In Kenya, we travelled alongside the Rift Valley. Good scenery at 8000ft. Crossed the equator and arrived at Eldoret and a bar that looked like it should be in the Flintstones. Crossed the border into Uganda where the drivers and roads are as crazy as in Kenya and Tanzania - a bit of a white knuckle ride sometimes, watching from the top of the truck.
Arrived in Jinja where the others did rafting. The campsite and bar overlook the Nile which starts here at Lake Victoria. A few of us signed up for the 10km run on Sunday. Took a while to find the registration place but every local we met was really helpful and friendly. Anyway, when we got up at 5am for the run it had been and still was raining so we piked out. Feel a bit bad about not doing it but it was a miserable morning. Went back to bed. Then of course the sun came out. Oh well. Also in Jinja we had a great Indian curry. Its a lovely town, except for the security guards with rifles outside the banks, supermarkets and walking around the campsite!
Now in Kampala. Those going on to Ethiopia are having trouble getting their visas. Glad i dont have to worry about that. Got to watch Engand beat Japan and few other games too. Heading further west in Uganda tomorrow.
31.5.10
26.5.10
Serengeti, Tanzania
Serengeti, Tanzania
We left a bit late on Thursday morning as driver Gav had a bout of malaria again. But once he could stand up again, off we went. After a couple of long days driving we arrived in Arusha, the leaving point for the Safari drives in Ngorogoro Crater and the Serengeti. So on Saturday morning we took 3 safari vehicles and headed out to find some animals. We went past the crater and onto the Serengeti. We saw buffalo, zebra, wilderbeest and giraffes before lunch. The afternoon was pretty good but we hadnt seen anything amazing until near the end when we found a pride of lions eating something and then rolling around after a satisfying feed. There were also some cute cubs there. Then on the way back to the campsite a leopard ran across the road in front of us. Leopard are rarely seen so we were very lucky, though no time to get a picture cos it went and hid behind a bush. In the evening a few of us went to a bar and watched the Champions League final. The place was packed and there was a great atmosphere.
We got at 6am the next morning and went for another drive around the Serengeti. We saw hyenas chasing wilderbeest and a few single elephants - they are huge! Just before lunch we stopped to watch a giraffe that was about 50 metres away. But then he actually walked all the to the truck and started eating from the tree next to us. Then he walked into the road and then crossed over. It was fantastic watching him so closely. We were all very happy about that. I would have been happy with the $430 cost of the trip just for what we had already seen....but after lunch.....we started to drive out of the Serengeti towards the crater. On the plain to the left was a herd of about 50 elephants gathered together and being marshalled by a huge bull. We watched them for a while then moved along to another large herd on the right. As we sat there they came towards us, eating as them came closer. They were right next to the truck, you could hear the grass and plants tearing as the elephants tore it with their trunks and you could hear them munching it. There were a couple of elephants behind the truck, one alongside and lots ahead of us on the grass and on the road. It was absolutely unreal. We were speechless. After about 30 minutes they moved away. Definitely one of the best days ever! We then carried onto the (volcanic) crater and to the campsite where there were 3 elephants and some zebra happily wandering around.
Next morning we headed down into the crater. We saw some lions near the lake, some elephants and rhinos far away. So i can say that i have seen the Big5. (its what everyone talks about on safari) Elephant, rhino, leopard, lion and buffalo are the Big5. After lunch we drove back to Arusha with big smiles and happy memories and some great photos and video.
Crossed the border yesterday from Tanzania to Kenya.
We left a bit late on Thursday morning as driver Gav had a bout of malaria again. But once he could stand up again, off we went. After a couple of long days driving we arrived in Arusha, the leaving point for the Safari drives in Ngorogoro Crater and the Serengeti. So on Saturday morning we took 3 safari vehicles and headed out to find some animals. We went past the crater and onto the Serengeti. We saw buffalo, zebra, wilderbeest and giraffes before lunch. The afternoon was pretty good but we hadnt seen anything amazing until near the end when we found a pride of lions eating something and then rolling around after a satisfying feed. There were also some cute cubs there. Then on the way back to the campsite a leopard ran across the road in front of us. Leopard are rarely seen so we were very lucky, though no time to get a picture cos it went and hid behind a bush. In the evening a few of us went to a bar and watched the Champions League final. The place was packed and there was a great atmosphere.
