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magnificent drive up on the Western Zambezi to Liuwa Plains then across to Kafue Park and ended in luxury at Livingstone…

24Oct08, Friday
Botswana halfway point / Francistown
JHB to Francistown: 8 hours

Driving on Francistown road… “Tjo! Tjo! Tjo!” – the advertising was fun

Not one of our exhillirating drives it has to be said….

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Left home around 5am (stopped at a Wimpy 3 hours later for brekkie) arrived at Botswana Border (Martin’s Drift) around 9am.

Tip: In SA, when passing through Mokopane (ex Potgietersrus) beware of opportunistic attacks at traffic lights – these guys wander right up to your car with hand on car handle eagerly scanning contents of your car while the other one awaits your response on driver’s side for a quick attack. Right in front of your eyes (happened to us both times). All you need is a breaker bar for threatening purposes and a heavy hand on the horn (and of course locked doors and closed windows).

Home to border: 350km, 4 hours
Border Costs: Road permit of 150Pula return (you suspiciously pay another 50Pula on return though)
Fuel Top-up, Francistown: around 15000Pula for a full long-range tank
1st stop: Tati River Lodge, Francistown – Tel: 2406000 – 40Pula per person per night (has restaurant for buffet breakfasts and dinners)

We arrived in Francistown around 2:30pm and straight to the nearest Land Rover Dealership in Francistown thanks to a very poor service from the guys out in Kya Sands back home which caused the clutch to slip more often as we reached Botswana. Something which seriously needed fixing before Zambia. The poor service unfortunately translated as follows: clutch kit had to be replaced, including the flywheel and master cylinder.

It has to be said, the Land Rover Dealership in Francistown has got to be the best dealership ever – the service, the people, everything… The workshop team were working on our Landy until 10pm without a trace of grudge or dissent – they were smiling their way and cracking jokes, and just being pleasant throughout. Where else would you get such quality service here? (or anywhere in the world for that matter?) The best 4×4 dealership by far.

All this activity of course broke our driving at just the right time (we were initially going to camp at Elephant Sands as Nata Sanctuary burned down) but Tati River Lodge in Francistown served as a very appropriate one-night-stop. With restaurant for a quick brekkie (starting at 6am) before our next long stretch. No complaints there.

Chobe River … our kitchen underneath a ceiling of branches… breathtaking sunset – our first champagne ceremony…

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25Oct08, Sat
Drive to Chobe River Lodge (near Kasane border)
Another fuel top-up in Nata
Camped in Chobe River Lodge for 2 nights visit: www.chobesafarilodge.com
Costs: 2 people for 2 nights 260Pula

Tip: we kept filling up whenever we could in Botswana as fueling in Western Zambia was always going to be a bit of a gamble on our chosen route…

After a hearty breakfast at Tati River Lodge we set off around 8am towards Chobe River Lodge. We arrived there around 3pm and surveyed our camping spots (note: you don’t book for camping – first come first serve). We found 2 beautiful spots vaguely overlooking the Chobe River with some hippos in the distance and some Wildebeest and Ellies further way, and with our resident warthogs and restless monkeys to complete this idyllic scene. As for our birding experience, truly satisfying, we got to identify some of the following sounds: orange-breasted bush-shrike, plenty Pied Kingfishers (you actually saw them at work during our trial fishing periods), yellow-billed Kites – all easily identified thanks to our birder companion (Linda – thank you).

26Oct08, Sun
Chobe River Lodge – River Cruise (130Pula per person plus an extra 70Pula for Park fee)

Today was the day for our long-awaited river cruise. We had a spot of Tiger-fishing in the morning followed by a quick dip in their refreshing pool before setting off on our river cruise for the afternoon. Chobe National Park is said to have the highest concentration of elephants than anywhere else in Africa (we could certainly believe it – lots of different herds wandering about). Also rich in bird viewing…

Tip: when they say the cruise will start around 3:30pm, what they actually mean is that they will leave by 3:15 as people tend to arrive early so once they’ve more or less packed the boat, they will leave without you. No matter, we were duly escorted to our proposed boat in no time…

This cruise is highly recommended as you get to see lots of interesting animals up close and personal. Hippos, crocodiles, elephants (lots of separate herds), kormorants, fish eagles, skimmers, monitors, bee-eaters, zebra and more…

first, a spot of fishing followed by a refreshing swim…

Next up, the river cruise.  Chobe River never dissapoints… So many magnificent animals,  not to mention prolific birdlife… blissful!