The final stretch was like the final nail in the coffin of bad roads. In this case more specifically, road construction. For probably 90% of the distance to Lilwongwe.
Once we entered the city limits of Lilwongwe. Gridlock. Why? Road construction.
What was billed as a leisurely 3 or so hour drive back to Lilongwe turned out to be our typical very long drive. In this case close to 7 hours and because the road was in such a state of turmoil there wasn’t really any countryside to enjoy along the drive. Just dreary, dusty and desperate little villages and hamlets existing along the fringes of the highway construction.
We entered Lilongwe around 2:00 pm hoping to beat the rush hour. We spent almost 1 1/2 hours to travel a distance of less than 6 km!
It was too bad the last leg of our journey was this way because we did see so much beauty over 1,700 kms of driving through a variety of landscapes.
The upside is there is a lot of infrastructure upgrades happening in Malawi and it seems that everything will probably be in turmoil for 1-2 more years but I think the results will be a very much improved road dynamic for Lilongwe and greatly improved highways for at least what we saw through our 1,700 km journey.
We departed The Warm Heart of Africa on August 24th after 15 days and made our way back to Johannesburg for a two night pit stop before heading out for some beach time in Mauritius.
About an hour before departing Chitimba it started to rain quite heavily which is unusual for this time of year and it gave us a feeling of foreboding because we had to cross back over the mountains towards Mzuzu. Us and many semitrailers facing a very long and steep incline on wet, muddy, slippery and destroyed roads. We weren’t looking forward to the drive.
We made it without a hitch however and it didn’t seem to be as bad as when we came from the other direction four days earlier.
It was still really bad but it was at this point that I came to realize that the last time we drove this section it was near the end of a long drive and we had already dealt with a lot of shit and we were tired so I think it made it seem worse than it really was. I’m over thinking it. It sucked. But not too badly.
The road from Mzuzu to the turn off to Luwawa was over all very good and took us into higher altitude scenery.
As we made our way into higher altitudes we noticed that the forest trees had been planted and realized that Malawi has a silviculture industry as we drove through the center of of the Vipya Complex Forest Reserve.
We had to exit the highway onto a gravel road and had about 8 kms of seriously bad road conditions through a working silviculture area on the outskirts of the national forest.
It becomes tiring writing about bad roads but this 8 km section really pissed us off. There is a nice small resort at the end of the road, can’t they do at least some minor repair? Maybe this is supposed to add to the idea of the remoteness of the lodge but I think the road would be a big surprise if you showed up in a 2WD sedan.
We spent one night at Luwawa Forest Lodge located in the higher altitude forest near a sawmill and forestry operation and close to a bream stocked lake. It was set among a beautiful landscape and promoted itself as a family or group destination for weekends of horseback riding, hiking, fishing, archery etc. They also host local and area schools for weekend field trips and such occasions.
This was just a pit stop on our way back to Lilongwe but it would have been a nice stop for two nights to allow us to explore the nearby lake and hiking trails.
The food and service was excellent and once again, we were the only people staying at the lodge.
One highlight however was the water. The tap water was certified as excellent and safe to drink and management made it clear that we should drink it and it was cold and fresh and wonderful. A bit of a surprise when you expect most water in developing countries to be un-potable.
Also surprising was the evening temperatures. I can’t find the elevation we were at but it got very cold when the sun went down and apparently the temperature hit a low of just around 2 C. It definitely felt that cold and the sky was clear with little light pollution so we were able to see the Milky Way in most of it’s glory. Unfortunately the photos don’t quite do it justice.
After a nice breakfast we departed back to Lilongwe. The owner of the lodge told us there was quite a lot of road construction on the way back so it would probably take a “little” longer than usual to get to the city.
As it turned out, ‘quite a lot of construction” was a very big understatement. The trip back was about 270 kms and I swear 200 kms of that was road construction!
Then we had to deal with the Lilongwe road construction.
