Another day, another African border crossing

We had an early start this morning, primarily due to the three overland trucks that left by 6am with much calling out to each other, loud farewells etc. Unfortunately the kitchen didn't open until 7:30am and as we are supposed to eat something before taking the anti-malarials we hung around until then. But, it didn't open. So rather than waiting around for who knows how long until the kitchen opened and then the further 30 minutes it takes for them to make toast we decided to just start heading for the border and hope. A few minutes after we started walking a nice South African stopped and gave us a lift all the way to the ferry, driving past the 1km of waiting trucks right to the front. Bananas made for a quick breakfast and then we jumped on the ferry with about 10 other passengers (plus 1 truck and 1 ute - which explains why it takes a week to make the crossing).

The difference once we hit Zambia was obvious. We were instantly designated as money trees and approached from all sides by people wanting to show us their wares, sell us money or find us a taxi (even coming into the customs booth to ask what we needed). We forked out a ridiculous amount for the visa ($80 each!) and tried to find the official exchange bureau... but, it was Sunday and it was closed. So we ended up changing with one of the guys who was hanging around and quickly jumped in a taxi for Livingstone.

Arriving at Fawlty Towers was blissful, and the staff are the most competent yet.. nothing like the TV show. There is a beautiful garden with a nice pool, hot showers with good pressure and best of all, free pancakes everyday!! (The free internet helps too) So we decided to stay... and keep extending how long we are going to stay here.

Is that a scorpion?

After a very bumpy truck ride we were happy to relax for a day in Kasane. We spent a couple of nights camping in what was obviously a popular overlander route - with at least 8 different trucks in the two nights we were there. Including one of absolutely insane people who were travelling for 9 months!!! They were generally older and had been doing a lot of bush camping as they went. The other trucks were younger and only the few older people on them were willing to talk to us. It was nice to talk to some other travellers about where we were going and what we should do there. We are getting used to camping, although the scorpion crawling over the tent (inside the fly, but outside the mesh) was a little disconcerting.

The highlight of our time in Kasane was a wildlife cruise into Choebe national park. We saw hundreds of elephants and a few other animals. The sunset was beautiful and it was a very relaxing way to spend an afternoon.

Kasane was also noteworthy for it's relatively cheap food... albeit slow. For breakfast one the first morning we asked for some toast (for about $1) and wondered how an earth it took 30 minutes to cook a piece of bread, especially as we were the only people eating! The next day we decided to forgo the breakfast as we were eager to get to Zambia... but that's another entry.

Why we should have got up an hour earlier.

After our trip into the Okavango Delta we spent another night camping in Maun and enjoying a proper meal (the tinned peas and corn we had taken for dinner on the mokoro trip were less than inspiring) before attempting to get an early start for the long trip to Kasane. Unfortunately we didn't make it to the bus station until 8am (we were aiming for 7:30am) so we were on the 8:30 bus to Nata. We arrived in Nata at around midday and were pointed to the petrol station where the buses to Kasane leave from. Asking around we were quickly told that we had missed the Kasane bus, but we could ask around for a lift. Although hitch hiking in Botswana is supposed to be safe we stood around debating whether to just find somewhere to pitch the tent for the night and take the bus the next day. As Jason was trying to find someone to ask what time the bus to Kasane comes so we knew when to get there the next day he was approached by one of the locals who had heard that we needed to get to Kasane, and offered us a lift on the back of his truck for the same price as the bus tickets.

The back of the truck was filled with furniture and spare tyres and we were told to sit on a metal cupboard for the trip. We had been warned previously by a group of overlanders in Maun that the road between Kasane and Nata was pot hole filled and probably the back of a truck was not the most comfortable way to go! We did see a large herd of elephants beside the road and at one point had to wait while a big bull elephant got off the road. Altogether the trip was long (4 hours!), bumpy and very windy... but fun all the same. We were dropped at Thebe camp site where we decided to spend a couple of nights to recover from the journey. Never has a sleeping mat felt so good on our very sore backs.

Will it float?

Our trip into the Okavango Delta was of the budget variety. This meant going into the Eastern Delta close to the buffalo fence (which separates wild animals from cattle to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease), so we were warned by everyone involved that we were not likely to see many animals, but that it would be a chance to see the delta and the bird life. The other aspect of a budget trip is that it is self-catering. This means taking not only all your food, but also your tent, sleeping bag and anything else you want... they provide the transport and a guide.

