![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/DSC_0685.jpg\")
<\/a>Julie and Tramp taking in the views from the banks of the Chobe River in Chobe National Park<\/p><\/div>\n
The border process to enter Botswana was going very well, everyone was friendly and we were getting all the necessary stamps. Then\u2026a very officious Customs lady bursting out of her large uniform came out and asked if we had any fresh meat while Julie was being asked by another official to wash her shoes. Botswana is trying to stop a spread of hoof and mouth disease, which is principally passed between animals, and despite our discouragements she was determined to look in our fridge. And that can only mean one thing \u2013 busted!<\/p>\n
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So for only the second time on our Follow the Sun journey (the\nother time was on leaving Russia) and more than 100 border crossings I had to\nopen up the camper. Ms Officious was\nexcited, she found some thawing sausages that were going on our braai that\nnight and gleefully confiscated them. We\ntried to reason with her, then pleaded with her, but to no avail. She had successfully done her part in\nstopping the spread of hoof and mouth disease. \nAt our expense.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>We finally made it through the border into Botswana and found this shady spot for lunch – only to find out later it was in front of the police station<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n
But never mind, Botswana was a breath of fresh air compared\nto the challenges in Zimbabwe. For\ninstance, petrol stations had petrol (wow!), Visa cards worked and the water\nwas drinkable. We drove up the smooth\nhighway to the northern town of Kasane where we camped for the night and for\nonly the second time on our Africa journey, we ate dinner in a restaurant. And with good reason \u2013 we were celebrating\nour 500th<\/sup> day of Follow the Sun, which we passed in Zimbabwe a few\ndays earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n There’s a wide range of places to eat in northern Botswana but we did not choose this one to celebrate our 500th day on the road<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n But our focus was on Chobe National Park, Botswana\u2019s premier park, chocablock full of animals set on the beautiful Chobe River. Botswana is an unusual place centred in the middle of Southern Africa. More administered than colonised in its earlier years, Botswana never suffered from Apartheid, and hosts side by side the amazing Okavango Delta and the imposing Kalahari Desert. Botswana definitely has the goods for visitors and they know they can charge for it. Campsite fees in their parks are as much as US$50 per person per night, paid in cash with crisp new notes if you don\u2019t mind. Petrol and the supermarket prices are cheap for the locals but anything a tourist touches \u2013 game parks, hotels, campsites, etc \u2013 is astronomical. Sheesh.<\/p>\n\n\n We didn’t like Botswana’s pricing policies for visitors but we loved their animals…even this not-so-handsome buffalo<\/p><\/div> A perfectly proportioned umbrella tree, also called a thorn tree, one of Africa’s most visible and common trees<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n Well, we\u2019ve come a long way and we knew in advance this was\nthe case so we paid our money for two nights camping in different places and\ndrove into one of the true gems of African game parks. The Chobe River flows into the Zambezi before\nit all falls over Victoria Falls but in the park the water provides easy access\nto a zoo of different animals who come down to drink, bathe and hunt each\nother. <\/p>\n\n\n Animals come in all sizes in Chobe, including this monstrous elephant who wanted to use our road<\/p><\/div> To even the smallest animals like this handsome leopard tortoise which also wanted to use our track<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n Amongst all the wonderful encounters we had that day one of our favourites was finding by chance a leopard\u2019s kill, probably a gennet (a small cat) hanging over the branch of a tree. We searched high and low but unfortunately couldn\u2019t find the leopard itself. In the early afternoon we came upon eight beautiful young lions lolling about in the shade of a tree about ten metres from our track. These magnificent creatures couldn\u2019t have cared less about us so Julie made our lunch (from the safety of her seat in Tramp!) and we enjoyed sandwiches while watching the lions do absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n This cat wasn’t fast enough for a leopard who killed it and is their custom, stored it in a tree for future enjoyment. But where was the elusive leopard?<\/p><\/div> It’s hard work being a lion in Chobe and these eight beautiful creatures were taking their mid day nap<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Did you say something to me? A couple of lions take momentary exception to a nearby noise.<\/p><\/div> This young male and female lion were on the move as it started to rain<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n A rather foolish leopard tortoise decided to wander past these lions, one of which immediately saw it as a potential snack. Luckily for the tortoise it became nothing more than a roundish play thing<\/p><\/div> Wildebeests were a common sight in the park – curiously they seem to either travel in large herds or as solo complete loners<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n That afternoon we followed the track about ten kilometres\nback along the river and out through the sandy marshes to the tree with the\nleopard kill, hoping to finally see the leopard. And sure enough, luck was on our side, the\nleopard had returned to his kill and was casually guarding it from the comfort\nof the tall grass. We slowly moved\ncloser in stages and he eventually climbed his tree which added to the comfort\nof both of us. What an experience, this\nmagnificent beast in all his glory, his spotted coat a masterpiece, his dinner\nfor this week nearby, laying on a flat branch of the tree trying to get a\nlittle extra snooze time. We couldn\u2019t believe\nour good fortune.<\/p>\n\n\n There he is! We came back to his kill to find our elusive leopard and got very lucky.<\/p><\/div> Possibly my favourite photo in all of Follow the Sun, our leopard climbed up into the tree and made himself comfortable for his afternoon snooze<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n That afternoon we also slowly drove through herd of buffalo,\nperhaps 500 or more, as they completed their afternoon migration to the river\nfor a bit of drinking and mud wallowing. \nThis was a scene akin to American bison crossing the central plains or\nthe wildebeest in the Serengeti, just amazing. \nAfrican buffalo are rarely on top of anyone\u2019s list but when you see them\nin masse they are very impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n A huge herd of buffalo graze along the way as they slowly make their way to the water for an afternoon drink<\/p><\/div> We’re not huge fans of baboons, they can be a real pest in our camps and can be very aggressive but you have to admit sometimes their babies are cute<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n We camped that night on the banks of the Chobe River,\nstunning views across the grass lands and river, impalas and baboons\nnearby. This was the first of our many\ncrazy expensive campsites but when in Botswana you need to do as the rest of\nthe visitors to Botswana and suck it up. \nToday paid dividends beyond our expectations. Try to forget the cost, Chobe rocks!