Our drive from Rafiki to Chitimba was another of many of the worst drives we have experienced in over 30,000 kms of self driving in Africa.
Madagascar was very difficult with worse “roads” but somewhat more limited to certain areas that you knew about before getting into it where here it was anywhere and everywhere and it put a bit of a grind in your mind.
It wasn’t much fun but once in the rear view mirror, well, a little bit fun but still very tiring.
It was another 6 1/2 + drive to get to Chitimba with the next to final stretch entailing winding mountain roads that have been destroyed through neglect. I was amazed we didn’t get a flat or worse, destroyed tire(s).
As we entered Chitimba our Maps.me App told us to turn left in 40 metres but we knew the camp was on the right lakeshore side because we have stayed here before. I hate when one of the map apps screws up. You definitely lose trust.
We turned right, negotiated a steep drop off the road onto some rocks and made our way slowly down the path/road to Chitimba Camp, our stop for the next three nights in a small cabin with ensuite and two twin beds.
We had stayed here seven years ago and as back then Eddy and Carmen still run the place and it looked exactly as it did back then which is a very good thing.
The food was really good, the beer not quite cold enough but Ed would put some in the freezer for me and again we were in a situation where we were essentially the only people staying here except one couple in a nice Overlander 4×4 one night and a young female solo traveler who just kind of showed up out of nowhere one late afternoon.
For context and to make a long story short, we met three young boys on the beach in front of Chitimba Camp and for several years we kept in touch via email. Things evolved and we eventually began supporting some secondary students with their school fees and also helped to get many young children into primary school.
The above left is Rodwell in the middle, his brother Lekani on the left and his cousin Yeo on the right in 2017 and me in the middle with Yeo and Lekani.
Below is me added into the mix in 2024.
We spent three days in Chitimba and met the families that we have been involved with as well as a visit to two orphanages in the area.
Chitimba Camp is nicely located about 200 metres from the lakeshore of Lake Malawi. This distance has been a saviour for them this year because of the high lake water levels.
Water did accumulate in a low area between the lake and the lodge and Eddy has allowed some of the locals to plant rice and cassava.
The camp is quite large and has several basic accommodation cabins with shared ablutions and a couple of cabins with ensuites. The grounds are large and open so they accommodate a wide range of “camping” options from pup tents to large overlander trucks to bushcamper vehicles.
The restaurant/bar serves really good food and the music Eddy plays is varied and excellent, at least for us Boomers.
As mentioned before we stayed here for two nights in August of 2017 and nothing has changed and that is a good thing however Eddy and his partner Carmen are considering making a change so we shall see what the future holds. This is the only place in Chitimba where tourists can overnight. There was a camp called Hakuna Matata next door but unfortunately the owner passed away a couple of years ago and it is now closed.
Outside of the gate to the camp and lining the road on both sides are several artisan stalls selling primarily wood carvings and the camp offers the only chance for some to sell their carvings and other items to the tourists that stay at the camp. This is probably the only outlet they have.
Eddy will give the stall owners a heads up when any groups were going to arrive at their camp to help them capitalize on the limited tourist potential.
It is a very difficult life in Chitimba and by extension many of the small villages in Malawi where youth unemployment is extremely high. There are no or very limited opportunities for the young people who have scraped by to get a secondary education. There is next to nothing for them in their communities unless they continue on into college or university which unfortunately is impossible for them because of the cost. It is a troubling situation that exists everywhere in Africa and many other countries in our world.
We departed Chitimba on August 22nd happy that we were able to reconnect with the friends we made in 2017 and also very sad that we may never see them again
We are doing our best to help.
Our next stop is Luwawa Forest Lodge which includes a drive back over terrible roads through Mzuzu and then hopefully some road respite.
The drive from Chembe to Salima, aside from the road to Monkey Bay was excellent. From Salima to Nkhotakota was not so good. By a long shot!
