Getting there: Wednesday/Thursday 5/6 October

Poem by Lynne Alexander at Carnforth Station	It is always a long trail for everyone just to get to Heathrow, and after a drive and then a bus ride my journey really started at Carnforth station, setting for the film 'Brief Encounter'. My wait there was very short, but just long enough to spot a very appropriate poem about waiting on the platform. After all the land travel the easy bit was sitting back in the 747 and flying down to the Southern Hemisphere! Although most of the flight was through the night, as the sun rose we were just flying over Botswana, and the Okavango (a shiny stretch of water in the mist) and the edge of the Kalahari (flat pans) were just about visible before the clouds took over again. They cleared as we approached Johannesburg, so we could see the varying density of houses in different neighbourhoods - some with pools, and some with plots just about the size of those pools - and some large yellow waste areas of the gold mines flashed past as we came into land.
In Johannesburg we transferred to a flight to Livingstone - not entirely straightforward as some people had luggage booked through all the way, some had boarding cards, two people even had both, but the majority had to enter South Africa, check in, and then leave South Africa again. Flying visit! At Livingstone we were met by Chantel & Todd, our driver/guides for the next three weeks, and driven in two Toyota Landcruisers to the Chrismar Hotel. The hotel was really a collection of thatched chalets set in the grounds around a central restaurant and swimming pool - which four of us made quick use of! Given the fact that we were all tired after a sleepless night at an altitude of 11,000m we just about managed a welcome meeting and buffet dinner before collapsing into bed.	Chrismar Hotel Chalets
Friday 7 October Rainbow in spray: Victoria Falls	A bright and sunny day with a fresh breeze blowing through the leafless trees - it was early spring here, and the surrounding open woodland looked more as though it had suffered a fire than a dry winter. We were collected by mini-bus & taken to view the Victoria Falls. Luckily the dry season was ending, so there was some water flowing over the Zambian side of the Falls - but no visible rising cloud of spray as there was on the Zimbabwe side. Nevertheless there was enough spray to give rainbows, visible from many of the viewpoints we were taken too. After the tour we followed the long line of lorries loaded with copper slabs heading for the bridge over the Zambezi and into Zimbabwe. As the bridge is effectively no-man's land it is possible to exit from Zambia to view the river & then return without having to buy another $50 visa.
In the afternoon some of us headed into Livingstone to visit the museum. This was quite interesting, but having spent too much time looking at middle stone-age stone tools, and some stuffed animals, there was no time for the interesting section on Livingstone himself (including many of his original letters back to England), or the modern history of Zambia...next time perhaps. Later we all boarded the 'African Queen' for a leisurely cruise up the river with some tasty snacks and unlimited free drinks. I think we saw lots of hippos, and a wonderful sunset, but I'm not sure......	The African Queen
Saturday 8 October Loading the vehicle onto the ferry at Kazangula	Time to move on again, and to move countries too. We set off on another warm, clear, sunny morning to reach the border with Botswana, and the Zambezi, at Kazangula. A long line of parked lorries led to the border gate - emigration formalities appeared to be longer than the immigration ones. While the guides sorted out the vehicle documents we got our passports stamped and then headed down to the water to watch the loading and unloading of vehicles from the ferry. There was much shifting of stones and pieces of wood to smooth out the transition from rusty iron loading ramp to dirt slope up to the road. Eventually it was our turn to follow all the vehicles onto the ferry and enjoy the five minute cruise across the river. The border formalities to enter Botswana were rapid as we had already completed the forms - so another stamp in the passport, and quick wipe of shoes on the disinfectant mat, and we were in Botswana. It was only a short drive to Kasane, the main town in the Chobe River area. As we couldn't check in before 2 pm we had time to shop for water, get cash - as my cash card didn't work I exchanged my left-over Euros for Botswanan Pula (meaning 'Rain' - obviously a valuable commodity). Lunch was pizza - not, I guess, a traditional local dish!