We got at 6am the next morning and went for another drive around the Serengeti. We saw hyenas chasing wilderbeest and a few single elephants - they are huge! Just before lunch we stopped to watch a giraffe that was about 50 metres away. But then he actually walked all the to the truck and started eating from the tree next to us. Then he walked into the road and then crossed over. It was fantastic watching him so closely. We were all very happy about that. I would have been happy with the $430 cost of the trip just for what we had already seen....but after lunch.....we started to drive out of the Serengeti towards the crater. On the plain to the left was a herd of about 50 elephants gathered together and being marshalled by a huge bull. We watched them for a while then moved along to another large herd on the right. As we sat there they came towards us, eating as them came closer. They were right next to the truck, you could hear the grass and plants tearing as the elephants tore it with their trunks and you could hear them munching it. There were a couple of elephants behind the truck, one alongside and lots ahead of us on the grass and on the road. It was absolutely unreal. We were speechless. After about 30 minutes they moved away. Definitely one of the best days ever! We then carried onto the (volcanic) crater and to the campsite where there were 3 elephants and some zebra happily wandering around.
Next morning we headed down into the crater. We saw some lions near the lake, some elephants and rhinos far away. So i can say that i have seen the Big5. (its what everyone talks about on safari) Elephant, rhino, leopard, lion and buffalo are the Big5. After lunch we drove back to Arusha with big smiles and happy memories and some great photos and video.
Crossed the border yesterday from Tanzania to Kenya.
Zanzibar, Tanzania
Zanzibar
Friday evening we arrived in Dar Es Salaam. The outskirts was similar to West African towns - organised chaos, people and traffic and noise everywhere. Locals going about their daily business of trading. Its always exciting heading into a new place and having a birdseye view of what is going on.
Saturday morning we got a couple of taxis and a ferry to the main ferry port and caught the big ferry to Zanzibar. It takes a couple of hours so we sat downstairs and watched a couple of terrible old Crocodile movies, and then the Crocidile Hunter movie which was amusing!
We checked into a hotel and found cheap chicken and chips around the corner. Zanzibar is a mixture of British, Arab, African and Indian influences and this is reflected in the food and architecture. Later we all met at Africa House, a posh, restored colonial hotel where we watched the dhow on the water as the sunset. Also watched the FA Cup final which was a great game.
Next we went to the famous food nightmarkets. The atmosphere was great, by the sea, tourists mixing with the locals. All kinds of wonderful food including seafood. I got my Zanzibar pizza from the stalls where the local ladies were getting theres. Its more like Gozlome than a normal pizza. Very tasty. After an aborted attempt to get into the reggae bar (the owners couldnt agree among themselves how much we should pay to enter, and it got a bit heavy) we went with a couple of local guys to the secluded Garden Bar. They told us a bit about life on the island. They are muslim so don't drink.
On sunday, after breakfast in the hotel, most of us went on the Spice Tour. To be honest i wasnt too keen at $30 but the others were going so i was a sheep and signed up too. And good job i did as it was a great, fun day. First the guide took us around Stone Town which is world heritage listed. He showed us some historical buidlings and the history of Stone Town. Some of it 'has character', some of it is just a mess and fallen down. He took us through the markets and then on to the former slave market (the worlds last open slave market) which closed in 1873. There is now a church in its place. Then we went to Freddie Mercury's house (he was born in Zanzibar) which was just a very normal apartment building with a poster outside with pix and info about him.
Next we hopped into a minibus and headed north to the spice plantation. The guides took us on a walk through the plantation and showed us different plants and got us to rub them together and sniff and guess what each spice was. Some of the plants left like paint on our hands which we used to paint our faces and they made us bracelets and ties and watched from leaves. At the end they gave us various types of tea and fruit. For lunch they took us to one of the guys muslim home where his wife had prepared an excellent curry with pilau rice; We were stuffed by the end. Finally we were driven up to the northern beaches where we checked into beachside bungalows. The vibe up there is pretty similar to beaches in Thailand, although somehow not quite as 'cool'. White sands and crystal blue waters. Lying and splashing in the lowtide on monday morning was wonderful.
On Monday some guys went fishing and others went snorkelling but i stayed back and English Emma and I just went for a long walk along the beach and to the souvenir shops where they sell paintings and jewellery and sarongs. But couldnt find anything I wanted to buy. The restaurant where we hung out was actually built on the water so we were able to jump from there into the sea at hightide. We played beach volleyball with the local guys a few times which was great fun and i was quite good at it too. Once it was too dark to continue we dived into the ocean to get the sand off.
