The month of April has allowed for a lot of traveling here in South Africa. Three weeks ago the University held a short fall break (as we are moving into winter), and so three of my friends and I planned a trip to Botswana and Zambia. We decided to be adventurous and drive ourselves across Southern Africa, four girls in a Nissan sedan. We did, indeed, find much adventure.
The first day, we drove from South Africa to Gaborone, Botswana. We have some friends who attend the University of Botswana in Gaborone, and we were able to spend some time with them and see a bit of Gaborone. The next day, we headed to Maun, a city on the edge of the great Okavango Delta. The drive took about half a day, but we were kept pretty entertained by the goats, donkeys, and cattle that sprinkled the poorly-paved roadways. Apparently, Botswana has the largest population of wild donkeys in the world. Strange. We drove through the Tropic of Capricorn and were able to see some really interesting landscape changes as we chugged along into the semi-arid countryside. The earth changed from a deep red color to sandy white when we entered into the salt pans of Botswana, and the vegetation differed dramatically. Suddenly, there were strangely giant termite hills surrounding the highway from all directions. At one point, we saw the most perfect, picturesque African sunset; it was like something out of The Lion King.
Our accommodations in Maun were quite lovely. We stayed at a backpackers right on the water of the Delta and slept under thatched roofs. There were perhaps more spiders than I would have preferred, but I suppose they come with the surroundings. Our first full day in the delta, we headed out on a day-long Mokoro (canoe) tour. I liken the Okavango Delta to the wetlands of Florida, for mental picture purposes only. Clearly, the delta is more remote and expansive. There are essentially hundreds of miles of marsh lands spread over the northern section of Botswana, where networks of narrow streams lead into larger, deeper pools of fresh water. Tall grasses and reeds grow out of the water. Mokoro boats are hand carved traditional canoes. Only two people fit into each canoe, and the guide stands in the back with a long pole to push you along through the delta.
We started on the tour early in the morning, riding along in the canoes for two hours before getting off on an island to track animals by foot and eat some lunch. By this time the sun was getting unbearably hot, but we followed our guide on an animal hunt anyway. We saw giraffe and elephant from afar and were able to find some well preserved rhino tracks. Giraffe are so funny in the wild. When they gallop their long necks move back and forth, and it's just hilarious.
When we got back in the canoe, we had to move past some hippos that we had seen earlier in the day. There were about five of them basking in the cool water. We stopped to observe them and take a few photos. One of the hippos became really irritated and began charging our boats, so our guides had to move as fast as possible to hide in one of the streams. The hippo pursued us for a bit, and then retreated. It was very unnerving, as hippos kill more people than any other animal in Africa and are known to have terrible tempers. We escaped unscathed, though, and now I have an interesting near-death experience to tell. Needless to say, I will not be getting close to a hippo in a small canoe ever again.
We spent another day or so in Maun, taking in the peaceful sights and getting to know some very interesting individuals before heading on to Livingstone, Zambia. We started on the road at five in the morning, and I had the first driving shift. I was expecting to encounter more donkeys and goats on the way, but - much to my surprise - I ended up dodging giraffe and elephant as well! (Giraffe look a bit like a T-Rex from far away...) We weren't sure how much big wildlife we would see on the drive, but it ended up being quite a bit. We spent another 14 hours on the road that day, navigating our way through the treacherous roads of the A33 in Botswana. The A33 is the only road that leads from Botswana into Zambia, so we were forced to take it, but it is in extremely poor condition. If we would have been in a 4x4, it wouldn't have been a problem, but our poor little rental car had a tough time going though the endless potholes. When I say potholes, I mean massive, extremely deep potholes that completely took over the road, from shoulder to shoulder. Luckily, after the first 60km or so the road improved and we were able to make it to Zambia before the border closed.
The next day we went to Victoria Falls in Zambia. Vic Falls is one of the Wonders of the World, and is one of the largest waterfalls in existence. We were at the falls during the height of flood season, and the locals said that the Zambizi River was fuller than it had been in over fifty years. We were expecting the falls to be powerful, but all of my expectations were blown away by the force of Victoria Falls. It was probably the most amazing thing that I have ever experienced in nature. From far away all you can see of the falls is what appears to be a huge cloud of smoke rising out of the earth. In reality, it is a cloud of mist caused from the falls hitting the river bottom.
There are several paths mapped out that visitors can take to view the falls in different ways. We first took the "picture" path, which allows for the best photographs and full views of the falls. We then walked to the bridge that marks the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe and briefly stepped into another country. Zim isn't the safest place to go right now, so we chose not to go into the country on our trip. After that, we took the path that goes right near the falls, and even though we wore ponchos and rain coats, we were completely soaked by the volume of water coming off the falls. It was like a monsoon was hitting you from all directions, and several inches of rushing water covered our feet. As we were walking, it was easy to forget that it actually wasn't raining. We were just in a freak mist storm. I couldn't stop laughing and smiling during those moments.
We then chose to walk down to a place called "The Boiling Pot," which is at the base of the falls. We we able to hike down the cliff through the breathtaking rainforest to get to the bottom. Once we reached the base, the path had been swept away in the flooding, and we had to hike through knee-deep water to reach the Boiling Pot. It was well worth it, though. We had an awesome view of the place where the falls hit the river, causing massive swirling vortexes. The water churns and bubbles with such force that it leaves you in awe...and slightly terrified of falling into the waters! After we hiked back to the top, we walked to the upper Zambizi River to see where the first part of the river turns into the great falls.
That night we took a sunset dinner cruise of the upper Zambizi and met some new friends. We had to cut our trip to Victoria Falls a day short in order to make up for the unexpected loss of time we were to experience on the A33. Dodging more elephants (and even an elephant train!), we made it back to Francistown, one of the largest cities in Botswana. We stayed there for a night, drove the rest of the way to Gaborone the next day and spent another night with out friends at the University.
I had such a wonderful time in Botswana and Zambia. Not only was I able to experience God's beautiful creation in new, amazing ways, but I got to interact with some of the nicest people I have met in my life. I would like to return to Zambia if only to get to know the locals better!
