55,000 Elusive Elephants at Chobe

Chobe National Park
Botswana
January 28, - 29, 2010

At Chobe Park in Botswana, I upgraded to what must be the most lovely room in all of Botswana. With crisp white linens, fluffy towels, a thatched ceiling, an ensuite bathroom and coffee and tea making facilities, it was wonderful! It was particularly wonderful in light of the fact that the camping spot where everyone else pitched their tents was wet and muddy. Will I upgrade, given the chance, for the remainder of the trip? I don't know: I don't mind tents but I do mind how dirty I get putting up and taking down the tent and how rushed it is to take down a tent in the morning, particularly when have to report for cooking duty at 6:00a. While at the Chobe Camp, we met up with a segment of our group who had diverted on another truck to go south to Johannesburg. Martina, who did the Livingstone Island excursion with me, was there, and she was less than thrilled to be sleeping in a tent. Her new tent was dirty & smelly and she had been on tour and in a tent since mid-December--she went to Uganda for gorilla trekking before meeting us in Nairobi. I said "There's an extra bed in my room; do you want to sleep there?" and so she joined me. She is absolutely wonderful and I was sad to see her leave for Joburg the next day.

At Chobe, we went on a game drive and sunset cruise (or, as my group interpreted it, a booze cruise). Of the 55,000 elephants that Chobe boasts, we only saw half a dozen, because it's rainy season and they do not need to congregate around the water holes like they do in the wet season. We did, however, see one very hungry lioness who had her sights set on one dude in the truck who was hanging out the window trying to get a perfect shot.

It seems that now that there are only 8 passengers on the truck instead of 19, it's more relaxed. We have definitely had (and continue to have) some characters on our truck. It's interesting how individuals typify their nationalities. At the risk of being stereotypical, we have had the following characters on our truck:

The Mother Hen
The English tart, on the lookout for blokes to shag
Loud-mouthed Australian girl with a drinking problem
Cuckoo Kiwis
Boorish Yorkshireman
Doughy round the world traveler
Friendly Irish couple
Frumpy Australian couple with poor manners
American smart ass (that's me!)

As you can perhaps tell, I liked the Australians the least. That accent! It grates on the ears! (I suppose you could say the same thing about that terrible American accent!)

Joining my group again in Livingstone for another two and a half weeks down to Cape Town, I am definitely at a remove from the group. I'm no longer forming alliances. This new position is wonderful because it allows me to be a contrarian, and you know how I love to be a contrarian! I feel like the fool in Shakespeare--I can say whatever I want!