A Day in Botswana

Yesterday we arrived in Zambia, where we view Victoria Falls. The Falls are about a 10 minute walk in back of the hotel, but I haven't been there yet. We can see the mist rising all day. When we flew in we could see the mist from the plane. I'm ready to be overwhelmed.

What a day we had today. I have not completed any blog for a time, but decided to write about today.

 We started about 7:00 in a bus that picked us up at the hotel, and drove us to the border of Botswana. The Wagon Master had taken all our passports to process them together to leave Zambia. When we came into Botswana we all had to go in and get processed. We then drove to a river and made ready to cross the river over to Botswana.

Four countries come together at this river – Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Manibia. These spellings could be wrong, but I think they are right. For years the four countries have been discussing building a bridge over the river. The discussion concerned what countries would build it, what countries would pay for it, etc. Well, they have started. Zimbabwe did not agree to the terms of building the bridge. Thus, when it is done, people from Zimbabwe will still have to use boats.

All that has been done so far is that a concrete pad has been built at the side of the river. They are still using boats to cross the river. The boat however did not reach the concrete pad. So, we were told to take off our shoes and wade through the water to the boat. There was a ramp at the front of the boat so we weren't going to have to climb over the side. The discussion continued between the drivers and the owner of the boat. Then all of a sudden, the bus driver drove into the water and we stepped from the bus onto the boat. I guess they didn't want to lose any paying guests to the crocodiles.

There were many street vendors trying to sell us all bracelets and trinkets. Many of them walked into the water and continued hawking their wares when we were on the boat. When we got back there was a plank walkway for us to get back to the shore. It was a little wobbly and all of a sudden those vendors were back in the water holding our hands across the planks. I pulled out a tip to pay the guys who held the hands of Barb and myself. Then another guy was telling me held the board, and so on. A number of them sold some goods to the grateful women whom they helped.

 

Then in Botswana we drove to a boat and started down the Chote River. We spotted many, many hippos, crocodiles, elephants, giraffes, and all kinds of birds, including the fish eagle. We also saw a water buffalo with a growth. We all felt sorry for him. At all these parks, they let nature take its course. We saw a giraffe with a skin disease. He had 4 birds on his neck eating off the diseased parts. Mother Nature knows best.

 

We saw one elephant standing in the water eating the soft grass for all the time we were on the boat. When elephants get old they like the softer grass. Throughout their life they are given 6 sets of molars. When they are old and on their last set they can only eat soft things. No false teeth for elephants. In fact most elephants die of starvation, since they cannot find enough food that they can eat.

 

After the boat ride we went back to the lodge and had lunch. Then we went on our last safari ride. Of course we were looking for cats, particularly leopards and cheetah. We saw elephants and more elephants. A while back I spoke about a genetic abnormality which caused female elephants to be born without tusks. This was caused from too much interbreeding. Today we saw 2 females with that genetic deformity. They were from one family. This is now fairly rare since there is a much larger pool for elephants with whom they can breed.

 

The elephants we saw today are stretching the resources tremendously. The land can support about 45,000 elephants; and today they have about 135,000. They are talking about culling the herd, which they don't want to do. They have relocated some elephants to neighboring countries. But, you've heard an elephant never forgets. Well, they come back because the ancestral memories of their migrating routes are still there. The overpopulation of elephants is a problem for many of the parks in Africa. We heard one country was experimenting with spraying the park with some type of sterilization. We heard the results were very promising. It had to be done every 6 months. Our guide was a wildlife conservationist. He mentioned that some type of sterilization program may be the answer.

We saw many of the same animals and birds. And of course we saw many antelope, including impala, kudu and a new type of antelope called the puku. The puku are only found in Zambia and Botswana. I'm feeling very privileged to see them. The birds here are beautiful – very colorful. We also saw vultures and a vulture-like bird which comes in to attack the carcass after the vultures are done.

They do not have the tough beaks that vultures have. We saw lion paw prints, but the cats were still allusive. As we keep saying – It's the luck of the draw.