LucyEthel Takes a Trip “Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” Miriam Beard

Our final day of fun was going to Botswana for a safari ride in Chobe National Park.  We had to cross the border and so again, we were reminded not to take any pictures.  We had to walk across the border to the immigration offices in Botswana.  We were instructed to walk through some kind of liquid stuff to remove any possible contaminants on our shoes.  There is a concern about hoof and mouth disease.  The fact that Botswana has one of the highest incidences of HIV/AIDS in Africa seems like something to be more worried about.  It is obvious they are trying to affect the infection rates but many myths exist about how to 'cure' the virus, which only leads to perpetuate it.  There are billboards with warnings and condoms for both men and women (the men rarely will wear them).  Economically, the country is better off because it has diamonds and coal and a good president who bases Mugabe every chance he gets.  Not that it does any good.

We went first to the Chobe River and took a boat ride.  It was so much fun.  We saw a herd of elephants playing and fighting in the water.  They are fascinating to watch.  The babies are so cute BUT don't let mama catch you looking at them or try to get between a mom and child.  That's asking for trouble.  In the afternoon we were in open air vehicles and since Chobe has about 100,000 elephants in the park, you can't help but run into them on the roads.  We always stopped if there were many together and we got a little intimidated by a growling mama about 8 feet away from us.  Seriously, we thought she was going to charge us.  Another major sighting was about 40 hippos in the water.  They are very dangerous and kill more huimans than other wild animals but they don't mess around with things that are bigger than them, like boats.  The guide says that when they yawn they are showing distress so we kept an eye on them and if they started yawning, we'd move on.  They are of course, very unattractive, but again, the babies tend to be cute so we all ooh and aah over them.   In addition, we saw crocodiles, lizards, the ever-present impalas, and huge storks and vultures.  Three lions sauntered by but none of us got a good picture of them.

All in all it was a fabulous trip.  I never in my wildest dreams thought I would go to Africa.  Now that I have I know that my thoughts and feelings about that continent will be much different.  It has many, many problems but it also has a wonderful beauty, fantastic people, and well, I just can't say enough about the food--even warthog.