So, the morning of the tour we got into the open safari vehicle to be transferred to the mokoro station. There were 8 of us going in, but only Jason and I were staying overnight. It took about 2 hours to get to the buffalo fence and soon after passing through we spotted the first wildlife. Zebra!! Then some giraffe. These were quite a way off but still exciting. We were also eagerly following elephant tracks down the sandy road, but by the time we reached the village to pick up a guide we still hadn't caught up to the elephants. At the village there was much discussion and talk between the locals to decide who would be poling (there are 2 people to a mokoro so we needed 4 guides/polers). Once they were sorted we continued down to the mokoro station... although maybe that's an overstatement. There was a bit of shore with what looked like a few logs in it... our mokoros. A mokoro is a dug out log, which is filled with straw to help keep you dry (help, not succeed). Each mokoro was a different shape and about half were already filled with water. Undeterred our guide loaded all our camping gear, food, his camping gear and three of us into this mokoro.

We were sitting below the water level, with only about 5cm of mokoro above the water level. The guide (Olly) stood at the back and pushed off with the pole. We wove our way down narrow channels, choosing one over the other apparently at random. Although on one particularly narrow channel where he had to get out and push the mokoro when we got stuck we were informed that there were hippos in the main channel, and being that low in the water we were just as eager as him to avoid any hippos. Never has there been a more menacing sound than that of a hippo's laugh. By about 20 minutes in the mokoro was soaked with water and a puddle began to form in the bottom. It took about 2 hours of slowly making our way through the channels surrounded by grass the height of a man, water lilies and lots of different birds to make it to the campsite.

Here we set up camp and rested before heading off for a bush walk (not a game walk we were assured) with Olly and his trusty stick. Olly was a great guide giving us lots of information about different plants and there uses, including the sausage tree which can be used to, um, increase a mans size - but you must be careful not to go too big we were warned! Olly also showed us some red berries which he named lucky berries. A few minutes later we stumbled onto a blue wildebeest and cautiously approached hiding behind a termite mound. We were stared at as we stared back and it was wonderful to be so close. Later in the walk we also saw giraffe - approaching to within 20meters, and a big bull elephant - which we were about 10meters away from. Olly did seem rather worried about the elephant and kept checking the wind direction to make sure we were down wind. It was absolutely amazing!!

The night passed uneventfully although the hippos sure were noisy! The next day we did a further bush walk with more elephant, hippos, giraffe, zebra, warthog, impala and baboons galore. For a trip where we weren't expecting to see animals it was amazing, and so much more fun on foot. We relaxed in the mokoro on the way back enjoying the peace and quiet (and now sitting on plastic bags enjoyed being dry!).

All in all a fabulous safari to start off with.

Chicken? Live or cooked?

One thing that I would highly recommend to anyone coming to Africa is catching alocal bus. You arrive at the bus station which is the size of a few football fields with hundreds of combis,thousands of people and dozens of large buses. There are rickety stalls everywhere, and people walking around selling anything you could want. You wind your way through the maze that all the locals seem to understand the order of and point you to the bus that is going your way. On our first bus trip we had arrived in a taxi and when our driver identified the correct bus someone came out grabbed Jason's bag and loaded it on for him. I was trying to keep track of the bag, the bus and Jason (who was waiting for change from the driver). We were soon seated on the bus as dozens of people squeezed up and down the aisle selling food,drinks,sim cards, bags,wallets, DVDs,belts, lollies etc. Not sure if we were supposed to buy a ticket before we left I asked one of these sellers...however he misheard me thinking I wanted to buy a chicken! That was fine with him, did I want a live one or cooked with chips??

We both enjoy the bus stops where food and drink appear at your window. And watching a family of four squeeze into two seats together. We have made it as far as Maun in Botswana, and tomorrow we will be doing a mokoro trip into the Okavango Delta. We spent a lovely couple of nights camping in Francistown, and are now staying in a beautiful campsite beside the river. There is a pool which we plan to enjoy this afternoon, and the showers are the best we've had yet in Africa (open air showers and all).

We have also now experienced our first African border crossing, which went quickly and easily. We asked one of the locals on the bus if there was somewhere to change money at the border,and he then took us under his wing showing us where to go and what to do. Everyone piled off the bus and into South African customs who stamped us out. We then walked about 200 metres to no mans land where there is a currency exchange booth. We took the last of their Pula before heading anouth 300 metres to Botswanan customs. And that was that. Easy and simple.... here's hoping they're all that easy. Of course yesterday the bus got stopped at a checkpoint where they were very interested in what our anti-malarials were...and they only found one box,not the other 8! Luckily once they saw our Australian passports they stopped searching and waved us on. The tourist buses we saw were just waved through the checkpoint.

That's all for now, sorry still no photos...maybe in a few more weeks.