We awoke the next morning and trundled off to breakfast. Our guides from Audi were due to pick us up at 8.30 so we wanted to be sure we were ready when they arrived.
Well, the guides were as we lumbered in for a sunny breakfast on the banks of the Chobe. In the sunlight all the bugs had retreated!
We met Jessica for the first time and were duly impressed. She was a native of Botswana, who had recently spent a year working for Walt Disney in Orlando.
She gave us the good news and the bad news. The rains have been plentiful this year, in fact they had been at record high levels. The drive from Maun to Chobe had been hair raising with flooding that was so deep it had soaked the trailer. And....the trailer contained all of our bed rolls as well all the other things necessary to camp in the bush for 9 days! The bed rolls were the biggest issue. So - Jessica - taking things into her own hands had found a lodge who could launder the gear. So - we'd start off a bit late, but at least we'd start off!
It turned out the laundry would be finished by early afternoon so we left Jess with the laundry, stopped by Choppies to pick up drinks and snacks and we were on our way! Off we rode on the tar roads, knowing soon we'd be on dust roads in the bush! Happy!!
We turned into the park and the truck we were in, 'The B1tch' started to over heat. Sigh! The crew were worried so they called back to Maun to see if they could bring our favorite truck to us, 'Sally'!
That first game drive....wow! Right out of the gate we saw warthogs, a big herd of buffalo, giraffe, Marabou storks, banded mongoose and we were in Africa!
Enjoy!
Cheri & John
For as long as I've know about bee eaters, I've wanted to take a photograph of one with a bee in it's mouth. After nine trips into the bush I finally got my wish! There they were...two little bee eaters sitting on a branch in the most beautiful light. I yelled, "stop stop stop", which BK promptly did. I couldn't believe my eyes...there was a bee eater with a bee in it's mouth! I grabbed my big gun and shot away!
