with a 5:00 AM wake-up call to be ready to board the Land Cruiser at 6:00 AM). After breakfast we walked over the curios market in Victoria Falls. We bought a nice little sculpture, some old Zimbabwe currency and dealt with the pushy street vendors. At 11:30 we were off in a mini-bus full of tourists towards Botswana and Chobe National Park. The border crossing went smoothly and we boarded an open-air game drive style Land Cruiser for the drive to Chobe Game Lodge, the only lodge inside Chobe National Park. The highway portion of the drive was ok, but once we entered the park it was like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland: our driver was running late and had another commitment he was eager to get to. As we raced over bumpy roads we caught glimpses of giraffe, elephant, impala, zebra and even a sable antelope. After about 45 minutes we arrived at the lodge.

Chobe Game Lodge is a beautiful facility with architecture and interior design in a Moroccan-style. The lobby/common area has built in couches with cushions and wonderful decorations. We were given one of the four suites in the property with our own sitting room, private deck with infinity plunge pool and views of the Chobe River and Capriva Strip; perhaps the nicest room I have ever stayed in. Our first activity was a three-hour sunset boat cruise along the Chobe River. We saw incredible numbers of crocodiles, hippos, elephants, Cape buffalo, baboons and impala along the bank. There were a number of different species of shore birds including the very interesting African Spoonbill and the delightful Pied Kingfisher.

We did see a small herd of elephants, including a small baby, attempt to swim over to an island. What a sight to see these large land animals swimming, using their trunks as snorkels and the babies hanging onto their mothers’ tails. A number of times they tried to cross the river but instead returned to the bank. They must have found the right spot to cross later on because on our return down river they were enjoying the green grass on the island. We also saw a dead elephant on the bank and our guide speculated that it might have died from anthrax. Not taking any chances with spreading the disease, the park rangers will burn the carcass to prevent any predators from eating it.

Back at the lodge we enjoyed dinner at the restaurant overlooking the river. One interesting trivia item: Chobe Game Lodge is where Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were married for the second time.

Hippos headed into the Chobe River

Ahhh!

Impala bucks practicing

Heading in to try to cross to the island