On Tuesday some of us came back to the mainland. Again this was two taxis and two ferries. Dar Es Salaam has a pretty bad reputation so you have to watch and hold onto your belongings very carefully. It helped that we came back with Gav the guide who speaks Swahili which is the native language of Tanzania and Kenya. Also, at the campsite there are more mozzies than i have seen anywhere else in Africa. Got bitten on the belly in the shower!
Wednesday I went for a late afternoon dip in the sea, and noticed some guys playing beach soccer so swam along the shore to them and asked for a game. They were all local guys and 3 of them were Masai (warriors) dressed in their traditional dress which i think included a sword. It was pretty strange playing soccer with the Masai but they certainly got stuck in. It was a pretty low quality game but great fun. Only the guy from Uganda could speak English. When they wanted me to pass the ball they just shouted "Mzungu", which is Swahili for White Man. That evening we watched the Lion King in preparation for the Safrai game drives……………………
Friday evening we arrived in Dar Es Salaam. The outskirts was similar to West African towns - organised chaos, people and traffic and noise everywhere. Locals going about their daily business of trading. Its always exciting heading into a new place and having a birdseye view of what is going on.
Saturday morning we got a couple of taxis and a ferry to the main ferry port and caught the big ferry to Zanzibar. It takes a couple of hours so we sat downstairs and watched a couple of terrible old Crocodile movies, and then the Crocidile Hunter movie which was amusing!
We checked into a hotel and found cheap chicken and chips around the corner. Zanzibar is a mixture of British, Arab, African and Indian influences and this is reflected in the food and architecture. Later we all met at Africa House, a posh, restored colonial hotel where we watched the dhow on the water as the sunset. Also watched the FA Cup final which was a great game.
Next we went to the famous food nightmarkets. The atmosphere was great, by the sea, tourists mixing with the locals. All kinds of wonderful food including seafood. I got my Zanzibar pizza from the stalls where the local ladies were getting theres. Its more like Gozlome than a normal pizza. Very tasty. After an aborted attempt to get into the reggae bar (the owners couldnt agree among themselves how much we should pay to enter, and it got a bit heavy) we went with a couple of local guys to the secluded Garden Bar. They told us a bit about life on the island. They are muslim so don't drink.
On sunday, after breakfast in the hotel, most of us went on the Spice Tour. To be honest i wasnt too keen at $30 but the others were going so i was a sheep and signed up too. And good job i did as it was a great, fun day. First the guide took us around Stone Town which is world heritage listed. He showed us some historical buidlings and the history of Stone Town. Some of it 'has character', some of it is just a mess and fallen down. He took us through the markets and then on to the former slave market (the worlds last open slave market) which closed in 1873. There is now a church in its place. Then we went to Freddie Mercury's house (he was born in Zanzibar) which was just a very normal apartment building with a poster outside with pix and info about him.
Next we hopped into a minibus and headed north to the spice plantation. The guides took us on a walk through the plantation and showed us different plants and got us to rub them together and sniff and guess what each spice was. Some of the plants left like paint on our hands which we used to paint our faces and they made us bracelets and ties and watched from leaves. At the end they gave us various types of tea and fruit. For lunch they took us to one of the guys muslim home where his wife had prepared an excellent curry with pilau rice; We were stuffed by the end. Finally we were driven up to the northern beaches where we checked into beachside bungalows. The vibe up there is pretty similar to beaches in Thailand, although somehow not quite as 'cool'. White sands and crystal blue waters. Lying and splashing in the lowtide on monday morning was wonderful.
On Monday some guys went fishing and others went snorkelling but i stayed back and English Emma and I just went for a long walk along the beach and to the souvenir shops where they sell paintings and jewellery and sarongs. But couldnt find anything I wanted to buy. The restaurant where we hung out was actually built on the water so we were able to jump from there into the sea at hightide. We played beach volleyball with the local guys a few times which was great fun and i was quite good at it too. Once it was too dark to continue we dived into the ocean to get the sand off.
On Tuesday some of us came back to the mainland. Again this was two taxis and two ferries. Dar Es Salaam has a pretty bad reputation so you have to watch and hold onto your belongings very carefully. It helped that we came back with Gav the guide who speaks Swahili which is the native language of Tanzania and Kenya. Also, at the campsite there are more mozzies than i have seen anywhere else in Africa. Got bitten on the belly in the shower!
