Friday, June 9, 2006

Onward to Botswana

Before 8m we had seen 2 zebras and a bunch of monkeys. Joyce and I walked over to the Royal Livingstone hoping to see hippos...no luck for us, but Tami saw them on her walk.
Our first adventure today was to visit the Zambian side of the falls (no poncho needed).
Billboard du jour: "Do things the right way, not the corrupt way!"

We stopped for brief moment for Kelvin to get some more minutes for his cell and in that time we were offered copper bracelets, walking sticks, and could we donate to help the deaf/blind.
We had to cross the river to get from Zambia to Botswana. There is no bridge. There are 2 ferries (but one is broken), that carry all cars and semis across. The trucks queue up on both sides of the road and may wait up to a week to cross the river.
We are on the border of 4 countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana. After crossing the river in a small fishing boat, we had to go through customs and wipe our feet on a special mat, to prevent foot and mouth disease from getting into Botswana. The sign in the customs office: The Lord is my shepherd, Trust by force. Do you know the identity of Jesus?
Botswana already seems to be better off than Zambia, much better infrastructure. We are staying at the Chobe Safari Lodge. The hotel also has a "beware of crocodiles" sign and "public" monkeys. We've been told we'll here the "Sounds of Africa" at night, but not to open our doors.
Game Drive #1 3-6pm with Lesh, our guide in Chobe National Park: Red billed hornbill, spotted hyena, warthog, red billed franklin, giraffe, elephant, impala, squirrel, kudu, banded mongoose, guinea fowl, wattled plover, puku, crocodile, hippos, gray lorry, Egyptian geese, black wing stilt, egret, baboon, lical breasted roller, lions
It was a successful first game drive. Our jeep included me, mom, Tami, Loren, Pat, Joyce, Linda and Sheri. Chobe is known for their elephant herd, approx 50,000. We saw them all playing in the water. Female elephants have tusks, and they mother the herd. Most males live alone or in a bachelor herd. We stayed in the park to see the sunset and on the way back, we saw our lions.
Just for the record, tonight I had 2 African specialties. The Klingfish and the Maphone Worm. I asked Joseph the cook how to eat it and he took the one off my plate and showed me. How could I miss out on this cultural experience?

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