As I got out of my dorm room at Fawlty Towers at 06.15 to freshen up and “hit the road” early, a Chinese girl ran up to me from her room, and explained that she had lost the charger to her iPhone. If I had one, could she please use it til the shops opened, and she could buy one. Realizing that a dead iPhone had to be the ultimate crisis for a young Chinese girl, I lent her my charger, and told her I would be leaving within the hour. She was absolutely delighted, and immediately got connected to her friends. When I was ready to leave on the bike, she insisted on taking a number of pictures of me and her and the bike. She asked me a load of questions. Had I faced any danger on the long trip from Denmark? I would have to be super fit to do this, she suggested. And on it went!

When I was pulling out of Fawlty Towers, my Chinese friend Biu - whom I had met on Zanzibar a few weeks earlier - also turned up to say goodbye. Biu is 63, but has been travelling since he was 50 years old. He travels by busses, taxis, or any other form of local or public transport. He always carries with him a small foldable bicycle, which he uses to get around, when he reaches his various destinations. Biu was a real pleasure to spend time with, listening to all his wisdom and knowledge from 13 years of travel. He was extremely fit for a 63 year old. He loves playing the guitar, which he always brings along on his trips, and he could sit and play for hours. I had the pleasure of listening in, a couple of times.

The trip from Livingstone to the Botswana border was only about 80 km, and I arrived at the Zambia border post at Kazungula around 11.00. Less than 30 minutes, and both I and the bike was checked out of Zambia. A short 5 minute ferry ride across the Zambezi river to the Botswana border post, where I almost got through in 30 minutes, when things suddenly came to a grinding halt. All that was left for me to do, was to pay road access tax for the bike, and I could enter Botswana. Power cut, and computer systems down. I was waiting behind a South African who had to pay import duty. After several tries they succeeded in getting the payment done by Visa card. He now only needed a receipt to show at the exit gate. Assuming things would be up and running shortly, we settled into a discussion about South Africa and Zambia. He had been working in the “copper belt” in Zambia for about 20 years, and was very pro his adopted country. Not so about South Africa. I guarantee you, we will have a civil war in South Africa very soon, he stated. And on and on it went. After half an hour I had had enough of this discussion, and still nothing seemed to move at customs. The very pleasant border official was trying over and over to log in to the system - without result. I told him it was not OK to keep us waiting like that, and suggested he simply write a note on the permit that had been printed for the South African, that it had been paid for but the receipt couldn’t be printed. He thought that was an excellent idea - and a few minutes later the South African was on his way. Now to me! He agreed to let me go, if I promised to pay the road tax when exciting Botswana, which of course I said yes to. Half an hour had turned into one and a half.

Taking the short ferry trip across the Zambezi, one could see the progress made on the road/rail bridge, linking Zambia and Botswana. It is expected to open first half of 2019. Originally it was supposed to be 600 meters long, but Robert Mugabe refused to let any part of the bridge touch Zimbabwean land, which required the shape to be redesigned and a part of the bridge built on Namibian land. The bridge will now be just over 900 meters. African politics, I guess! With the demise of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe were invited back and is part of the second phase. In conjunction with the bridge project, a one stop border building will be build by Zambia/Botswana/Zimbabwe. The bridge and one stop border is expected to reduce transit time from 30 to 6 hours. See picture below with the bridge.

I had heard about the Big 5 Chobe Lodge and looked them up on the net. They also had camping facilities, which suited me. They were only a few kilometers from the border crossing, so I had plenty of time. The receptionist confirmed that they had some very expensive rooms left, and plenty of camp sites, each with their own little building with toilet and shower, as well as a kitchen table with a sink, and running water. Really neat. Not a strain of grass to be seen anywhere - the tent had to be pitched on a combination of sand and earth. Later in the afternoon the wind started blowing, whirling sand and earth in every direction. Then thunder and lightning, and finally rain, which helped control the sand storm somewhat. The next morning when I packed my tent, sleeping bag, mattress and other gadgets, everything had to be shaken thoroughly, and the tent turned inside out to get rid of dust and sand. It was a nice Lodge though, right next to a relatively full Chobe River, at the point where the Chobe and Zambezi meet. They also had a small, but nice swimming pool that I took a dip in. Somehow the place lacked character, and I decided to move on the next morning.

My next destination was going to be Planet Baobab, situated close to Gweta, and a 400 km trip, or about 6 hours drive from Chobe Lodge. Botswana is an unusual destination, as it is basically one big game park. Often without any fences, allowing animals to cross territories as they please. Shortly after leaving Kazungula there are signs informing you that you are now entering a animal corridor, and to be aware of crossing animals. At every rest stop, you are informed by signs that you are there entirely at your own risk. I saw several elephants (see pics) on both sides of the road and also crossing. I had my closest call so far on the trip, when an impala crossed the road right in front of me, at full stretch. Two seconds delayed, and we would definitely have had a “situation”. Certainly makes for an interesting trip.

At Planet Baobab, I once again settled for a campsite with my own tent. What a beautiful place it turned out to be. Should be on anyone’s bucket list. Everything is tastefully made, and fits in perfectly with the environment. The Planet is situated in an area with hundreds of magnificent baobabs. The many rooms are strategically placed amongst the baobabs, with the campsite placed a bit removed from everything. Stunning pool, stunning bar and a great restaurant. No wonder people flock to this place. I was told they could only give me the campsite for one night - after that fully booked up. They did offer me a place in the overlander campsite, if I wanted to stay more than one night. When I drove onto my campsite no. 1, there was a 4x4 parked at the other campsite. I immediately went over to introduce myself, and met Albert and Liesl from Holland. Now and then you meet people you instantly get on with. This was such a meeting. Softly spoken Albert, and inquisitive, bubbly, tiny Liesl. Albert was involved in advertising and crowdfunding, relating particularly to cancer research. Liesl had a Ph.D. within the field of cancer research. I had to tear myself away from them, so I could set up camp. We quickly agreed to have dinner together, and had a fantastic evening with some great conversation, before they crawled up the ladder to their roof top tent, and I settled into my tent. Like me, they were leaving early the following morning, and invited me to have breakfast with them. This meeting ranked right up there with the wonderful Norwegian couple I had met in Khartoum, Sudan earlier in the trip. Hugs and kisses, and we headed in each our direction. 

At Big 5 Chobe Lodge I had met a guide, who suggested I stay at Audi Camp in Maun. It is a place used by the overlander groups, and turned out to be a nice suggestion, with a nice pool, bar and restaurant. I decided to stay in one of their eco-tents, equipped with a stretcher, a mattress and a lamp. Perfect for a two night stay. Maun is quite a modern and well ordered town, with the usual suspects as far as restaurants and shops are concerned, Wimpy, Nando’s, KFC, Shoprite, Spar and so on. It is the gateway to the Okavango Delta, and a good place to stock up on food, drink and fuel before hitting the swamps. There are hundreds of possibilities in Maun as far as hotels, lodges, and camps go. Many people use it as a base for trips into the delta, in the Mokoro, the canoes made of hollowed out tree trunks.

Before leaving Audi Camp I asked the receptionist what the name meant - assuming it had nothing to do with the well known carmaker. It is a bird she said, a fish eagle, in the local dialect. It was time to leave Maun for my next destination, Sepupa, only about 80 km from the border to Namibia.