Wednesday I went for a late afternoon dip in the sea, and noticed some guys playing beach soccer so swam along the shore to them and asked for a game. They were all local guys and 3 of them were Masai (warriors) dressed in their traditional dress which i think included a sword. It was pretty strange playing soccer with the Masai but they certainly got stuck in. It was a pretty low quality game but great fun. Only the guy from Uganda could speak English. When they wanted me to pass the ball they just shouted "Mzungu", which is Swahili for White Man. That evening we watched the Lion King in preparation for the Safrai game drives……………………
10.5.10
Zambia and Malawi
Zambia and Malawi
On the Thursday we crossed the border from Botswana to Zambia, on a ferry. Drove an hour to Livingstone (named after David Livingstone, i presume :') This is where you stay when you visit Victoria Falls which is 13kms out of town. You can do all kinds of activities at the Falls, such as bungee etc but we just went and had a walk along and around the falls. They are pretty spectacular, although i think we couldnt see the best bit as there was so much spray. We walked across a bridge in the spray and it was liked being in a huge rainstorm; i think thats when i lost my sunglasses. We had another few days in Livingstone with not much to do but watch movies and soccer. We watched a couple of games at the cinema which was cool, lots of local guys cheering for Chelsea or United.
Had a few long days on the truck which is not so much fun as it was when we were going slowly on the other side of Africa. Sometimes too much speeding along and not much to look at, but other times going through country villages with the roof off. Its a bit too easy on this side. And we are staying at campsites with other tourists rather than bushcamping by ourselves in the middle of nowhere. But at least the police stops just wave us through rather than making us sit around for an hour or too like they in West Africa.
On Wednesday we arrived at Croc Valley camp. This is a campsite that organises Game Drives. There are no fences. As the guide said 'its like being at the zoo, but you are in the cage with the animals'. It is their terrority. Well, a monkey stole our bread. And we could hear hippos grunting during the night, after we had watched them in the river during the day. On the second day i went on the afternoon/evening drive. The guide took 9 of us straight out to where a pride of 17 lions was dozing in the grass. We were nearly within touching distance of them, i could have stepped out of the truck and stood on its head! And they could see us but were not bothered about us. They got up and stretched and nuzzled eachother, i got some great pix. I was on an outisde seat but found myself edging in to the truck when they did eye us up. We also went off to the buffaloes who were pretty nervous as it was dinner time and the lions were literally round the corner. Once it was dark, we put the spotlight on and went looking for leopard, without success. But we did see a few hippos walking around and then we saw one running....jeez, they run quickly, there is no way you could escape a hippo if it was chasing you. That was one of the most memorable things, it was pretty funny. That night when i was in my tent I heard an elephant eating from a tree next to my tent and when i looked out i could see it was walking through the campsite about 10 metres away. A big black mass against the campsite lights. Cool.
Next day we crossed the Zambia/Malawi border and stayed at Lilongwe. The next day we made our way to this campsite at Kande Beach on Lake Malawi. The lake looks like the ocean, it is so vast and has a tide. The scenery alongside and behind the lake was spectacular. Yesterday the locals took us into the local village to watch a couple of local soccer matches, village against village. But i had more fun watching the kids play with our rugby ball. They didnt stop for about 2 hours. Then we came back and watched the end of the Premier League. Dinner was a couple of pigs which the local guy spit roasted for us; the best crackling ever. Later we went down the beach for some drumming entertainment. We have a few more days along the Lake before heading to Tanzania.
On the Thursday we crossed the border from Botswana to Zambia, on a ferry. Drove an hour to Livingstone (named after David Livingstone, i presume :') This is where you stay when you visit Victoria Falls which is 13kms out of town. You can do all kinds of activities at the Falls, such as bungee etc but we just went and had a walk along and around the falls. They are pretty spectacular, although i think we couldnt see the best bit as there was so much spray. We walked across a bridge in the spray and it was liked being in a huge rainstorm; i think thats when i lost my sunglasses. We had another few days in Livingstone with not much to do but watch movies and soccer. We watched a couple of games at the cinema which was cool, lots of local guys cheering for Chelsea or United.
Had a few long days on the truck which is not so much fun as it was when we were going slowly on the other side of Africa. Sometimes too much speeding along and not much to look at, but other times going through country villages with the roof off. Its a bit too easy on this side. And we are staying at campsites with other tourists rather than bushcamping by ourselves in the middle of nowhere. But at least the police stops just wave us through rather than making us sit around for an hour or too like they in West Africa.
