Monday, April 27, 2009

Botswana

After an exhilarating time in Livingstone doing all the things i have wanted to do since i could dream we jumped on board the truck and headed to Botswana.

I had heard good things about Botswana from friends who had travelled my route before me and i was excited to be on the road again.

The truck had been revitalised by the addition of 6 more people- Bec (my new tent buddy... not a patch on Dave) a kiwi girl on here way home to NZ after a few years in the UK, Lindsay a 21 year old from Salt Lake City, Jane an Obama campaign worker from St Loius, Sarah a londonite and Charlotte and Rusty farmers from NZ.

The newbies brought with them all their enthusiasm and excitement that had been lacking from us originals after 2 months on the truck and for me their addition was welcome. Rob (my bestie a remarkably kind, generous and organised brit) was worried about the impact of the Americans - would they be loud, brash and dominate group discussions, would they be bossy, complaining and nag alot were the questions he was trying to resolve.

Our first day on the drive to Botswana was unremarkable. The road was good (a welcome relief) and our boarder crossing smooth involving a trip through no mans land on a ferry and passing a point where 4 countries meet- Botswana, Zambia, Angola and Zimbabwe.

Once in Chobe we spent some time at the local shop rite (the equivalent to woolwortsh in OZ or tesco in the UK) before setting up camp and heading down the river for a sunset game cruise.

The landscape of the Chobe river was similar to that of the Zambezi (it is actually a tributary/ addition of it) and the sunset was magic. The sky filled with her colours and i could not help being amazed as the sky turned a fairy floss pink before fading to lavender lilac and eventually a deep grape purple. It seemed eatable, it was delicious.

The game on the Chobe was like all of what i had seen already, Hippos, elephants, crocodiles and giraffe but the animals of Africa never cease to amaze, their sizer and beauty a constant reminder that i am small part of a wide world far away from home.

That night we organised for a driver to take us to the swankiest bar in town to watch Manchester United play Roma (???)- and sitting their on a dreamy couch i fell asleep, waking only at the end in time for my ride home. In the car as i battled slumber i was awoken suddenly as our car came to a grinding holt- in front of us a heard of elephants had decided to cross our path- they were massive by moonlight and it was both beautiful and scary to see. They could trample our old beat up Toyota in a single move.

No comments: