Crossing back into Botswana again and then into Zambia

 May 4th

We must be ready to leave by 6.30 Kobus told us, groan...the alarm was therefore set for 5 am! Breakfast at 5.30 because we had to take our malaria tablet with food, and Kobus told us there would be no stopping on the route for beverages, etc. Wee stops could only be had at the border!

Once more, the convoy set off en masse but somehow the pack lost sight of Kobus,, and with Simon and Helen becoming the lead vehicle, we all followed them. Well, when they turned down a dirt track, we did wonder if they knew where they were going. Thankfully, Ryan, the trusty mechanic. is always at the rear, and when we all stopped to get our bearings, he rapidly overtook us all to inform us we could use this dirt road as a shortcut.

 The border crossing from Namibia back into Botswana went relatively smoothly, forms filled in, passports checked, and the necessary visas shown. Kobus still hadn't turned up, and we wondered where he had got to.  The right road, of course, one we should have stayed on and not turned off! After a mad dash back to one of the agricultural stops to see if a bunch of vans had passed through, and told they had, he deduced we must already have found the border. He was not best pleased with us all for taking the wrong road!

Chobe Big 5 was where we would leave the vans for 2 nights. The site was very upmarket, with each site having its own loo and shower.  

 

After plugging in to keep the fridge running, a minibus was waiting to take us with luggage to the Botswana-Zambia border. Here he left us, and a coach would take us the rest of the way to Livingstone. The showing of passports at the exit from Botswana went without a hitch, and we then drove for another 1km to enter the Zambian side. Wow, lorry after lorry, all parked and trying to cross the border. Thankfully, our driver was allowed through, but not without some difficulty. Lorries were parked on the wrong side, and one even tried coming toward us on the wrong side. He had to reverse! But that wasn't the end of it because trying to get the entry visa into Zambia...OMG... took about going slow! 26 passports were given to the official, with a $50 note in each passport. No problem there, but the stamping of the passports with our visa took over an hour, and even when they had all been done, not one official came to return them to us! It took our coach driver to actually insist we get them back pronto!

 

The hotel is fabulous. We have a room with twin beds and, most bizarrely, the bathroom can be seen through an opening above the beds. Hmmm, I wonder what possesses the architects to do that! 

 

Tomorrow, the helicopter flight over the falls and a walk to them afterwards. So all the locals keep telling us, this year they are spectacular with all the rain they have had. We chose the right time to see them, as last year, there was more rock showing than water! Then at 4 pm we do our dinner cruise. I have packed my posh frock! And seen from the mini bus on route to the border,