Animals, Animals, and more Animals, OH MY!

There is nothing like sitting on a bus waiting for a herd of Elephants to cross the road. Since arriving in Botswana, we have been lucky enough to catch a lot of African animals just chilling on the roadside.  Our first encounter was with the caribou which are like the deer of Africa. Going from Francistown to Kasane, we go through the outskirts of a few big game parks. We saw a lot of elephants, a pack of zebras, giraffes, and a family of monkeys.

 

In Kasane we took a boat ride through the Chobe National Park. The park is beautiful and we continued to see so many more animals. In the park you can either take a safari by land, or water. If we would of done it by land we could of gotten closer to the animals, but by water you get to see more, and don’t end up scaring the animals away. We saw hippos, crocs, monkeys, giraffes, multiple types of caribou, a weasel, elephants, and plenty of birds. The park is also on four countries, so while on the water we passed through Zambia and Namibia.

After the boat tour, we ate dinner at the hotel we took the tour from. They have a buffet, which was my first buffet in 3 years, but it also serves game meat! I got to try Impala meat(like a deer) and Kudu (another deer) and a few different types of fish.

After Kasane, we traveled north and crossed the border into Zambia. Going from Botswana to Zambia you take a ferry, which I can add to another type of transport we are taking on  this trip. Crossing the border was easy, then we went to Jungle Junction. It’s a little island, about a 1km long on the Zambezi. We got dropped off on the Zambezi, and a guide came to pick us up by canoe. Since we were the only 4 people on the island we had a nice view of the river. Our chalet was like the house in the Swiss Family Robinson. In the evening it started raining, so we hung out in our chalet and relaxed.

From Jungle Junction we went to Livingstone. That is were our group split for a few days. Two of us headed to Luska, and the other two into Zimbabwe. 

 

 

 

 

Upcoming Events: Victoria Falls, then heading to Namibia!

Leg # 2

Quick update: We finally met up with Heather, our final group member. We also made safely to Francistown, where our vacation officially starts! After being in West Africa for 3 years, Francistown is like mini America. There are shopping malls, grocery stores, and people don’t sell things from the top of their heads, or go to a farmer’s market for their veggies.

Since there was no direct bus from Jo’Burgh to Francistown we had to stop in Gaborone. We arrived, EARLY, but at night, so we didn’t get to see much, since early the next morning we took off for Francistown. Since our arrival, we took a tour of the town, which is really nice. Francistown in the 2^nd largest city in Botswana. It’s also halfway between Gaborone and Kasane, a large tourist city.

Since there isn’t a lot of touristy things to do, we have been doing things, that Heather participated in while a volunteer here. Friday morning we went to the Prison of Immigrants and played volleyball all mornings. People who illegally sneak into Botswana, and then get caught go to this prison, while waiting for a visa, or asylum seekers. Most people here have been denied asylum or a visa and are awaiting to be returned back to their country of origin. Heather got involved here and would do educational programs for the women, and recreational activities for the men, since this was her last time going, we decided to play volleyball. I felt we gave them a good run for their money. They were pretty competitive, but I was on the winning team!

Next leg:

Kasane-boat cruise

Livingstone- Fisherman’s village, Victoria Falls

Luska