03/12/10 My First Safari!

Happy Friday! So today is Safari day! YAY!!!

We got picked up at 07.00 and on the journey back to the Kazungula border crossing I kept having waves of excitement and a big grin kept appearing on my face. As we drove I saw men and women working in fields, turning over the soil with picks and working hard. Children were sitting on blankets while they worked. Some were sat on the road and I just though what a hard life it must be? Pretty simple yes. But hard all the same. The children over, generally, come across as being very patient. They will often go along with their mother to work, wherever that might be and they all just get on with it. No Moaning or complaining. They just seem to want sleep, food and the toilet!

I have noticed that my fingers seem really swollen here, more so than In Botswana which is strange.... unless I'm getting fatter which is also a possibility!

I noticed a blue taxi overtake us and the back window is no longer there, having been replaced by cellophane! They are so creative in their ability to fox things over here; it really is amazing how resourceful the people that I have come across so far can be.

We arrived at the crossing and our Jollyboys guide walked us through into the office. The inside was cramped and hot, with people needing to get their passports stamped to get into Botswana. I felt bad jumping the queue, but this must be something that has previously been agreed between officials and Jollyboys - I guess it's all good for the country as we are tourist?

The river crossing was this time completed on motor boat and as we crossed we were directed to the different countries that the river touched. Zambia behind, Zimbabwe to the left, Botswana in front and Namibia to the right! Amazing. We were greeted by two safari jeeps that would take us to the office, where we would begin our safari adventure! The group was split between those that were doing one day (me) and those that were doing camping. I was gutted that I was not doing camping now, but I'm sure I would have fun on the day. There would be five of us, a nice small number - there was an Australian guy from Sudan, Carlos a Spanish translator, Freddie and Bertrum from Malta, and me!

The morning would be spent doing an overland drive and the afternoon on the Chobe Riverfront. I had a lot of anticipation - what would we see? How many animals? How close up would we get?I asked our guide what animals we would see and the first thing he said is that he could not guarantee seeing any animals. Obviously they have had people before complain when they had not seen the animals they wanted. But when I asked what we 'could' see, he said lions, elephants, giraffe, Zebra, buffalo, impala and a few more!!!! After a couple of stops for signing in, we entered the Chobe National Park. As we did so our driver gave us some warnings and guidelines - one of which was to keep all body parts inside the vehicle!!

Within 10 minutes we saw lots of impala and also warthogs (one of the ugly five apparently!). It was so great to be out in the countryside and the great outdoors. The sound of nature, the bird calls, the wind rustling the trees and past me as the vehicle drove further into the bush. It was bumpy. But I didn't mind. We drove on and as we did we were told that two lions had been spotted I this area. Soon we stopped (for no apparent reason) and then the guide pointed to the bushes - following his finger I suddenly saw a lioness sitting in the shade of one of the bushes! The next thing the lioness got up and began walking out from under the bush and adopting a predator like stance! She then began running and all of a sudden two baby warthogs ran in front of the vehicle, closely pursued by the lioness! It was amazing to see her sleek coat and muscles flexing in the sun. They outran her easily and it seemed like far too much work for her to continue, as she slowed and moved to sit under another bush. As she walked she was calling to her husband (as the guide called the male lion). It was so deep and soft, really beautiful.

We set off slowly, soon to come to a bush where an eagle was eating a dead baboon. You could hear the meat being torn off. Nice! Next a larger eagle flew close and this must have been the sign for the smaller one to move. We set off again, but the quickly reversed and the guide had seen the lioness come out from her bush and move over to where the dead baboon lay - apparently lions are very good scavengers and will do so at every opportunity, much easier than killing your own food. She grabbed the baboon in her mouth and took it back to the shaded bush where she crunched away, the sound of the bones snapping cutting across the silence.

We drove on and saw bushbuck, more impala, baboons, lizards, stork and more eagles. I was really willing us to see giraffe, elephants and zebra... but it wasn't to be L I was a little disappointed in general with the morning, which makes me sound ungrateful. I guess I have wanted to do a safari for so many years that I was hoping to be surrounded by a lot more than we had seen. But it still was fantastic!

In the afternoon we did the boat trip. This was my favourite part as in a strange way I felt so much closer to nature. We saw hippos in the water and on land, both adults and their young. I could not believe how big they were! A couple were behaving quite aggressively and turned towards us so the guide sped us away. They can move pretty quickly in the water as you do not know where they go when they disappear under the water, it can be a bit dangerous! We saw lots of crocodiles and managed to get really close to these - they give me the creeps!At one point we were heading back down the river when a hippo suddenly popped its head up in front of the boat! We had to swerve quickly to avoid missing it and we all let out a shriek!

The guide took us to a part of the river which was covered in water lilies. Apparently at the root there is a potato like vegetable which is eaten by villagers. He made a necklace for me and said that the necklace used to be given by a man to a woman as a sign of engagement. It was so pretty. The stems are also hollow so he was trying to convince us that you could use them as a straw and it would filter the water - I'm not sure how true this is though!!

I was sad when the trip was coming to an end. The people had been great and I could have stayed on the boat for days. We all seemed quite tired on the way back to the crossing; I guess it had been an eventful day! As we waited for our boat, the guide was telling us that the police keep an eye out for the canoes coming close to the pontoon. The reason being that people try to remove products from the pontoon to avoid customs at the other side and therefore paying, or simply stealing from the side and taking the products over to Zimbabwe to sell. As he was telling me this, it actually happened! One of the canoes had managed to take a crate of beer and was moving away very quickly, with the owner of the crate of beer jumping up and down furiously. The week before a man had got shot for crossing over the border illegally. Serious stuff.

We tipped our guide and set off back across the river, where we were met by our bus driver. It was a quiet journey back to Jollyboys!

That evening I was invited to go to The Arts Cafe by Bert and Freddie. I had wanted to go there since my arrival and it was a fantastic evening. Firstly we ended up arriving quite late, about 9pm, so assumed that the dancing that had been advertised must be finished. However when we asked for a table, we were led outside to where we were greeted with a band, someone talking on a microphone and tables and tables of people! As we entered, the man on the microphone said "Welcome to our distinguished guests", next thing a table was brought out and chairs, placed right at the front and we were asked to take a seat! We all looked at each other in amazement! A tablecloth was lane and drinks order taken. The man with the microphone then introduced someone else and it all clicked into place.... WE weren't the distinguished guests! That had just coincided with our entrance! Phew! It turned out that the night was not the one that had been advertised but was the end of a film week celebrating the final pieces made by the local disabled community of Livingstone. Within the crowd of people I noticed that the majority had some kind of disability - some on crutches, some in wheelchairs, some deaf and being signed to. I was sad that we had missed the film that had been shown earlier in the evening. It was interesting to listen to the guest speaker - one o f the councillors of Livingstone. He spoke about needing to be proud of Zambia and what it had to offer and also how things were being improved within Livingstone. He was clearly very passionate.

After the guest speaker the band played a few more songs (all traditional music) and people danced. Bert was dragged up to the dance floor and after a few songs, it was time for food! Luckily no one had eaten yet so everyone ate together.I had the maize meal (I think called Seshwa), pumpkin flowers, something which tasted like chemolier and a nutty dish. It was really scrummy and good to eat traditional Zambian food. By this point it was getting late, but we entered into conversation with the Arts Cafe owners and learned a little more about the festival and what had been happening.

It was now just before 12.00 and they were closing up, so we thanked them for welcoming us so openly and said goodnight. We got back just after 12.00 and all hit the sack. What an amazing day!!