Elephant Valley Lodge

Next stop on the Accidental African Adventure Part 2 is Botswana. We drove about an hour to the Zambia/Botswana border. Trucks that use this route have to line up for up to TEN DAYS to pass.

One of the lucky trucks making it on the porter ferry that day

Luckily, we had a boat waiting.

There was the regular chaos, lack of formality, and understanding at the border crossing....but I think we were in good hands - our guides' names were Moses and Purity.

So - technically - at this point in the river - I am in FOUR COUNTRIES. This river is shared by Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. According to the locals, three out of the four countries have agreed (and have the funds) to build a bridge across. However, the President of Zimbabwe will not agree to it.

Made it across the other side... but not quite officially in Botswana...yet...

Had to clear customs and then walk through the water on the far right (not the big puddle) and clean my shoes to make sure that I'm not tracking in any foot/mouth disease.

Just took a few seconds and then we were on the road with one of the guides, Ran. But...Ran wasn't originally keen on answering my (maybe invasive...but just curious) nine-hundred questions that I usually ask the drivers - like where are they from, what languages do they speak, etc....
I asked him what languages he speaks.
"Only English", he replies.
"Really?", I ask...in disbelief. I can see how dealing with inquisitve tourists...after a long day...can get annoying.. but...I'm determined to find out how to say, "Hello", or "Thank you" in the local language.
A few minutes goes by, and he speaks something into his radio - obviously not English.
"Ran,", I ask, "was that English?"
"Yep.", he replied.
Okay. Got it. Ran is having a long day and doesn't feel like telling his life story to the bazillionth tourist... so I just shut up (yes, I did) and enjoyed the scenery.

And - within a few seconds - saw my very first elephant!!

Now that I'm sorting through...oh, about five or six hundred pictures of elephants...I'm still glad I took this one. It was the very first elephant I've seen out of a zoo.

And....a few minutes later, Ran started to chat along the drive, a little bit. He at least taught me how to say, "Thank you" in Satswana, the main local language (but there are lots of different dialects throughout the country). (You can never go wrong learning three words in a foreign country: "Hello", "Thank you", and "Beer". )

About a half an hour later, we arrived to Elephant Valley Lodge.

It was awesome!!

Welcome to my tent!!

According to the website, "Your tent also ensures that you are able to hear the multitude of night sounds as you drift away with vivid thoughts of the experiences of your day on safari.". Yup. All night long I could hear crazy noises - I thought they were lions, but they were really impalas. They make a weird...like...barking/growling noise all night.

Oh - wake up calls not required....the birds do that for you before...6h00 or so.

No air mattresses in these tents....

Two sinks?

A shower?

A flush toilet? Pretty awesome tent!

The food was really good too. A few nights for supper we had impala, which was really good, and not gamey like I expected it to be.

And every morning I started out with a coffee - with raw sugar. I loved the messages on the packaging....

(...and felt they were especially appropriate lately with all my Malacrazy-ness of late...)

And always with great atmosphere in the dining "room".

Each meal was eaten outside looking onto the pond (on the other side of an electric fence).

During the day, we'd see the occasional border crossing guard on the other side of the fence. Just beyond the trees is either Zimbabwe or Namibia...I can't remember which direction we're facing at this point (and as stated many times - I'm geographically challenged).

And at night we'd eat supper with the elephants!

Now I understand why there was an electric fence around the property! The elephants get so close!

I had an AMAZING time at the Elephant Valley Lodge, and could have spent the rest of my time in Bostwana there...

Each morning a staff member would knock on the tent around 7h30, we'd eat by 8h30 and be off on a boat/jeep ride doing the safari thing. We'd come back by about 13h00, have lunch, and nap/rest until 15h30 and then be on a boat/jeep ride again from 15h30 until 19h30 or later - depending on what kind of wildlife we saw. Every time out was different than the last and it was always a fun time.

The staff was great, the guides ROCKED (there was no cheesey tourist factor involved), and the tents were fabulous.

Maybe my only complaint about the lodge was the dead scorpion in the pool? Better than an alive one I guess...

Okay - finally the next post or two will have some wildlife shots! But that will have to wait until tomorrow...I'm off to get ready for work and am going to have a better day today... :)