Baobabs and other sundry delights

We finally managed to reach the Savuti camp area of Chobe National Park after an uneventful drive in from Maun. We didn’t see many animals on the way in, which was a surprise because Chobe is supposed to be more dense than Moremi. We did see a few elephant carcasses – apparently they get too dehydrated during the dry season, and when the water comes they drink too much too fast and die. Sad. Too avoid another unfenced campground fiasco, we pre-booked a swish lodge at Savuti. This was a tent structure similar to what we had before, but fully decked out with air conditioning, fine linens, and a bathtub, and a fancy dinner at the lodge. Way too much money, but a nice place.

The more we drove around Savuti, the more we saw. Savuti is a water channel that had been dry for years but water returned a few years ago. Animals come from all over in the dry season. We saw some rare wild dogs, huge roan antelope and tiny klipspringer, tons of baby impala, and got quite close to some giraffes and a large herd of zebra. We found a whole grove of ancient baobab trees. Many had evidence of a lot of elephant tusk damage, but they somehow seem to survive even when the elephants have dug into the bark by 30cm or so.

On the way out of Savuti, we hit some deep dry sand and had to fly through the road as fast as we could with partly deflated tires, hoping no elephants wandered onto the narrow track. We made it. And we saw a herd of elephants with babies once we were able to slow down. There were loads more elephants even once we reached the paved highway. And more baobabs.

We arrived in the town of Kasane at dark, wishing we had stayed longer in Savuti because we saw so much on the way out. We had been told it was a 2-hour drive, but it was closer to five. There seems to be a habit here of drastically under-estimating driving times on the back roads. We camped at a lodge in town the first night here and woke up to torrential rains, but also a mom and baby warthog and a giant family of tiny banded mongoose in our campsite. We were exhausted from all the driving, so decided to stay here a few nights to do nothing and rest up, but we moved to an indoor place for better sleep.

We took an afternoon boat cruise along the Chobe River, and saw some fantastic hippos and a crocodile. The next morning and afternoon we drove along the Chobe River from within the national park. We saw some rare birds- I think we saw a kori bustard, which is the world’s heaviest flying bird. We got very close to a hippo bathing in one of the huge puddles in the road, and saw some very young elephants. Amazing. Also amazing how quickly seeing things like elephants starts to feel normal (if not a bit scary). They are a road nuisance here like moose are in Newfoundland. It’s hard to imagine what this place is like in dry/high season when there are many times more animals, and thousands of elephants all over the place.

Oh, and I finally had my first African gin and tonic at the bar of a swish lodge in town overlooking the river. Perfect combo of some of my fave things: hotel lounges, Africa, a good G&T, and B.

Next up: Zambia and Victoria Falls.