The last few days we experienced untamed nature at its best on the Chobe River. For us, Chobe National Park is all about the river. Since Riki’s leg was not fit to start cycling again after the spider bite, Hendrik came up with the idea to paddle up the Chobe River from Kasane to Ngoma. In Livingstone we met two Swiss brothers, Simon and Phillip. They travelled more than 20 000 km with their bicycles in almost a year. These very courageous gentlemen became our co-adventurers for an unforgettable journey, camping in the wild and drinking elephant water.
We rented three canoes from The Old House in Kasane. Although this kind of journey is not normally undertaken, we got special permission. The first animal life we encountered was a massive herd of Cape buffalo on an island in the Chobe River. The birdlife was incredible. After almost half a day of paddling we suddenly met a dead end in the river. Somehow we missed the turn off to the main stream. We had to paddle all the way back facing a head on wind. We were tired and hungry and pulled out on a bank not to far from where a group of elephant bulls were peacefully grazing. Typical of bull elephants, they became inquisitive and moved towards us. We got into the boats just in time before they drank water a few metres away from us. They had no evil intent, just curiosity that got the better of them. Eventually the bulls moved off and once again we had to face the head on wind. A local fishermen came past us on his motorboat. He kindly pulled us towards the correct turn off towards the main stream.
We paddled until the last of the sun’s rays coloured the air and water a rosy pink. Everywhere small herds of elephant moved over from Botswana to the Namibian side to graze there in the dark. We camped on an elevated bank on the Namibian side close to an elephant footpath. That night we were treated by the rumbles and sounds of elephants somewhere in the dark. A few villager boys came over to say hello, and also provided us with fire wood. The next morning we were not awoke by the usual Namibian cock crow but by elephant rumbles instead.
On day two there were markedly fewer boats on the river. The scenery was spectacular. Fish eagles called around every second bend of the river. We watched fisherman catching fish from their mekoros. A massive herd of elephants crossed the river in front of us. There were more than 150 individuals. Several babies of young age. We parked the canoes on a sand bank and just absorbed the unique and spectacular seen in front of us. The elephants were so relaxed. We could sense that their were no conflict between the villagers living in this area, and the elephants. Later the day we paddled through a section of river with very murky water and infested with crocodiles. It was a bit unnerving. Since the first day Simon and Phillip hoped to see a crocodile, and all of a sudden they were everywhere around. But on the banks it was wild Africa. Elephants taking mud baths, hundreds of open billed storks, zebra, red lechwe. We were the only people there and the feeling we got was almost as if we were the first people ever to be in this area.
We hit another dead end and had to paddle back through the croc infested water to find the correct way to go. We took another route and once more hit a dead end. This time there were more than 50 hippos together in this corner of the river. A family of elephant were peacefully grazing on the river bank. We were lost and unsure of which way to go. Hendrik got out onto the river bank to walk towards higher grounds in order to make out which way is the correct way. Luckily, because the river meanders quite a lot, we were not too far from the main stream. We decided that it will be quicker to carry the boats to the main stream instead of paddling all the way around. We walked past the heard of elephant but did not feel threatened at all. They did not even pay attention to us. It was a mutual acceptance without feeling threatened.
Back on the main stream, it was time to find a good camping spot for the evening. Small groups of elephant were everywhere to be seen around us on the Namibian side of the river. We picked an elevated spot with a good view not far away from an elephant path. That night we heard lions roaring, hippos grunting and elephant rumbling. Early morning an elephant family woke us up with their rumbles. From out of our tent we could see one or two youngsters still lying down on their sides. The herd was grazing close by while we enjoyed breakfast and the red sun rising over African plains.
More than once we saw masses of vultures feeding on a buffalo carcass. At midday it was extremely hot and time for a good lunch. We stopped at flood plains where huge herds of elephant, zebra and red lechwe were grazing all around us in the distance. A hyena walked passed. Simon cooked us the most delicious fish which we bought earlier from local fishermen. After a siesta in the shade of the canoes we started paddling again.
Later the afternoon we reached flood plains where a massive herd of zebra where grazing. We have never seen so many zebra together in one spot. Some of the stallions were fighting. At times the herd would come into motion and run for short distances. The sunlight shining through the clouds of dust made a beautiful picture around the zebra. Their hooves sounded like thundering drums on the hard ground surface. We camped close by on the opposite bank of the river. That night we could hear animals moving through the river to our side. We got our JetBeam torches and saw that it was a herd of buffalo. Many different animal species move over to the Namibian side at night time to graze there. In the early morning hours a hippo grazed around Simon’s tent.
The forth day was also filled with beautiful game viewing. We saw a martial eagle catching an Egyptian goose – unbelievable! The bird life is really special on the Chobe. We saw carmine bee eaters, black-winged pratincoles, saddle-billed stork and even ground horn bills, just to mention a few species. The water level was getting lower, the river meandering a lot. Sometimes we had to get out of the canoes to push it to deeper pools of water. We thought we were close to Ngoma, but couldn’t be too sure since we already realized on day one that we cannot count on the distances or time frames indicated by the local fisherman. When we asked how far it was to Ngoma, the answers ranged from five km to 200 km, ‘not very far’ and ‘very far’. When we asked how long it will take, the answers were ‘very long’, ‘not very long’, or ‘two hours’. The ‘two hours’ seemed to be quite a popular answer, irrespective of on which day we asked the question. We finally reached Ngoma on the evening of day four. The next morning we got a ride back to Kasane in a taxi with pumping music.
Botswana follow strict conservation policies to protect there wildlife. They are proud of their natural heritage – they have a conservation mindset. They do not even have fence lines to indicate areas of protection. At the moment Chobe National Park is very dry and overgrazing is quite evident due to the big elephant population. Even though there is a good food supply on the Namibian side of the Chobe river most animals choose to stay on the Botswanian side, probably because of better security. Yet, it was amazing to reach some areas where you could sense the peace between local Namibian villagers and wild animals. That gives us hope to know that it is possible for humans and wild animals to live together in harmony. The Caprivi region has so much potential to become a safehaven for wild animals roaming freely between Botswana and Namibia. Would it not be lovely if a transfrontier park could be established between these and other neighbouring countries to create a massive area where animals can live securely and freely?
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