Day 13. Thu 29th April
Chobe National Park
After the excellent Planet Baobab breakfast, which to my delight includes
more of the spicy cakes, we head off to Kasane. On the way a huge bull
elephant crosses the road in front of us. We stop to photograph it, but
it comes towards us with its head raised threateningly, and Ken quickly
moves on.
We buy elevenses in Nata. I have never tried biltong, dried meat, so
I buy a stick, which keeps me quiet for the next 100Km or so. It is certainly
good jaw exercise, but I have to hide it in my shirt every time we come
to a foot and mouth checkpoint.
Pink sausage sandwiches for lunch - again!!
We arrive a Toro Lodge Safari Camp at around two o'clock. It is, as
its name implies, a camp not a hotel, so we will be in the tents again
tonight, although it is all very well organised, with a place for each
tent and a stand at each place with shower washbasin and loo.
There is actually no game drive in Chobe National Park on the schedule,
but we all feel that it would be a shame to miss this famous park, so Ken
makes enquiries. It turns out that there is a game drive leaving at three,
so we whip the tents up double-quick. Ken goes into town to buy supplies
and get the Land Rover checked out while we pile into a Safari bus with
a resident guide called Aaron.
Chobe NP is 11,700 Sq Km and is teeming with wildlife, including 45 herds
of elephant and the only Puku in Southern Africa. It is very civilised
after Kalahari, with named roads and picnic sites, and one gets the impression
that even the animals are organised into sections. We see kudu, warthog,
impala, banded mongoose, baboon, vervet monkey, elephant, squirrel, hippo,
giraffe, fish eagle and bateleur eagle. The drive costsextra
but we all feel that it is worth it.
We should have been barbequeing tonight, but we decide to swap, Ken will
pay for last night's meal and we will dine in the restaurant tonight at
our own expense.
We have an early start tomorrow, so we go to bed early.