On the east side of the “V”, lies the Chobe National Park. Now this is a place where we wanted to take the Tazz, but because the area is one big sand trap, we decided to do a boat tour instead. It was the right choice. As driving in the park would be similar as Etosha, going by boat allowed us to get right next to some of the premier animals. There was a grass island in the middle of the main river and lots of the big animals were holeing up there because the grass was green and tasty. Plus, the lions and leapords were no threat to eat them.

The S.S. Tazz.
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A big ass deer that looked like a big stick of Biltong (Jerky).
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Got Crocs?
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This was the biggest Croc I and Daniel had ever seen. It was massive and I had no doubt it could take down an elephant. When it slid into the water, everything ran. Even the ducks decided to head south.
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Need Hippos?
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Buuuufffaaalllooo.
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I see Elephants. All over.
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The End.
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Andrea cruising in a Mokoro. They had switched to some boats being made out of plastic for forest conservation. Plastic is good with me. I liketechnology especially when there are crocodiles just below your ass.
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My choice of transport. Smooootthhhh.
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Rest stop.
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One of the first animals I got to see was this 7′ Python. Nice.
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A nice evening view. Almost as good as cable tv. Who am I kidding, nothing is better than cable tv. I miss you so, cable tv.
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We got a place just a couple of yards from the river. It seemed like a good spot until late at night the herd of Elephants came walking by along the river bank. It was a bit nerve wracking as the thundering foot steps and bellowing were just outside the nylon tent flaps. I wasn’t as worried as Daniels tent was closer to the water than me and I was just waiting for his screams before I made a run for it.
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We saw herds of a Zebras, Wildebeast, Giraffes, Antelopes, and other horned and tusked creatures. No lions though unforuneately.
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A skull of an elephant. Kinda big.
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When you can basically stand and almost curl up in an animals footprint, you know they are one big beast.
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One good thing about Africa is that they have firewood. In South America, I had one place where I had an actual fire. Here, its a piece of cake and really nice to relax next to after a hard day of game walking.
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This is the “champagne” colored water. It is kind of champagne colored, but more pee toned to me. We got to swim in a little pool which was quite nice. Supposedly no Belizaria (Schistosomiasis) but we’ll see. Daniel and Andrea ran out of water and was drinking the stuff, and they seemed to have survived so maybe it is alright. For me, I ain’t drinking water that isn’t clear as a bell and chemically treated.
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The ride home in a big ass four wheel drive.
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We entered Botswana through the north east via Mohembo-Shakawe. We ended up missing the cut-off to cross the border because of the time change so we stayed the night at a nice river camp that we found.

The next day our mission was the Okavango Delta. The Okavango Delta is made up of a river 1430km long originating from central Angola and flowing down through Botwana and the Okavango and spreading like the fingers of a hand and slowly dissipating in the sand. It brings life to an otherwise desert like area. The tourist draw is that it is supposedly one of the most spectacular sights on earth and needs to be traveled via the old style Mokoros (local dug out canoes) through the champagne colored water. With the water comes the animals, and a three day river tour was in order.

We had heard that the best area was at the southern point of the “v” that the river makes, but at the upper left “pan handle”, deals could be made. We gave the pan handle a shot but came up empty. So, we ended up making the long drive down to the bottom. While up in the pan handle, we met up with a guy who new a guy and set up a meeting for us. That evening we met up and I arranged a deal (that was my main job for our group as the English speaker, deal making. Coming from South Africa, my deal making skills are still sharp. The hand waving, heart grabbing, begging, pleading, “I love you- really” all helped to get us some savings along the way. In the end we got a good deal for $110US for three days/ two nights via Mokoros. After shopping and a stay at the Audi camp, we were off.