Sunday, January 31st - Livingstone, Zambia to Kasane, Botswana

We had a relaxing morning and didn't leave until about 9:30.  That was to allow anyone who had early helicopter or micro-light flights to finish before we departed.  For those of us who had already had our flight, we got to sleep in.  

After we'd been on the road for about ten minutes one of the guys remembered that he had forgotten his passport.  We turned around and went back to a main intersection where Gerhard, the forgetter, and Arthur, our guide, caught a taxi back to the hotel to retrieve the passport.  The rest of us went on to the customs area, about an hour drive down the road.  As we got close to the border, the traffic got heavier.  Well, if fact it was just the truck traffic that got heavier.  By the time we got through the Zambian exit point, which was pretty quick, and drove to the ferry, the others had caught up with us.  

The ferry is in no-man's land between Zambia and Botswana as the Zambezi River separates the two countries.  The ferries are very small.  Ours held two cars at front, a semi trailer, and a small van at back.  Then after the vehicles are on, all the walk-on passengers make their way between the vehicles to stand at the front where they get off first.  We had unloaded the bus and dragged our bags with us on to the ferry.  Our new bus, the one that will take us right through to Cape Town, was waiting on the other side so we loaded our bags on the bus and proceeded to Botswana immigration. That process took a bit longer but was still very quick.  No visas required and no money required so it was just a matter of getting a stamp in your passport.  After that you did have to walk through the foot disinfectant to prevent the spread of hoof and mouth disease but we could manage that.  We also thought it was rather strange because we all had several pairs of shoes and  we were only wearing one of them so the others certainly didn't get disinfected.  

Back to the ferry system, they had three of these small ferries working.  There were spots for four but only three were working when we were there.  The river is not very wide so it doesn't take very long to cross and the water is very calm.  We just stood with our luggage but that was fine as the trip was so short and it was a great way to enjoy the view.  

Our lodge was not far away on the other side.  We got in and had a bit of time to relax and eat some lunch.  We had stopped at the grocery store just before arriving to buy something to eat and to use the ATM.   We had a lovely courtyard with covered seats so it was a nice place to relax for a while, and the Internet worked.

At 3:30 we went out on river cruise for three hours.  The Chobe River National Park is right along the Chobe River and very green compared to the parks in South Africa.  We saw lots of animals and birds along the shore line on our three hour trip but I do't remember all of them.  I know there were lots of hippos both in the water and on land, and some of them were little ones.  Well, perhaps I should say young ones.  Even a very young hippo is not exactly "little" except in comparison to other members of its family.  We were hoping one of them would do a big yawn as we wanted a picture of how wide the jaws can open and how big their teeth are but they didn't seem to want to cooperate.  What they were doing in the water was twirling their tiny tails and it looks and sounds ridiculous but obviously it means something to them.  Perhaps they were just trying to scare away the crocodiles.  We saw several of them in the water and on the river bank.

There was also a herd of elephants with some young ones and the one teenager was hilarious.  While the rest of the herd was ignoring us, he decided he was going to scare us off.  He didn't get as carried away as the first teenager who tried that with us in another park but it was still cute to see.  No doubt someday both of these young males  will grow up to be great protectors of their respective herds.  The herd went down to the river for a drink and they were all splashing water around while they were drinking.  The littlest one couldn't exactly figure out how the trunk drinking worked so he/she just stuck his face in the water which was pretty funny to see.  Apparently there are so many muscles in an elephant's trunk that it takes 3--5 years for a title one to learn how to control them all.  In another location there were a couple of really big elephants rolling in a mud hole and they were totally covered in wet mud.  When they eventually came out they moved to another location and tried to get down into a sand pit to cover the mud with sand.  It was a good thing we were not too close to the mud hole or the sand pit because they certainly spray a lot when they are doing these activities.

The river is quite wide in places and narrower in others.  The water is very calm and the only boats seemed to be either fishermen or tourists so it was a very calm and peaceful place.  There are reeds along some of the banks and just grass in others.  The land slowly rises up from the river and then reaches some hills so it is very picturesque.  As the sun started to set we were treated to a lovely sunset behind the trees just as we were ending our tour.

We got back from our cruise just after 6:30 and just had time to shower and change and get down for happy hour before dinner at 7:30.  The meal was good but it took quite a while for everyone to be served despite the fact we had ordered before we went on the game drive so the food would all be ready when we sat down.  After dinner some people started heading back to their room and others stayed down at the bar.  Those who didn't have a flashlight with them needed some help from security because it was a dark night and it was hard to find your way from the restaurant back to the rooms.  No one stayed out too late though.  After three countries in the last three days, I think we were all ready for a good night's sleep.