Spring Break Part 2

 Well, back to my story.  Once we left the Okavango Delta we were off to Planet Baobab, the campsite we’d be at for the night.  We hadn’t showered in about three days so we were all pumped at the idea of a shower.  It was funny how quickly I became used to the whole camping/no showering thing on this trip.  While I’ve never actually been camping before (aside from Indian Princesses with my dad when I was like 7), it’s not because I haven’t wanted to.  It’s just one of those opportunities that hasn’t presented itself to me until now.  And it has in a big way!  In a week I leave for Afrikaburn, Africa’s version of Burning Man.  I honestly have no idea what to expect of it, but I’m really excited and I’ve heard it’s absolutely awesome.  This is a different camping situation though.  While on my spring break trip we had food and everything provided for us, at Afrikaburn we have to bring all our own food, water, tent, etc.  It should be an adventure to say the least…. Ok I’m getting sidetracked!

We got to Planet Baobab around 3 in the afternoon and felt as though we’d basically stumbled upon heaven.  It was such a beautiful campsite!  Not to mention that there was a huge pool!  Pretty much the second we got off the truck half of us had already jumped in the pool.  Definition of refreshing.

We then proceeded to actually shower.  Despite the fact that the shower pressure was similar to a leaky faucet and the water was far below lukewarm, it was a really good shower.  I feel like I’ve been talking way too much about this shower so far in this post, but I guess it gets the point across that it was REALLY REALLY GREAT.

After our super good chicken dinner (shout out to Norman!) we headed to the bar.  In Botswana they use the Pula as a currency, which isn’t as good exchange rate wise.  I was a little behind the ball in preparing for this trip so I had forgotten to sign up to get Pula.  All the places we went were basically tourist destinations so the travel company we were with had told me that using rand wouldn’t be an issue.  But in using rand, it meant I got my change back in Pula.  It was a strange phenomenon.  So many currencies!!

Our whole group enjoyed a few Savannah Drys (a really tasty type of cider) and spent the night making friends with another travel group from the UK who was also at the bar. 

As I’m sure you can imagine, a group of about 40 American college students and about 20 British students at a hostel/campsite bar for a few hours can get a bit crazy.  By the end of the night, one of the guys from other group that we had met (and I promise I’m not just making this up, we actually didn’t participate in his shenanigans) was literally drinking a beer hanging upside down from the chandelier on the ceiling holding on with only his legs (which was made of various beer bottles).  The campsite management said that happens a lot apparently… Strange.  Anyway, it was absolutely hilarious.

The night may or may not have ended with about 30 of us skinny dipping in the pool at our campsite.  I won’t confirm if that did or did not happen.  But in the case that it did happen, it was extremely dark and the pool was also quite large.  In the case that it didn’t happen, we proceeded to go to bed at a decent hour so we would be rested and ready for another early morning.

When we did go to bed at a decent hour in order to be well rested, Ali, Hannah and I also had a hilarious intervention with Ty regarding the funny April Fools joke we played on him later in the trip (if you want details on this, you’ll also have to ask in person – but don’t worry!  If you ask I’ll definitely tell!).

We were up bright and early the next morning and on our way to Chobe National Park.  Chobe is known for the amount of elephants in the park and we sure got a taste of it on the drive there.  Multiple times we had to stop either to see an elephant on the side of the one-lane highway or because an elephant was legitimately in the road.  By the end of the trip, Jesse was referring to elephants as “Africa’s squirrels” because we had seen so many and they were everywhere.  It was actually a little sad!  I never thought I’d get to a point in my life where I could see a wild elephant and feel the excitement and magic was gone!  Seeing a wild elephant used to be as magical as Disneyland was when I was 4!  That sure changed.  (For the record, Disneyland still is exciting and magical as it was when I was 4 because I still can count the times I’ve been on two hands.  Elephants have far exceeded the 10 finger counting limit).

