We started off slowly in the morning and then ventured in Kasane town to sort our immediate problem. The regulator for the gas bottle was not a Cadac and so didn't fit, something we only found out when we set up for the first time! Luckily after searching a few places in Kasane Huskin's Hardware had the right thing, and even gave us a 20% discount. There is a well-equipped Spar in town and all the general odds and ends can be found in this tourist centre.

We had book a river cruise later on and it was cheaper to visit the park on the same day and keep the entry permit so we went in with our car for a few hours during the day. We had been warned that Botswana was expensive and the fees to get into Chobe were P120 per person and an additional P50 per vehicle so over R300 for the two of us, plus the R200 each for the river cruise.

Chobe apparently has 100 000 elephants and if we saw 150 in the north-east corner of the park it wouldn't be an exaggeration, they are literally everywhere. Also huge herds of giraffe and Buffalo, the density of game is quite phenomenal. We were only there for a few hours including a picnic lunch and didn't do anything but explore a bit since we expected the river cruise to yield a bit more. There is deep sand everywhere so it was also fun exploring our lack of 4x4 ability and some of the AndBeyond rangers thought us very amusing!

Thebe River Safaris operated their own game drives and river cruises so camping there we went with them. Seven of us hopped on to the boat: 2 young Americans who drank 2 bottles of white wine; a German lady and what seemed to be her son; a retired Australian mining foreman; and us. We were three hours on the river finishing at sunset which was fantastic. The highlight was seeing two lionesses drinking from the river, or the elephant swimming to the island (an interesting friction between Namibia and Botswana - the Chobe is the border between Botswana and the Caprivi Strip) and all the fish eagles in the trees. Crocs and hippos aplenty also lined the river banks.

Definitely our most expensive day of the first few weeks but very well worth it, we stayed at the same camp in a different site and met some overland tours, the European "prisoners" who get carted around in these massive trucks between camp sites. We generally enjoy meeting the drivers more as they are laid-back and unpresumptuous but actually know where they've been and can give us the info we need about routes, road conditions and recommend campsites.