Denims Buster Excursion/ Babymoon 2011 PART 1

It’s been 2 weeks since we got back from our wonderful 11-day holiday in Botswana and Zimbabwe. We could probably write an entire book about our experiences, but we will try to give the Readers Digest version as not to overload you.  We have so many pictures that it will take us a year to go through them, but we will put some up now to give you an idea.  I am sure there will be more to come. We will be posting several entries over the next few days.  Its just too much to do at once.    

We were invited (we like to say we invited ourselves though) to go with 2 other families from church on this adventure.  They had been planning it for a while, but we jumped on board about a week in advance.  So we spent many days and nights shopping for camping equipment and trying to prepare ourselves for this journey.  We figured that it was now or never.  I don’t think taking a baby on this long of a trip would be much fun!  Although, going when you are 8+ months pregnant, might have been a disaster too.  But I think Lee will agree with me when I say that I did remarkably well in my “condition.”

The McOmbers (another American diplomat family) and the Stanleys (a South African family) had the entire journey planned out, so all we had to do was load our car and show up!  I like traveling that way.  We are so grateful to both of the families for allowing us to tag along because we can now say that this was THE BEST trip we have ever been on!  

Day 1: Drive to Kasane, Botswana
The plan was to meet at the McOmbers house at 4AM!!  It was supposed to be about a 10-12 hour drive to Kasane, Botswana, so we wanted to get an early start.  Lee and I were ready to go.  Of course, there were only 2 of us to worry about.  The McOmber family, 7 of which were going on this trip, were not quite ready when we got there.  And the Stanleys were late showing up.  So we didn’t end up leaving until around 5.  Lee was nice enough to leave the entire back seat of our Defender open so that I could spend most of the drive lying back there with my feet propped up.  I didn’t want to get awful swollen ankles again.  So the drive to Kasane was actually a breeze for me.  I slept most of the way (poor Lee).  

The border crossing was a nightmare.  You really got a taste of being in Africa.  So unorganized, so un-technological, SO MISERABLE!  It was hot, super crowded and there was no rhyme or reason to how or what you were supposed to do.  We spent about 2-3 hours just at the border crossing.  

Most of this day was pretty uneventful.  Just a lot of driving.  But it was amazing to see how many animals we saw once we crossed the border into Botswana.  There were donkeys EVERYWHERE!  The joke is that the government employs them to keep the roadside clean.  The highlight of the day was about 2 hours before we reached our destination.  It was just starting to get dark and we were on a “highway” that was pitch black because they don’t really have street lights in Africa.  So we were warned to watch for animals as we drove.  Now, in the US we would think deer or maybe even cows.  Not in a million years would you imagine that there would be ELEPHANTS everywhere along the road.  

You expect it when you go to a game park, but just to be driving down the highway and be passing elephants.  Or several times we had to slow down to wait for them to cross the road in front of us.  It was kind of scary because it was so dark and they would just appear in front of you.  But seriously one of the coolest things to experience.  In those 2 hours, we probably saw 30 elephants, but I am sure there were many more hidden in the shadows.  

On the highway in Botswana

FIFTEEN hours after leaving home, we arrived in Kasane and made our way to the Thebe River Lodge, which we would call home for the next 5 nights.  But don’t let the name fool you.  Although there was a small lodge, we were CAMPING!  Yes, at 8 months pregnant, I slept in a tent, had to use the bathroom in several awkward locations, and showered with spiders and frogs.  But I must admit that it was fun and not nearly as challenging as I thought it was going to be.  

The Stanleys have a good family friend named Corn (short for Cornelia) who works at this lodge as the Operations Manager.  So she was so great and helpful and really showed us an amazing time while there.  As soon as we showed up she showed us where to pitch our tents, showed us the ablutions (bathrooms) and the pool.  Now, it is the rainy season and they have been having some flooding, so the river was almost reaching to the pool, and by the end of our stay, there was no more pool.  It was just part of the river.  But as we were walking around seeing everything, Katie Rae (one of the McOmbers) had a pretty frightening experience!  Right at the edge of the pool, hiding in the night shadows was a….CROCODILE!  She almost stepped right on it because it was so dark.  It was a baby croc, but still, very unsettling.  For the next 20 minutes I argued with everyone that it was fake.  It was dead still and not moving, so I thought it was a sculpture.  But sure enough, it was real.  Corn assured us that our tents were far enough away from the water, that it wouldn’t venture up there.  But you better believe I was nervous.  

We made it back to start setting up our tents and we heard a noise not too far away.  And right there outside the camp fence was an elephant walking down the road.  I learned then that Chobe National Park (the Game Park in Kasane and the whole reason we went to Kasane) was not a fenced game park.  Well, that made it even cooler!  All of the other parks we have been to are fenced in, so you know that the animals are there and cant escape.  But here, they can come and go as they please.  So we would see elephants, baboon, and warthogs just roaming the little town.  

Finally we got our tents set up and headed off to bed.  The drivers were exhausted and needed some much-deserved rest.  

The Carnell Tent

Day 2: Kasane
We slept pretty well our first night in the tent, despite the fact that we could hear hyena in the distance and there was an annoying frog in the tree above us.  Today was set aside as a relaxing day of getting camp set up.  

Our gourmet kitchen

Then Corn said she had a surprise for us and was taking us somewhere around 3:00.  We didn’t know anything except that there would be a braai at some point and that we needed to take 4x4 vehicles where we were going.

So 16 of us headed out in 3 cars and followed Corn into the unknown.  She took us to a little trail off the side of the road, almost to the Zimbabwe border (about 10 minutes from camp).  We then drove on this dirt road out in the middle of nowhere, and we were literally straddling the Botswana/Zimbabwe border.  We drove for about 30 minutes and saw elephants, giraffe, and baboons. 

 We finally got to a clearing and Corn pulled off the road and went out into the field area.  She parked and got out of her car (which is normally a “no-no” when you are in the bush).  So of course we all followed!  She told us that we were going to have our braai here.  WHAT?  We are out in the middle of the African bush with no protection!  Kind of scary, but that made it all the more exciting.  We put our cars in a semi circle to shield one side of us and she just told us that we would keep our eyes out and that if anything came up that looked dangerous, she would tell us what to do.  She said that she had done this many times before and that hyena and other animals had come close, but they had never felt threatened. 

The Denims Busters

Lee and his 1st love

Check out the massive termite mound behind us

So they started the fire and we had a lovely evening under the most amazing stars I have ever seen in my life.  The Milky Way was absolutely breathtaking.  We had tons of food, sat around the fire and told stories and just enjoyed the outdoors.  Every once in awhile we would get our big night drive spotlights out to scan the perimeter around us.  We could hear elephants and hyena, so we just wanted to make sure nothing was creeping close without us noticing.  With the spotlight we saw lots of glowing red eyes, but they ended up just being impala and jackals.  

Then on the way out we spotlighted elephants, sable, and some other animals.  

What a great start to our trip!