Kasane

12 Hour Car Ride!!!!
Our car ride there had a few suprises!

Giraffe off the side of the road


Group picture of the Counseling Program

Baboon chillin in the tree

Sunrise in Chobe Park

We are now at the tail end of our trip. We left Gaborone yesterday to head north to Kasane for our excursion. The bus ride was a little over twelve hours long however two and a half hours of that were stops made along the way. At first I didn’t think the trip was that bad until we reached about 600 kilometers away. I soon found out our sixty person bus had hardly any suspension. The bus ride was rougher than most roller coasters. Mandy and I were privileged enough to sit in the back row where there was one extra seat so we were able to lay down with our head and feet opposite of each other. At one point we were both asleep when the bus hit a bump and I could feel Mandy roll over my legs and fall in the crack between the seats. Mandy was a trooper and joined me in laughing about it. When we arrived we were able to use the rest room and check in and then we went to the grocery store to get some food for the next few days.

When we returned I made a sandwich and a drink and decided to venture around Mowana Lodge. The first thing I noticed when I walked outside was the stars. I had never in my life seen something so magnificent. There was so many and they were very bright. Dan and I went down to the pool area to get a better look and we were both stared up in aw. There was this Milky Way looking figure in the sky that neither of us could explain. After about fifteen minutes we went up to the lodge bar were a few of our peers were hanging out. After a while everyone got tired and went to bed. Chris and I decided to stay up and talk to the bar tender for a little bit. He was born in Gaborone but moved up north to pursue a career working at Resorts and Lodges. He spoke of how Operah, Bill Clinton, Will Smith, Arnold Swarzeneger and many other celebrities visit the Resorts he has worked at. He said they are very peaceful people and love to come out here to relax privately.

He told me when I visit Cape Town I need to see Robin Island, where Nelson Mandela was held captive for twenty seven years. I then asked him if he considers Nelson Mandela a role model and he said no. He then began telling me about his mother and his traumatic upbringing. His mother is handicap and has had no legs for the majority of his life. I never asked what happened to her that caused her to be like this but I did ask more questions about where he came from and the challenges he faced growing up in a third world country. He told us how his mother was in and out of the hospital eleven months out of the year and how she would do odd jobs with her hands just to be able to provide enough money to put food on the table. He had to live with his extended family with his younger brother for a while. He came off as very strong willed and determined. Chris and I were thankful to be able to hear his story and compare the adversities he’d face to those we have. He also discussed how he likes the president of Botswana and how he is a people person. Someone who comes to town and goes out to talk to people in the community about the problems they are facing and the things he is unaware of. This was the first time since I have been here that someone has had something positive to say about their president so I was very curious to hear his side. After our long drawn out conversation I headed back to get ready for bed. It was about midnight and I had to wake up at 5:30am for our Game Drive. It was interesting going to bed though because I had to put the mosquito net down. I woke up in the middle of the night and became a little freaked out because I had a nightmare of snakes so I was afraid that my bed was surrounded by bird size mosquitos and poisonous snakes. I eventually got over my fear and was able to go to the restroom in peace.

I was able to wake up before we got our 5:30am wake up call so I showered and headed down to the lobby where we got coffee and tea as we waited. I consider myself a patient person but I couldn’t stand that the Game Drive tour guide was late. We were supposed to leave at 6am to see the sunset he arrived at about 6:35a.m. We eventually made it out to Chobe Game Park and everything worked out fine. On the way there we saw some Kudo and Bison on the side of the road. As we entered the park we passed a few Giraffe eating berries off of trees. I’ve seen elephant and giraffes before but never this up close. I was impressed with their size. The giraffe we saw were about eighteen to twenty feet tall. When we saw elephant yesterday on our twelve hour journey we were lucky enough to see elephant about twenty five feet from the road. They were monstrous. As soon as we entered the park our guide received a radio message saying there was a lion within viewing distance so we were in a hurry to get there before it left. On the way we passed some Antilope and Hippos. I also snapped some lovely pictures of the sun rising over the water.

Lovely Sunrise

As we approached the lion I noticed about four other tour jeeps surrounding the lion then all the sudden there it was about fifty yards from us. We were not allowed to get any closer. I’ve seen a lion in the zoo before but it was different this time. These animals are wild, they have no gates surrounding them and they are free to roam the country side. There was one male lion and two female. The male lion was incredibly large and intimidating. As soon as we pulled up to take pictures it opened its mouth and let out a quite roar. For some odd reason when I pulled out my camera to take pictures my zoom button refused to work, why at this time?

People wait months to see Lions, it took us one day!!!

I named him Mufasa

I eventually got it to work after we already left but I was just happy to be able to take closer pictures of other animals. We ended up seeing Kudo, Bison, Antilope, Puku (Endangered type of Antilope) Giraffe, Impala, Elephant (but not today), monkeys, baboons, bald eagle, hippos, hawks and wart hogs. I am hoping to see the rest of the big five on our boat ride this afternoon. I also didn’t notice until I got home that I took a lot of pictures of the trees here. I have never seen quite like it. Even as I sit here right now journaling from my porch I can’t help but to look up and admire the scenery. Our porch is on a hill and over looks the Chobe River about thirty yards away from me.

We saw over a few hundred elephants

Elephants on the Boat Ride (probably 20 yards from us)

This reminds me of me, Josh and Seth (below)

This was our sunset tonight! Probably the most beautiful thing i've seen other than Mander's smile : )