Chobe Riverfront and Kasane

From the exit of Chobe, we drove along the edge of a forest and a few small towns before reaching the riverfront section of the park.  There is the option of driving along the highway that cuts through the park or entering the park and following the river.  As we still had our entrance from our stay in Savuti, we decided to take the river route as we had ample time.

 

 

Due to all of the rain, several pieces of the road that got close to the river were still covered in water.  There were also sections that were almost completely washed out from the runoff.  A couple times we had to detour around a crater that had formed as the water ran down from the higher ground.  It was slow moving and we started doubting our decision to go along the river.  Thankfully, the terrain changed and while it was still a dirt road, we could move at a decent pace.

Even though the road was bad, we saw group after group of animals. There were the ever-present impala, waterbuck and their young, Cape buffalo, elephants and their babies, giraffes and red lechwe.  What impressed us was the quantities of the animals we saw.  When we spotted animals, they were in groups larger than we’d seen previously.  At one point, there were at least 40 giraffes and a herd of around 20 Cape buffalo.  There was very little time driving that we didn’t spot one animal or another.

 

 

 

Kasane

As we reentered civilization, we realized we hadn’t left the bush that far behind.  There were warthogs and baboons crossing the street amongst the cars and people.  We went into a store on the way to our hotel and there was a sign titled, ‘Living with Elephants.’  It detailed what to do in different scenarios of elephant encounters, whether it be on foot or on your property.

 

We made our way to the Chiloto Guest House, which is also where we’d return the truck.  It took time, but we emptied out all the drawers and dug out everything from under the seats.  Our home on wheels was about to be given back and we weren’t ready for it.  The man who accepted the truck could sense our feelings and pulled out slowly as we waved goodbye.

The location of the guest house was great for walking into town as many hotels and lodges are located on the river outside of town.  We were in search of a souvenir and were up for the bargaining game.  After visiting several stands, we found what we were looking for.

The Haircut

Tico had started a tradition of getting a haircut in each country we visited.  He had found the perfect place with its 3 mesh walls under a tree and one side painted with faces and the word ‘haircut.’  There were 3 guys in the stall next door and they said it’d be a few minutes.  It turned out they weren’t quite ready to work, but they made their way over in no time.

 

Tico gave his instructions and one started shaving the sides.  As he was unsure how high to go up, there was a moment when he had a bowl cut.  Then it came to the trim on top.  Up to this point, he hadn’t asked anyone to deal with the top.  One guy ran to get scissors and came back with rounded scissors that would be used for a kid’s school project.  The barber grabbed a handful of hair from the top and started gnawing slowly at the clump.  I tried to direct them some, but was crying I was laughing so hard.

 

After a few pointers, they switched barbers and scissors and kept going.  This time they used office scissors so they cut a little easier.  Over and over again, they kept saying, “Your hair, it’s so soft.”  They had never cut hair like his before and were struggling.  From time to time, Tico would look in the broken piece of mirror and give his opinion while I tried to help by holding his hair.

 

In the end, it didn’t turn out too bad.  There was one final snip at the end that took an unnecessary chunk, but it’ll grow back.  The experience was definitely worth it.  Even school children on their way home stopped by to watch the event.

 

Boat Cruise

Almost everyone that we had spoken to recommended we do a boat cruise into Chobe National Park.  The owner of the guest house helped us to arrange it through Chobe Marina Lodge, one of the other lodges in town.  Through miscommunication and our inability to remember the price she quoted us, we actually ended up getting a discount.  Considering the prices for everything in Botswana, we were very excited about this.

 

The boat, filled with chairs and lodge guests, slowly started down the Chobe River.  The river changes names multiple times, but is actually the same as the Cuando (Kwando) and Linyanti River that we stayed on in Namibia and days earlier in Botswana.  Our driver was also our guide and would run from the back to the front of the boat to point things out.

 

Our first stop was at the floating dock entrance to Chobe National Park.  Then, we continued on to start spotting animals.  We saw various birds as well as a baby crocodile.  There were impala in the distance and hippos in the middle of the river.  As we continued on we saw a large crocodile basking in the sun with ducks nearby.  Then a group of elephants with their young came to the water.  Before long, 2 more groups of elephants came out of the bush and down to the water. There were 20 elephants drinking and batheing while the crocodile enjoyed the sun and kudu and baboons relaxed in the shade.  And while this was happening, a hippo swam in front of us in preparation for its nightly feed.  It was an incredible sight!

 

 

During this, one of the tour guides on the boat swore he saw a python behind a tree.  We spent the better part of 20 minutes trying to locate the snake and see what it was eating.  A tail of a baboon would appear and it looked like it was suffering.  We passed the binoculars around and kept watching.  Finally the baboon made a move.  What we all thought was an amazing python kill was actually a baboon sleeping and having an interesting dream.

 

 

To finish off the boat cruise, we headed closer to the Namibian side to make our way back.  The sun was setting and as it had rained earlier the clouds were still hanging out.  Slowly the sky started changing colors and the beautiful sunset reflected off the water.  It was the perfect ending for our time in Botswana.

 

Helpful tips:

• If we could have changed something, we would have spent a night at Ihaha instead of Linyanti.
• Unless you have a tent, accommodation prices are high in Kasane.
• Chiloto Guest House offers a great location for walking around town.
• If you don’t have a car, most Kasane accommodation offers safaris into Chobe Riverfront.