There was the pot holes of course and then what really added to the frustration was the erosion/destruction along the sides of the two-way roads which created many areas where two cars could just barely and possibly not share the pavement. This was especially more difficult if a big truck was involved. You had to very cautiously pull over and off the creviced side of the road giving just enough room for the truck to get by. The broken side of the road was sharp asphalt so this was potentially tire destroying.
Throw in a whole lot of new road construction, “speed humps” literally every 100 metres in many road construction sections and at the end of the day what should have taken 2 hours took close to 4 hours for a total driving time of 6 1/2 hours to get to Rafiki Safari Camp, our stop for the next two nights.
We arrived at our destination frazzled from the journey and checked in at a small reception post near the camp. Arthur radioed our arrival to the owners who greeted us and then asked if we would like to do a game drive once we got settled. A chorus of two sang out “ no, we need a cold beer”!
Rafiki camp sits along the border of Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, the oldest and largest reserve in Malawi.
The owners, Chris and Sandi of have poured their hearts into their lodge which abuts the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve and with the recent management agreement between African Parks and the Zambian Parks system I think they are well placed to reap the benefits of a rejuvenated park.
There is a long history to the park that unfortunately includes rampant poaching that reduced the elephant population to less than 100 from tens of thousands. With Africans Parks involvement things seem to be changing in a very positive way. I suggest you Google “African Parks” for more information.
We moved into our Safari Tent which was fantastic and settled in for two nights with full board and game drives and walks included with our stay.
Breakfast was the usual but really good while lunches and dinners were excellent with great deserts rounding out our three course dinners.
On our first night we shared the lodge with a French family with two kids so dinner and drinks in the main Boma was very uncrowded and quiet and after they departed the next morning we had the whole place to ourselves until our departure.
The morning after our arrival we did a small hike to the Bua River that flows nearby the camp. There were a few locals illegally panning for gold and there was a partial fence that divided the river between the national park and surrounding areas and it didn’t look like it was a very effective fence.
As we hiked along the river bank we were surprised by and then joined by the chef from our lodge. We didn’t think there was any reason for him to show up. We were quite comfortable hiking here but he made it clear that he was here for us and took the lead and gave us a nice tour of the river area and some perspective of life in this part of Malawi. And he was wearing his white chef uniform and hat! It was a very nice touch and for the life of me his name escapes me unfortunately.
Joyce had been suffering from neck pain for the past few weeks and didn’t need to have her neck shaken on a game drive so I went with Chris and Sandi in their safari truck. We picked up a park ranger at the park entrance gate and headed of on a 1 1/2 hour drive through beautiful thick forests and we had a great drive.
The elephants we saw were quite skittish and a little aggressive but over 500 elephants have been fecently relocated to this park so I’m sure these were some of those. I had many good wildlife sightings however the animals are more shy here because Nkhotkota has not been on the safari radar for a long time and I think this is a good thing. There was one other truck in the park with one tourist.
In Africa our evenings end early and our mornings start early. We had a long drive ahead of us to Chitimba so we had an early breakfast and said our farewells. The staff at the lodge were all wonderful, friendly and gracious and I think they all realized how lucky they are to be employed at Rafiki not just because unemployment is sky high in Malawi but because of the opportunity and good environment that Chris and Sandi offered.
Next stop Chitimba to meet friends we haven’t seen in seven years!
Departing as early as possible always ends up being between 8:00 and 9:00 am. It doesn’t matter how hard you try it almost never works out to plan.
The road to Cape Maclear was actually very good except for the last 30 or so kms. The road became pot holed and then became mountainous terrain with very sharp curvy roads with potholes.
We descended the hills into a flat landscape and a road that eventually took us through the village of Chembe/Cape Maclear. It was a fishing day and the village was crowded. We had an incredible experience driving through a typical Malawian fishing village weaving our way through narrow roads and paths.