If you can’t tell, there was a lot of driving involved on this trip.  Many days we’d get up before sunrise and wouldn’t get to our destination until the afternoon.  Obviously there were many different approaches to passing the time, but it was about this time that I discovered my favorite approach.  As most of you know, there’s nothing I enjoy more than a relaxing drive and some good music.  Although I wasn’t the one driving, it didn’t stop me from enjoying it!  The front windows on the truck were raised so if you were seated you couldn’t see in front of you.  At some point during the day while I was listening to my iPod I realized that literally everyone on the truck was sleeping except for me.  I proceeded to go to the front of the truck and stand at the front window.  Here I could see a perfect view of the area.  The front windows were also down so there was a perfect breeze blowing through the truck.  The combination of the beautiful (and desolate) scenery with my music, the silence of everyone else on the truck, and the wind blowing was incredible.  It was quite relaxing and actually really entertaining.  For all I know, this could be the last time I drive through Botswana and Zimbabwe.  It would have felt like such a waste to sleep the whole way!  For the rest of the trip, no one really questioned my strange habit of standing (sometimes with my head semi out the window like a dog) for hours at a time as I sang to my iPod.  It was one of my more Zen moments in life.

Other times, I resorted to sleeping - pretty much anywhere.  I enjoyed setting up my sleeping bag and sleeping on the ground, but for your viewing pleasure, here is me in the midst of a great nap:

One of the thrilling moments of the drive was when our truck popped a tire.  We pulled over for an early lunch where the five guys on the trip (Dudu, the driver, Norman, the chef, Ty, Jesse, and Anthony) all attempted to change the tire.  It was a great gender role moment.  All 15 girls helped make lunch while the guys unsuccessfully changed the tire.  Luckily there ere so many massive tires on the truck that it didn’t make too much of a difference for the rest of the drive.  Obviously we had to drive extremely slow, but the truck was still functioning good enough to get to our destination. 

After quickly dropping off our stuff at the campsite, we headed to the Chobe River where we went on a sunset game cruise.  It was SO COOL!  I don’t remember if I’ve said this before (I said almost the same thing of our game walks) but I never could have imagined that I’d be on a boat in Africa seeing animals.  Obviously a safari car is expected, but a sunset game cruise!?  Who’d have thought that’s even a thing?!  Not me.  That’s for sure.

I sort of assumed it’d be a bit of a joke.  I mean, if you’re on a boat there’s such a small range of visible land and in order to see animals that means they’ll need to be pretty close to the water’s edge.  In any other game drive I’d been to, it’s always in the middle of some dry, seemingly waterless desert.  However, I stand corrected.  We saw so many animals!

It’s shocking how close you could get to them!  We saw HUGE groups of hippos.  In one case I counted at least 17.  We saw giraffes, crocodiles, elephants, impala, and baboons.  The boats would drive right up to a herd of hippos in the middle of the water and the animals were virtually unphased.  It was surreal!  We watched the sunset over the river and enjoyed a beautiful evening.  It was so nice out!

By the time we were back to our truck, Dudu had already gotten the tire fixed.  I will never understand the fact that there was a place in the middle of Botswana where a truck like that could be taken to get a tire fixed.  Seriously.  How random is that?!

Dudu got us back to our campsite just in time for Norman’s amaaaaazing dinner of beef, pap, and gravy.  Pap is basically a white, fluffy concoction quite similar to mashed potatoes.  It’s a bit thicker in texture and is made from maize meal.  It’s extremely cheap to make so it’s really popular in a lot of areas of southern Africa.

After yet another rejuvenating shower and an enjoyable cup of tea, I headed to bed.  I was exhausted!

We had an optional game drive the next morning, but both Hannah and I decided not to go because we were going on another game drive in Zimbabwe (and we were trying to be frugal and not overkill the extra cost activities).  This was probably the best decision of the trip because for once we got to sleep in (until about 7am because we were so used to waking up early).  Once everyone else got back from the game drive and met up with the five of us who had just had a relaxing morning, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast from Norman (bacon was included) and we headed off.

We were on our way to Zimbabwe!  The border is known to take quite some time so luckily we entertained ourselves by playing games such as ninja, zoo, etc.  (Basically anything that you would have done to entertain yourself in 3^rd grade).  We probably waited almost two hours at the border – it was quite the ordeal!  Everyone has to get out of the truck and wait outside.  Instead of us going in individually though we were able to give our leader all of our passports and have her get our visa stamps. 

FINALLY we got through the border and continued our drive through Zimbabwe!  My next (and final) spring break post will talk all about the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, Victoria Falls, our day trip into Zambia, and the attack of the ants.  Some good stories await :)