Because of visa regulations we cannot stay in Zimbabwe for more than 30 days, and therefore we need to leave the country temporarily. We head across the border with Botswana and spend four days in Chobe National Park. And mannn, is this a welcome distraction. Everyone instantly goes into holiday mode. No game drives, no lectures, no notes. Now, thís is a holiday!!
We are taken on a river cruise and then on a couple of game drives. IT. IS. AMA. ZING! Stanley & Livingstone is a rather small reserve and since it is fenced-off (because of the black rhinos) animal diversity and numbers are somewhat low. Chobe is a whole different story though. We see more than a thousand elephants (sorry, we lost count), hundreds of buffalo, tons of impala, dozens of giraf and lots of lions with cubs. And we sleep in tented camps with hyena visiting and elephants passing by in the not-so-distance. It is truly spectacular.
We spend the nights in unfenced camp sites, with elephants wandering past during the day and lion and hyena passing through during the night.
Our driver/guide Jenson is amazing. He speeds like a maniac, drives super close up to elephants, doesn’t really ask whether we have any special interests, makes his own plan for the day without informing us. He certainly would fail miserably for our course… but he does what he is supposed to do: he shows us the animals.
Spot the leopard!!
Being a former hunter, he more than qualifies as a superb tracker. After one morning drive he even predicts that we might see a lioness move her cubs during the evening drive..and then we do!! I understand why we need to go through all the theory and all the etiquette etc etc, but once you work in a place like Chobe, it really doesn’t seem to matter that much.
Every now and then Dave goes into instructor-mode, but as long as you’re not sitting directly behind him, it’s a super easy to simply ignore him.
We spend another couple of days visiting Victoria Waterfalls and the Zambezi National Park. The falls once again are spectacular. On my previous visit I only got to see them from the Zambian side, and I have to say: the Zimbabwean side is waaaaayyy better.
Zambezi National Park however is not that interesting to be honest. At least when we are there, hardly any animals are to be found. BUT, we do get to paddle down the Zambezi river in inflatable kayaks amidst hippos and crocodiles. As a kayaker paddling on the mighty Zambezi is a bit of a dream come true, even though this is not the part with all the big rapids. So I feel completely in my element here. The hippos are a bit of a nuisance though. Man, are they grumpy little bastards. Yeah, we definitely do not feel like getting anywhere close to them.
Then, in week 6, it’s back to business again. Back to school…
The Long Solo Down 
Leuk man om af en toe nog wat van je te horen (lees: lezen)!