We made our way through the village to the gates of our next stop, Chembe Eagles Nest, a nice place with bungalows on the beach with a restaurant and bar attached and probably the best location in the whole cape. And like usual the drive took us about 5 1/2 hours.
Our two night stop here was really only to break up the long drives we had ahead of us however our location really exposed us to beautiful scenery and a great experience meeting the local villagers and fishers.
Our first evening was a beautiful sunset from our seats in the outdoor restaurant. Food was good and the beer was cold and no bugs to speak of. But I better ask Joyce first.
We set up a boat and snorkelling trip for the next morning and after breakfast we hopped aboard the Honey Guide and set off to feed some Fish Eagles and and then snorkel on the southern edge of Thumbi West Island to view the Cichlids.
Before heading over to the island we did a coastal route along the shores of the lake fronting the village and were surprised by the number of tourist lodges nestled among the shore.
The water level of Lake Malawi is way above normal so many of the closer to shoreline lodges have been flooded and are out of business until the water levels subside. A big hit to the local economy.
We proceeded out to the island and secured the boat to a some rocks on the shore. While I was getting my mask spitted up, Eliot was feeding the fish bread! Not a good thing but then I dove in to snorkel with a huge array of Cichlids, the worlds aquarium fish. People don’t know this. This is an amazing fish species with over 600 distinguishable species just in Lake Malawi.
The area also hosts the schistosomiasis parasite which I probably aquired by snorkeling so I’ll do a dose of praziquantel 3 months after my exposure so November 16 is my pill day and also my fathers birthday.
After arriving back at our beach we had a light lunch and then wondered off for a walk into Chembe Village.
Zambia and Zimbabwe are both experiencing severe drought and Malawi seems to be experiencing the opposite. I think extra water is ultimately better than no water but there are major repercussions either way.
We spent two nights in Chembe and then departed on the 17th of August to Rafiki Camp, beside Nkhotakota National Park.
The distance from Lilongwe to the lodge is about 310kms and it took us about 5 1/2 hours to the park entrance gate, 28 kms away from our lodge. The next 28k took just over an hour and was through the park skirting the Shire River. It was bumpy and dusty and slow going but we could see that the wildlife would be plentiful however what we didn’t see was the turn off to our camp.
We were stuck behind two other vehicles and it was very dusty and they kept stopping every time they thought they saw something.
I was looking right, Joyce left and we missed the sign that was just to our right on the road.
Oblivious to our situation and 2 kms later we all stopped where the road stopped, except for a small river crossing. How can we be lost?
As fortune would have it, just at that moment, a Mvuu Camp safari truck crossed the river and stopped. I got out of our truck to ask directions only to be reprimanded by the safari truck driver that there are lions in the area and you cannot leave your vehicle, give me a break but rules are rules for a reason. Fortunately the turnoff was only 2 kms back.
We pulled into the camp parking lot and were met by a lovely lady only to be told we had been upgraded to Mvuu Wilderness Lodge, just a hop, skip and jump away. We are always a little suspicious when we get an “upgrade” but this one definitely did not disappoint.
We were seriously impressed with our upgrade.
Our bungalow was more like a large luxury suite made of natural woods, canvas tenting material with wall to wall screens, a king sized bed, walk in shower, sitting area etc. all overlooking a large lagoon. It was beautiful.
The Shire River flows into Lake Malawi which eventually flows into the Zambezi River.
Lake Malawi water levels were very high which resulted in the flooding of some of the upstream river plains and forests, leaving islands of trees.
The lodge had wooden walkways that once skirted the land but now served as elevated pathways over the water. We were told some people preferred the lower water levels because it allowed some grazing animals to be near the walkways but others preferred the flooded lagoon because it gave a sense of walking through a flooded jungle. We loved it just the way it was.
We had three nights at the lodge on a full board basis. The breakfast was a standard of cereal, fruit, yoghurt and an a la carte selection of eggs, bacon, sausage and roasted tomatos.
