Hi Guys,
I wrote this a little while ago but didn't get to the net in time. Hope everyone had a great Christmas. miss you all oxo
Day 3, we travelled from South Africa to Botswana. We had to leave at 6am to try to get to the boarder at a reasonable time, as it can take a few hours. It was a long day in the truck & we eventually got there by 3:30pm. The line was 4 hours long and it was so disorganised that we were made to stand (with what felt like the rest of south Africa). I guess growing up in Aus we're spolit for this kind of thing. There were lots of children running around and people jumping the line so it was a long wait. We eventually got through at 8pm and it was still about 30 degrees at that time of night. Once through we set up camp and made dinner and went to bed. We had some left overs from dinner and gave them to some of the workers at the camp, I've never seen someone so grateful when they returned the plates.
Day 4 we travelled to Elephant Sands, which is a privately owned game park, 16000 hectares. We arrived to find a bar right next to a water hole. There was no fence in between us and the 20 elephants that were drinking and yet I felt completely safe. We went on a game drive & saw giraffes, elephants, cudu and vultures. Where we camped there were no fences so any animals such as lion, elephant, leopard etc could walk through the campsite. Our guides assured us this would never happen - the animals apparently walk around te tents haha. I managed to have a good chat with the ranger at the park and he explained the history of the park and what they're plans for the future. They don't have a hunting park however the government owned land is allowing hunters through to "cull" the elephants as they are pests. Each elephant goes for anywhere between $60-70k. So you can see why the government allows it. They are however stopping the hunting in 2014.
Sleeping on this night was a little difficult as every noise I heard I would jump. Bren had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, so I was a little apprehensive but he returned unscathed.
Day 5, we drove to our next campsite in Kasane. On the way we stopped at markets and met some locals - I successfully bartered, well we hope so. Unfortunately the poverty is quite high in this area. I bought a few toys for the children for Christmas, they and they're parents were very thankful. We were the only Caucasians at the markets so received many stares. The weird thing is I felt more safe here then I did on America.
We are now at the campsite sitting in a bar aka a hut. It is raining now and the thunder is so loud that it sounds like it is right above us. Fingers crossed our tents are ok.
We won't get near a phone for Christmas so unfortunately can't call. We hope you have an amazing day, we'll be in Vic Falls celebrating Christmas African style.
Miss you all and will be thinking of you tomorrow.
