After saying goodbye to another wonderful group of people at Kafue, we flew in the same tiny plane back to Livingstone and stopped at two very different shopping locales. The first one had a ShopRite, where we bought a nail file, chips, Fanta, and Mentos. Much to the southern ladies’ delight, Chris found bush babies there (hot water bottles in fuzzy coats), and they each bought one.
After shopping and some of us using free Wi-Fi outside the fast food restaurant, Hungry Lion, we visited a local vendor market, a vastly different experience. This was a tent city that caters to a wide spectrum of people, many of whom are very poor. You can buy enough sugar for only a couple cups of coffee or tea, for instance, if you can’t afford to buy more. A huge section of dried fish stretched under the full length of one tent. The bus driver explained to me that people who do not have electricity or a refrigerator will buy dried fish instead of fresh. I saw big bowls of okra leaves, which the people at the homestead had cooked for us last week.
After our shopping stops, we boarded the bus and headed for Botswana, as Clyde gave us a brief history lesson. The English colonized Botswana until 1968, shortly after Zimbabwe and Zambia (formerly named Northern Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia by the English colonizers) fought bloody wars for their independence. When Botswana wanted their independence, they basically just gave it to them and left, viewing the country as poor, drought-prone and not worth a fight. The next year, the Batswana (what you call the people of Botswana) discovered diamonds. The joke is on the English. The country’s economy is strong, and they have a stable, democratic government.
We were welcomed into Baobob 1 Camp, just outside Chobe National Park on the Chobe River, with a welcome song by the staff, and then they introduced the do’s and dont’s. Like all the other camps, you are forbidden from walking anywhere unaccompanied by a staff member after dark. I think I just heard an animal kill another animal not far from our front porch, so I’m fine with that. And now I just heard an elephant trumpet. It’s 9:26 PM.
After we had some time to settle in, we went on a short ride in the jeeps. Since we’re outside the national park, we’re allowed to go off-roaring. Tsono drove us up and down the hills and along the river. He paid very close attention to the animals’ calls and behavior to try to determine where danger (lion or leopard) might be. Though we didn’t spot either, it was a stunning drive. We saw a tower and then a journey of giraffes (they’re a tower if a group of them are standing still, a journey if they’re walking, and a stride if they’re running), baboons and impala grouped together at the top of a hill, a lone elephant, a dazzle of zebras, a jackal (much prettier than I had imagined), and many birds.
We retuned to hot chocolate, a drink, a delicious dinner, and some hang-out time around the fire pit. It’s a chilly out there tonight. Thank goodness for the bush baby!
My Corner of the Village 