The lunch and dinner were preset and all were delicious with amazing deserts to follow.
Our stay included game drives, walking safaris and boat excursions on the Shire River. We did one boat excursion and two drives.
The drives were good. We saw several Southern Ground hornbill, wild pig, a small pride of lions with one male, three female and three young cubs, Sable Antelope, Kudu, Roan, Elephant, Waterbuck, Eland etc. and a land that has been somewhat transformed with the high waters.
The best was the river cruise.
The scenery was spectacular and the flooded land, where once there was large grassy grazing areas hosted a large array of birdlife as well as large mammals on the shores and larger herds further off into the distance. Large flocks of African Skimmers, Spoonbills, Open bills and a myriad of other birds perched among the white topped volcano-like termite mounds that dotted the flooded landscape.
Our last night brought some elephant visitors to our bungalow and we were later told that a pair of lions visited the bungalow next to us.
We had a very good experience at Mvuu Lodge and by extension, Liwonde National Park. The staff were excellent, the food was very good, our bungalow was outstanding and we were treated to beautiful scenery and wildlife.
We bid Kristina and Lucy farewell on August 10th and hopped a flight to Lilongwe, Malawi to begin our next two week adventure.
Our accommodation for the first two nights in Lilongwe was Africa House, a beautiful mansion which was previously home the Belgian Embassy.
When we first arrived at the airport none of the ATM’s accepted our card. We had a ride to pick us up at the airport so we asked him to take us to a legitimate bank with an ATM but we still had no luck. I could use my Visa card for cash so I took out a few bucks to hold us over to the next day. We also stopped at an Airtel kiosk to get a SIM card and data but after much hassle and paying for a card we couldn’t purchase any data. We were told the card was activated so there must be network issues so we should try again tomorrow.
After breakfast we hired a taxi to show us around town and to also try a few more ATM’s and purchase some date with our new SIM card.
None of the ATM’s would accept our bank card so I loaded up on cash using my Visa and then immediately paid it off on line once we returned back to our lodging. Our next stop was to purchase some data. This was important because we needed Google Maps. We found an Airtel kiosk, were told our SIM card had not been activated, paid for a new SIM card, loaded up on data and it was off to the races. We obviously got ripped off the day before.
Lilongwe is very spread out over many “Areas”. Area 10, Area 40 etc. except 85% of the areas do not connect so you can’t assume an address in Area 10 is close to an address in Area 11. Road construction is rampant in the city and traffic is horrible although the fact that there is road construction is a good thing, except without doubt financed by a country that has ulterior motives.
That evening we had a very good dinner at La Cantina, a highly rated Mexican restaurant near to Africa House. The food was great and nobody spoke Spanish although a large noisy table spoke “belt and road”.
The next morning we were picked up by a “Land and Lakes” representative. This is the company that we used to rent our 4×4 and book our accommodations throughout Malawi. We picked up our truck and rather than use Google Maps, used Maps.me to plot our first destination.
We’ve used Maps.me before but it seems everyone in Malawi uses this map service and as it turns out, it was excellent and we will use it for all future travels.
Five minutes after departure from the office and just as we got onto the city bypass road, we came to a police road block. We were waved over, I stopped, rolled down my window to greet the female police officer and was told I was under arrest for passing on a solid line! Well this is great way to start a journey.
The officer had a slight grin on her face, she was hard to read but I vehemently denied the charge. “ It was a broken line I protested. I passed a very slow moving vehicle with an L on the back window. No way did I pass on a solid line”! She continued to smile, wandered over to the passenger side of the truck, looked at the insurance decals on the windshield, sauntered back, pulled out her gun, just kidding, nodded and smiled and told us to have a nice day.
We don’t think she was serious but maybe she was. We will never know.
We were heading to Liwonde National Park and after about six hours of so-so roads we made it to Mvuu Camp.
We covered a lot of distance from July 10th to August 9th.