After a short break we headed off on the River Chobe for a river cruise. We had high expectations as it was still the dry season & animals should be there in greater numbers along the river - the only water source around. And so it proved, with plenty of elephants, cape buffalo, water buck, red lechwe, not to mention crocodiles and hippos in the water. It wasn't until; we spotted hippos out of the water that their enormous size became apparent - with their massive mouths chomping at the grass. Part-way into the cruise we seemed to be slowing & slowly spinning round - usually a sign that there is something interesting to look at. This time, however, there was no commentary, and we gradually became aware that the boat's steering had failed. After a series of attempts to go forward, all of which ended in us heading for the right bank, a reserve boat appeared and we did a mid-river boat swap (which unfortunately resulted in my camera filter dropping off into the river!). This excitement over we continued the cruise and were rewarded with a stunning sunset over the Namibian banks of the river.	Sunset from the River Chobe
Sunday 9 October Sable Antelope	Most of us had booked an alarm call for 05.00, or thereabouts, to raise us for an early game drive. Most of us were up & about to leave the room when the calls were actually made! Nevertheless everyone was there on time for an 06.00 start, and off we went, spread over two vehicles in a loose convoy of around five vehicles entering Chobe National Park at the same time. The dried slopes with really dead-looking trees looked deserted, and unlikely to harbour any wildlife. Wrong! It wasn't long before the radios crackled that a leopard had been spotted & we raced to the scene - not easy on the tracks of loose sand! The leopard was lying on a low branch, and was soon joined by another that appeared to box with the first a little. Eventually the first one got down off the tree & wandered around a bit before disappearing - a great sight. During the three hours we were there we saw two rare-ish antelopes, the roan and the sable, and just as we were on our way out another leopard was spotted, and we could just about see that this one was playing, cat-like, with something it had caught, possibly a mongoose. All this before breakfast!!
After all that excitement the long drive to Katima Mulilo, & then through the eastern part of the Caprivi strip to the River Kwando, could have been an anticlimax. Well, it was a bit as the landscape changed very little (although getting greener), but the journey was enlivened by a picnic stop below a large tree. It was all hands to making a picnic lunch, watched by the children from the local village. We reached Camp Kwando, with riverside chalets on stilts (& loos open to the sky!), at 4 pm, and most of the group squeezed in a visit to a local 'show' village, whilst a couple of us relaxed and watched another sunset, reflected in the water-lily  filled creek. After that we had a delicious dinner of kudu meat. Perfect.	Elephant baby being fed
Monday 10 October The night visitor!	I awoke to noises in the night - close rustling, not the more distant frog noises. Flashing my torch I spotted a mouse that I had seen in my room the night before. He scarpered & I went back to sleep. In the morning he was still running around my rucsac, having chewed through my new waterproof rucsac liner, & a carrier bag, to get to a packet of salted peanuts I had carefully hidden there the night before: mouse-proof I thought! Cheeky thing, so I took its photo & chased it out, again! Today was a travelling day, which meant heading back on the dirt road past neat stockaded villages, to the main east-west road through the Caprivi strip, and then heading west to the Kavango river. It was hard to keep awake: straight road and unchanging scenery of scrub and occasional mature trees being very soporific. Having crossing the river, and refuelled, we headed south to the Mahengo National Park for a game drive (adding Zebra to our list of species seen) and another delicious picnic.
Over lunch we filled out our Namibia emigration and Botswana immigration forms (again) so as to speed up the border crossing - which worked, as there was very little delay, and even some jolly repartee with the Botswana immigration lady officer. We then continued south, past similar villages to those in Namibia, but with more solid buildings, but less neat enclosures. At Sepopa we turned off eastwards to reach the waters of the Okavanga Delta and our accommodation at the charmingly named 'Swamp Stop'. This turned out to be a rustic low building with an adjoining camp site and ten or so rooms in the grounds. The place swarmed with kittens (so probably no mouse problem here) and the electricity failed during dinner a couple of times. Otherwise, fine! That evening two other people discovered that a mouse had munched some of their provisions........	Impala in Mahengo Reserve
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