<\/p>\n\n\n Campsites in Botswana’s national parks are completely unfenced and eye-wateringly expensive with basic facilities but at least you get good views<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n Chobe National Park is actually divided into three distinct\nareas and we had decided to visit two of the three. We followed the river upstream the next\nmorning, hitting some bad patches of track which required substantial shovel\nwork to bring it to Tramp\u2019s minimum specifications, and came upon two linked\nherds of zebras, perhaps 150 striped animals in each herd, enjoying the morning\nwater and long grasses. Zebras always\nmake us smile, designed by children, entertainment for everyone, and when you\nsee them by the hundreds it\u2019s a fabulous experience. <\/p>\n\n\n Tramp is tough but sometimes the tracks were a bit tricky when we are travelling alone so the solution is the magic shovel and a strong back<\/p><\/div> One of many scenes we enjoyed when we came across huge herds of zebras – they always made us smile<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Surrounded by zebras and loving every moment of it<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n We left the park, had a short stint of paved road, then headed\nback into the sandy bush tracks. We knew\nfrom our maps we had 75 kilometres (45 miles) to get to Savuti Camp in the\nother part of the park but what we didn\u2019t expect was for that entire distance\nto be deep heavy sand up and down large sand hills covered in trees, hard going\nin many sections for Tramp. Anyone who\nhas driven the Simpson Desert in Australia knows what I mean. But despite carrying four tonnes, his 390\nhorsepower V8 engine ploughed through the sand, never failing us in four-wheel\ndrive. <\/p>\n\n\n One of the flatter sandy sections of this section of road – driving in the sand is all about momentum!<\/p><\/div> Heavy sand and long distances means that Tramp stays thirsty and needs constant refilling<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n It was an impressive performance, slightly tempered by his\ndriver hitting a few sand bumps way too hard and flinging open all the\ncupboards and the fridge inside the camper. \nWe have had this problem before and our solution is to tie the bed down\n(so it doesn\u2019t become an airborne object inside the camper) and use generous\namounts of duct tape to tape down the fridge and cupboards (never mind their\nlatches, none can handle African roads). \n<\/p>\n\n\n Some duct tape and our laundry rope kept the bed and food from flying around…except if the roads were real bad<\/p><\/div>\n When we opened Tramp the damage was there for all to see: some of our toiletries had flown from one cupboard, across the camper and ended up inside the open fridge, Julie\u2019s yoghurt was flailed out across our rug, cutlery was under<\/em> the bed mattress and more side panels had come free.\u00a0 It was a discouraging mess, to say the least.<\/p>\n No photos of the mess inside because it was a bit tense but here’s a view of where we had to clean up the mess from the outside<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n We made camp at Savuti, deep within the national park, at\nUS$100 per night for the two of us this is the most expensive campsite on\nFollow the Sun (the previous most expensive was the night before at $70). Botswana is not for the feint of heart, by\nroad or by wallet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That afternoon we headed out on another afternoon game\ndrive, focusing on waterholes of course. The wildlife was scarce by our high\nstandard but we loved the beautiful drive through the open savannah, enjoyed\ntwo herds of elephants, a herd of wildebeests, some beautiful kudus, an African\nwild dog (rare), a black-backed jackal and more. That night we sat around our fire, loving\nthe beautiful stars of the southern cross, all of it for free no matter where\nyou. <\/p>\n\n\n The black-backed jackal was a constant visitor to our binoculars – very handsome<\/p><\/div> This apparently is what zebras think of me taking their photo<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Chobe National Park also has the famous five legged elephant<\/p><\/div> Chobe National Park’s version of Abbey Road (if you don’t get it, you’re too young)<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n The roaring lions in the distance all night and the hyenas\nthat ravaged our rubbish bin were a fitting send off to our camp in\nSavuti. We headed south out of the park,\na long soft sandy and bumpy track that tested our attention and absorbed the\nwhole morning. By early afternoon we had\nreached the regional capital of Maun, a dusty sprawling city that deserved\nlittle attention. We attended to\nimportant administration issues because Botswana requires all campers in their\nparks to have forward bookings \u2013 not our strongest point \u2013 and we were planning\nto plunge back into their remote corners. \n<\/p>\n\n\n Two giraffes at the water needing a drink…but how do they do it with such long necks?<\/p><\/div> Everything for all the world to see but at least we now know how they drink water<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n\n\n Chobe National Park had been fantastic \u2013 we saw the fifth of the Big 5 \u2013 the leopard, plus more lions, herds of animals, amazing scenes, challenging roads. But Botswana has much more to offer and we were about to dive into more of it!<\/p>\n\n\n A few final favourites such as the guinea foul, also known as pea hens<\/p><\/div> Probably the most common of all animals in southern Africa, the beautiful impala<\/p><\/div><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The border process to enter Botswana was going very well, everyone was friendly and we were getting all the necessary stamps. Then\u2026a very officious Customs lady bursting out of her large uniform came out and asked if we had any fresh meat while Julie was being asked by another official to wash her shoes. Botswana is trying to stop a spread of hoof and mouth disease, which is principally passed …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-botswana"],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/DSC_0797.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14102"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14191,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14102\/revisions\/14191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a>
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