We flew seven flight segments starting in Vancouver for a total of over 28 hours of flying time.
We picked up our Toyota Hilux Bushcamper in Kasane, Botswana and spent the next 19 days self driving a total of 2,601kms from Botswana through Zambia, into Zimbabwe, back to Zambia and ending up back in Botswana and experiencing three national parks, Chobe, Kafue and Mana Pools.
We dropped the truck off back in Kasane and then did a three night stay at Umlani Bushcamp in the central Greater Kruger Area of South Africa then headed back to Johannesburg where Kristina and Lucy boarded their flight back to Vancouver and we continued on to Malawi.
Below is our driving route that took us on a great adventure through Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
On the 5th of August, after a one night layover in Johannesburg we hopped a short 55 minute flight to Hoedspruit and were picked up at the airport for a 45 minute drive to Umlani Bush Camp, an off the grid camp located in the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve located in The Greater Kruger National Park open system.
The Greater Kruger is essentially an extension to Kruger National Park. It lies in the west and shares a 50km unfenced boundry with the park and is made up of a parchwork of private game reserves measuring 1,800 square kilometres, all under the umbrella of the Associated Private Nature Reserves.
The Timbavati Reserve and surrounding area has never been permanently settled from the stone age down to the 20th century so the lands have been barely touched and therefore the area is regarded as truly pristine and unspoiled and is considered to be genuine wilderness. At approximately 534 sq kms The Timbavati comprises over 1/4 of the land area of the Greater Kruger and protects black and white rhinos, pangolins, saddlebilled stork, southern ground hornbills and many other species.
And lots of lions!
Umlani Bush Camp is completely off the grid and can accommodate a maximum of 17 or 18 people. They have two beautiful uncovered Toyota Land Cruiser safari trucks that can seat ( in individual bucket style seats) a maximum of 9 people in a 3x3x3 configuration. They are super comfortable and everyone has superb viewing lines.
The camp is all inclusive with three delicious meals per day, drinks and two game drives daily. Morning from about 6:15- 9:30 am and late afternoon from about 3:15- 6:30 pm. The mornings are cold so everyone is provided with thick blankets and hot water bottles. A nice touch.
Breakfast and dinner is served in a cozy traditional boma/dining room while lunch is served in a bushbar and deck on the edge of the Nharalumi River (dry this. time of year) and overlooking a waterhole above the opposite side of the river bank. It was a great spot to relax between drives, play some cards and watch the variety of animals that would stop by for a drink from the waterhole.
On the first afternoon drive after our arrival we were treated to giraffes, elephants, kudu and a wide assortment of wildlife but the icing on the cake was a small pride of three lionesses, one male and four very cute four month old cubs.
After and excellent dinner we hit the sheets early and were lulled to sleep by roaring lions in the distance.
5:30 in the morning comes quickly and we made our way to the boma where the fire was roaring and pots of hot coffee lined the exterior of the fire.
With the sun poking up over the horizon we headed out on our second drive. It was very cold outside but the blankets and hot water bottles took the edge off.
Our first encounter was a den of hyenas. There was one female adult that we could see, a juvenile and a very young newborn. The juvenile would grab the newborn by the neck and try to cart it off and without hesitation the mother would come to the rescue, grab the newborn by the neck and take it back to the den where it would immediately leave and the whole process would start again. What can you say?
Later in the drive we stopped at water hole to excitedly watch a very large white rhino relax upon a hill. The drive was excellent, the rhino was boring but still amazing.
We returned back to camp for a delicious breakfast of coffee, juice and some amazing Egg Benedict.
The camp boasts a “tree house” that sits in front of a watering hole and is located 1 1/2 kms from the camp. Joyce and I spent a night there when we were last there in 2017. Kristina and Lucy opted for an early afternoon two hour visit and were not disappointed.
After our first morning drive while having lunch we were chatting with a nice family from Pensilvania and they told us about witnessing a giraffe giving birth. They saw the legs exposed but didn’t see the whole birth. Something you only see on TV.