On Wednesday we arrived at Croc Valley camp. This is a campsite that organises Game Drives. There are no fences. As the guide said 'its like being at the zoo, but you are in the cage with the animals'. It is their terrority. Well, a monkey stole our bread. And we could hear hippos grunting during the night, after we had watched them in the river during the day. On the second day i went on the afternoon/evening drive. The guide took 9 of us straight out to where a pride of 17 lions was dozing in the grass. We were nearly within touching distance of them, i could have stepped out of the truck and stood on its head! And they could see us but were not bothered about us. They got up and stretched and nuzzled eachother, i got some great pix. I was on an outisde seat but found myself edging in to the truck when they did eye us up. We also went off to the buffaloes who were pretty nervous as it was dinner time and the lions were literally round the corner. Once it was dark, we put the spotlight on and went looking for leopard, without success. But we did see a few hippos walking around and then we saw one running....jeez, they run quickly, there is no way you could escape a hippo if it was chasing you. That was one of the most memorable things, it was pretty funny. That night when i was in my tent I heard an elephant eating from a tree next to my tent and when i looked out i could see it was walking through the campsite about 10 metres away. A big black mass against the campsite lights. Cool.
Next day we crossed the Zambia/Malawi border and stayed at Lilongwe. The next day we made our way to this campsite at Kande Beach on Lake Malawi. The lake looks like the ocean, it is so vast and has a tide. The scenery alongside and behind the lake was spectacular. Yesterday the locals took us into the local village to watch a couple of local soccer matches, village against village. But i had more fun watching the kids play with our rugby ball. They didnt stop for about 2 hours. Then we came back and watched the end of the Premier League. Dinner was a couple of pigs which the local guy spit roasted for us; the best crackling ever. Later we went down the beach for some drumming entertainment. We have a few more days along the Lake before heading to Tanzania.
South Africa and Botswana
Well i am all behind with my blog. here goes.........
South Africa and Botswana
So in Cape Town we dropped a few guys off, some we will miss, one we certainly won't miss. And we gained two Aussie boys and three girls. The gender balance is better now, not such a sausage fest. We left on Tuesday and had a long days drive. Our vehicle is not allowed to tour South Africa because it has no seat belts etc. We are supposed to be just passing through so full steam ahead....until we got to a weigh station where they told us we were one tonne over weight. We had kind of anticipated this. We had to dump the spare differential which lived under the floorboards and weighs just under a tonne. But of course it is too big to get out of the backdoor of the truck. So our only option was to remove the whole back panel of the truck and the steps and the lights. So as usual we all chipped in with spanners and screwdrivers and it took about an hour or so to get the diff out. A forklift truck lifted it out for us, then we had dinner then put the back panel back on. We were still a bit overweight so we sent a couple of our bigger guys down the road so that they were not on the truck next time we were weighed, and it worked. We carried on into the night then bushcamped at a picnic spot. It was absolutely freezing that night, the coldest night of the trip, my feet were like ice blocks even in my sleeping bag. And i stayed in it even in the truck in the morning. Another long drive the next day, but able to sleep under the stars again but for the last time as entering mozzie areas again. Crossed the border from South Africa to Botswana on Thursday. So much easier than the borders on the west coast where you had to sit around for 3 hours sometimes.
There are lots of cows in Botswana. And donkeys. And they like to stand in the road until you have stopped in front of them. A few days of long distance driving, not so much fun when the scenery is not so special and we are speeding along, so a bit boring on the truck. Still, we arrived in Maun and next day headed out to the Okavango Delta. We cruised through the delta on a mokoro which is basically a dug-out tree canoe. Our poler was local guy John and he fixed the leaks with cardboard. Sarah and I thought we had the worse mokoro until we saw the others, although John did spend quite a bit time bailing water out the back! We really were in the wilderness, its not really like a national park with fences or rangers, we were in the animals domain. The cruise was lovely, through calm delta water, lots of lillies and lily pads and a few frogs. Very calm in our mokoro convoy. And after a while i saw my first hippo of the trip, about 100 metres away and just his head sticking out of the water, but still cool. Then we came to a lake where there were 5 of them in the water watching us watching them. As you know, they can be aggressive so we proceeded with caution as they snorted and sounded like Jabba the Hutt laughing. We bushcamped and in the afternoon local guide Alfred took us on a bushwalk. Apparently there are lions out there but we didnt see any, just some zebras and wilderbeest and springboks. It started pouring with rain in the evening and into the morning so the 530am bushwalk was cancelled. But we did go for another walk in the afternoon and saw more zebras! But just as we were heading back, a guide spotted an elephant so we went and checked him out before he wandered away from us. In the evening the guides, male and female, sang and danced to some traditional songs for us. And we played some Aussie tunes to mark Anzac Day.
