I can't believe how many goats there are in Botswana. We were visited by one while Paul filled the truck with diesel. So many herds of goats and cattle that run down the road. We approached another veterinary cordon fence so we stashed the meat again, this time in the bin at the back of the truck. We didn't need to stop. It seems that preparation protects our meat!
We saw a leopard! The second of the big five and it's only day three! The big five are elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion and rhinoceros. We also saw whiteback vultures and a marabou stork.
We departed on our first game drive. This was definately one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I was absolutely awestruck. Immediately into the drive we saw a female lion resting in a construction pipe from the sun. Our drive in the Chobe National Park lasted 3 hours and we were extremely lucky to see a further three of the big five, making it a sighting of four of the big five in one day! How fortunate we were! The population of elephants is 50,000 in the 11,000 square kilometre park and we saw tons of them, literally, if you pardon the pun. A few giraffe, mongoose, buffalo, hippopotamus, warthog, baboon, puku antelope, kudu antelope, sable antelope and impala. We were totally spoilt! I was in complete awe of every animal but the elephants captured my attention most of all as well as the viewfinder on my camera which I'm sure will be obvious for those of you who view the photographs! Luckily for me my camera was on it's best behaviour although I prayed each time I loaded a film! It was 33 degrees in the shade at the park!
Following a boat trip up Chobe River to the Namibian border where we disembarked, walked 200 metres to the immigration office, received a passport stamp, walked the 200 metres back to the boat, embarked, we arrived on Sikoma Island in Zambia, during the beginnings of a rainstorm. I am sitting under shelter writing this journal as I watch the lightening across the river. We are told that elephant, crocodiles and hippopotamus reside in the area and may visit the camp during the night. Perhaps I will be able to get another close up portrait of such a fantastic animal after all then... The storm is getting fiercer, the lightening and thunder claps are closer now and the audial volume of the thunder is greater than I have ever heard, even louder than in Lido Di Jesolo! It's amazing. Hippopotami can be heard throughout the evening and although I am assured they are far away they sound very close...
There are millipedes around the campsite which are enormous but no sightings of elephant.
I managed to break the toilet at Chobe National Park.
Copyright 2002 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.