Tues 26th May. Day 16
We set from our Okavango Delta camp this morning to Nata, which was a stopover to our eventual destination of Chobe National Park. With various stops on the way, we arrived at our camp just outside Nata at about 3pm, Planet Baobab, which unsurprisingly was so named because of the baobab tress in the grounds. Not a lot to do at the camp - I went to the bar till dinner at 6.30pm, then it was back to the bar after dinner!
Weds 27th May. Day 17
We left our Nata camp this morning at 7am to drive to Toro Safari Lodge, near Kasane, our gateway to Chobe NP. This was by far the worst stretch of road on our trip so far, there were potholes the size of craters in the road and many larger vehicles had to drive off the road for sections. After a stop for lunch and to restock supplies in Kasane, we arrived at Camp Toro at 1.30pm.
After the rest of the group spent ages trying to get money out of an ATM, we set off on a game viewing cruise on the Chobe River which would take us to sunset. We had our own motor boat, which appeared to the smallest on the river and potentially the fastest, which was very useful in getting to wildlife ahead of the other boats which littered the river. The cruise turned out to be the best wildlife viewing experience of the trip so far. We saw two monitor lizards fighting (or were they mating?), lots of birds, many elephants (including some swimming across the river, a couple fighting and mothers with their babies at the river's edge), kudu, a couple of crocodiles, wildebeest, baboons and a huge amount of hippoes relaxing in the water. Another great sunset too, with blood-red sky.
There was an option for an early morning game drive in the National Park the next day, which after the great variety of wildlife we had seen today, I was really keen to do. If we did this, we'd be leaving to our next destination, Victoria Falls, a couple of hours later than we would otherwise, however, we had two days there so a hour here or there didn't really matter. However, no-one else wanted to pay to do it! This meant that I couldn't do it as there were insufficient numbers (ie. one) and there wasn't another group I could join. I was dumbfounded! I couldn't believe it, what had these people come to Africa to do if not to see wildlife! It wasn't as if I could just pop back to the park in my spare time. We went to a restaurant for dinner, I consoled myself with a rump steak and chips.
Chobe NP
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Kasane, Botswana
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2025-02-15