We cruised back through the delta the next day back to the main road and the town. Some guys did the scenic flight over the delta and said it was so good that i signed up for it the next day. 45 minutes in a small cessna. It was ok, we saw a few herds/pods? of elephants and a couple of hippos but we were pretty high up so they were pretty small, and there were fewer animals than the night before so a bit disappointing. We drove for the rest of the day to northern Botswana. And on the way we saw another pod of elephants right at the side of the road. And a few lone ones. We stopped the truck and watched them for a while. They can be aggressive so Gav was ready to pull of if we needed to! Anyway, this is surely the closest we will ever get to elephants, especially in the wild, outside of a national park. One afternoon we did a cruise on the River Chobe. Saw lots of hippos in the water, and lots of elephants, one herd came down to the river for a drink together, got a great picture of them lined up. Big ones and litle ones!
South Africa and Botswana
So in Cape Town we dropped a few guys off, some we will miss, one we certainly won't miss. And we gained two Aussie boys and three girls. The gender balance is better now, not such a sausage fest. We left on Tuesday and had a long days drive. Our vehicle is not allowed to tour South Africa because it has no seat belts etc. We are supposed to be just passing through so full steam ahead....until we got to a weigh station where they told us we were one tonne over weight. We had kind of anticipated this. We had to dump the spare differential which lived under the floorboards and weighs just under a tonne. But of course it is too big to get out of the backdoor of the truck. So our only option was to remove the whole back panel of the truck and the steps and the lights. So as usual we all chipped in with spanners and screwdrivers and it took about an hour or so to get the diff out. A forklift truck lifted it out for us, then we had dinner then put the back panel back on. We were still a bit overweight so we sent a couple of our bigger guys down the road so that they were not on the truck next time we were weighed, and it worked. We carried on into the night then bushcamped at a picnic spot. It was absolutely freezing that night, the coldest night of the trip, my feet were like ice blocks even in my sleeping bag. And i stayed in it even in the truck in the morning. Another long drive the next day, but able to sleep under the stars again but for the last time as entering mozzie areas again. Crossed the border from South Africa to Botswana on Thursday. So much easier than the borders on the west coast where you had to sit around for 3 hours sometimes.
There are lots of cows in Botswana. And donkeys. And they like to stand in the road until you have stopped in front of them. A few days of long distance driving, not so much fun when the scenery is not so special and we are speeding along, so a bit boring on the truck. Still, we arrived in Maun and next day headed out to the Okavango Delta. We cruised through the delta on a mokoro which is basically a dug-out tree canoe. Our poler was local guy John and he fixed the leaks with cardboard. Sarah and I thought we had the worse mokoro until we saw the others, although John did spend quite a bit time bailing water out the back! We really were in the wilderness, its not really like a national park with fences or rangers, we were in the animals domain. The cruise was lovely, through calm delta water, lots of lillies and lily pads and a few frogs. Very calm in our mokoro convoy. And after a while i saw my first hippo of the trip, about 100 metres away and just his head sticking out of the water, but still cool. Then we came to a lake where there were 5 of them in the water watching us watching them. As you know, they can be aggressive so we proceeded with caution as they snorted and sounded like Jabba the Hutt laughing. We bushcamped and in the afternoon local guide Alfred took us on a bushwalk. Apparently there are lions out there but we didnt see any, just some zebras and wilderbeest and springboks. It started pouring with rain in the evening and into the morning so the 530am bushwalk was cancelled. But we did go for another walk in the afternoon and saw more zebras! But just as we were heading back, a guide spotted an elephant so we went and checked him out before he wandered away from us. In the evening the guides, male and female, sang and danced to some traditional songs for us. And we played some Aussie tunes to mark Anzac Day.
We cruised back through the delta the next day back to the main road and the town. Some guys did the scenic flight over the delta and said it was so good that i signed up for it the next day. 45 minutes in a small cessna. It was ok, we saw a few herds/pods? of elephants and a couple of hippos but we were pretty high up so they were pretty small, and there were fewer animals than the night before so a bit disappointing. We drove for the rest of the day to northern Botswana. And on the way we saw another pod of elephants right at the side of the road. And a few lone ones. We stopped the truck and watched them for a while. They can be aggressive so Gav was ready to pull of if we needed to! Anyway, this is surely the closest we will ever get to elephants, especially in the wild, outside of a national park. One afternoon we did a cruise on the River Chobe. Saw lots of hippos in the water, and lots of elephants, one herd came down to the river for a drink together, got a great picture of them lined up. Big ones and litle ones!
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