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Victoria Falls and BotswanaMar 31, 2008
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Our morning Greeter
The Mist that Thunders
Breakfast at RL - don't get any better
Victoria Falls and to Botswana March 31
Today started with a super breakfast on the outside patio at RL. Sally & I had a front row table with the river and and a view of the "Mist that Thunders" in front of us. Our first event of the day was a short trip to the "Falls you can't see". The mist can rise to 1000 feet above the river from the 350 foot drop of the water. This year the above normal rain has much more water than normal going over. The only part I was able to get clear photos of is normally dry at this time of year. One of our photographers tried taking photos from his camera inside a plastic bag. Just got photos of water drops and fog. Approaching the Falls rainbows were everywhere. Then we hit the mist. Even with raingear everyone was plenty wet. Don wore his normal slippers and got to pour water out of them as we left.
Switching to dryer clothing we boarded a minibus for the hours drive to the Botswana border. Botswana and Zambia are separated by the river. Crossing was a cultural experience. Only one of the two vehicle ferries was operational. Long lines of heavy trucks waited to cross. The queue was over 2 days on the Zambia side. The Botswana to Zambia crossing had a SIX day queue. With only one ferry and lots of folks and private vehicles they were only taking a heavy truck every other crossing. We crossed on a power boat owned by the Safari company - Bush Tracks. The Botswana side was more crowded than Zambia, possibly due to problems in Zimbabwe and ZA restricting their border crossings. Due to a Hoof & Mouth disease epidemic in cattle all vehicles entering Botswana had to drive through a chemical wash, and we had to walk across a pad covered with wet mesh which was supposed to sanitize out shoes.
We had a late lunch at the magnificent Chobe Safari Lodge before departing on our Game Safari in Botswana's Chobe NP. It was a grand way to end our African Game Safari's. Impala, Warthogs, large numbers of Elephant, Wildebeest, Hippo, Crocks, Monkeys, Baboons, and even a Monitor Lizard came out to see us. Our Guide said over 60,000 Elephants are in Botswana. They were everywhere in the park, and the river and were almost too close to us for photos at times.
Our return crossing back to Zambia was a real cultural experience. Long lines queued at customs on both the Botswana and Zambia side of the river. Lots of pushing, line cutting were combined with warm temperatures, and not everyone wearing Right Guard! Our passage through customs was expedited by our guide and a bill that passed between him and a customs clerk. I said it was a cultural experience. Much of the world does not operate by our standards.
Our return to the RL was greeted by Zebras at the entrance gate. Both Zebra and Giraffe were outside our door as we left for dinner.