On the following morning drive we saw nature at it’s most brutal. A pride of many lions including five dominant males took advantage of the weakened mother and it’s newborn and essentially had a very large meal that lasted them the next two days.
The smell of dead flesh permeated the air. Vultures waited patiently in the nearby trees while the occasional hyena stalked nearby waiting for the feast to end so they could clean up the remaining scraps.
We visited the feline smorgasbord three times over three drives and were amazed how quickly the two giraffes were reduced to skin and bones.
In between visits we encountered a mother White Rhino with her very young offspring, Cape Buffalo, Giraffe, Hyena, Kudu, Bushbuck, Wharthogs, and the list goes on. One drive melds into another so it is difficult to do a daily play by play. Suffice to say we saw the big five, we saw it all but we still haven’t seen a Cheetah in all of our African travels. Maybe next time.
The advantage of a safari drive in a private reserve is you can go off road in pursuit of something deep in the bush. You can get closer. You definitely cannot do this in a national park. I have nothing against the parks, you see wonderful wildlife but sometimes you can’t get as close as is possible.
The ladies skipped the final drive on the morning of the the 9th but I felt inclined to get up at the crack of dawn to go out into the bush and hopefully see something we hadn’t seen yet. We did a quick stop at the lions diner and we came upon four of the five dominant lion males licking at the last remnants. The first time I had seen so many males in one close location.
I have video but no pictures so this part of the story may stay the same unless I can find a good photo to end this story.
Umlani was an excellent experience.
We made our way back to Hoedspruit and connected to Johannesburg.
Kristina and Lucy ccontinued on to Vancouver and we headed off to Malawi.
It was another long drive of about 5 hours. It’s interesting because no matter the distance, it always takes 5-6 hours. Do not trust what Google Maps tells you.
We crossed back into Botswana via the Kazungula border crossing, this time taking less than an hour to cross. Botswana seems to have far fewer entry requirements especially relating to vehicles. We topped up the tank one last time and pulled into Chobe Marina Lodge emptying our luggage from the truck for the final time. Tomorrow the truck will get picked up and I will not have to do any more driving until we head to Malawi. Hallelujah!
We had two nights again at the lodge with our same rooms as previously and within minutes of getting to our rooms Joyce received photos and videos from Kristina showing the crazy Vervet monkey action on their balcony.
Later in the afternoon I was given a slingshot to protect the the bar from the marauding simians while the bartender left to get some supplies.
The late afternoon and evening was spent taking in the views and ambiance of the lodge, having a great dinner and then heading back to our rooms for a well deserved sleep.
The next day was a bit of a sleep-in day and we spent it wandering the main drag of Kasane for a short time (it was close to 33 deg outside) checking out the many artisan booths that lined the road and then a little lunch and relaxation before heading out at 3:00 pm on a fantastic private game drive into Chobe National Park.
There has been an extended drought in Zambia which has greatly affected the water levels of the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers in Botswana.
Because of this the riverside landscape of the Chobe had changed dramatically creating large swaths of land where once the river flowed. I believe more animals have been drawn out into the open (I don’t know if this is a good thing) due to the increased grazing opportunities and the sights were spectacular. Elephant by the hundreds, Cape Buffalo, Giraffe, Waterbuck, Impala, a huge variety of birdlife and the list goes on. Nature seems to adapt.
We made it back to lodge around 6:00 pm, cleaned off the dust, hit the bar for refreshments and a light dinner and let the time we spent in Chobe sink in.
We experienced a small portion of Chobe National Park however our base in Kasane allowed us to to see this amazing place from both the river and the land and it gave us a a wonderful perspective of the wildlife that still thrives in this part of Africa. An experience to remember for a lifetime!
Next up, back to Johannesburg for an overnighter then on to the Timbavati Private Game reserve in the greater Kruger region in northern South Africa.
