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Hello Family!

I just got back from my spring break trip to Botswana and Zambia. Our first day we flew to Jo’Burg and there we met our driver, chef, and got on our overland bus. There was about 24 of us, all study abroad students from a few different programs. I went with about 5 of my friends. The bus was the most incredible vehicle I have ever seen. It had lockers in the back for our suitcases, magical compartments for tents and fold out chairs, a water tank, a fold out stove, a table, two coolers, and more! ANYWAYS, the next day we drove all day again until we reached the Okavango Delta in Botswana. We took a flight over the delta in the evening and saw herds of elephants, giraffes, antelope, and hippos swimming in the water. It was amazing to see such an untouched piece of land from above. All signs of civilization just stopped at a certain point and we were just soaring over open plains and shallow rivers and lagoons.

Next day we woke up before dawn (as we did every day, might I add) and drove an hour and a half to the edge of the delta, where we loaded all our things into makuros, or
wooden canoes. Two people were assigned to a canoe and guides poled us through the reeds of the delta for another hour until we reached our campsite. My guide was named Zero, and he taught us some Setswana and made us lilypad necklaces. We also sang a lot of American pop music the whole ride. That evening we had a game walk but did not see too much-a whole lot of huge termite mounts, some steenboks, and a beautiful sunset.

The next day we woke up and went for a 4 and a half hour game walk. We saw zebras, wildebeast, giraffes, boars, millipedes, two puff adder snakes, and more. We also heard a lion roar and our group took off after it—crossing about 4 rivers (some up to our waste!). It was amazing how our guide knew where to go after hearing the roar so far in the distance, but amazingly we heard it again an hour laster and it was so much closer! We never found it because it never roared again, but it was such an adventure! I was awed by how smart our guides were. They always knew we were in the delta when to me it seemed like we had been walking for hours in circles. They could tell what animal every track, sound, and dropping belonged to. They also had super vision. They could spot animals from distances that none of us could ever see. After the walk we had breakfast and then we went swimming in a swimming hole after our guides checked it for crocodiles and hippos before we went. That evening we went for a makuro sunset cruise and Zero let Alex and I try poling. Amazing that they can do that for 2 hours (on top of all their supernatural animal tracking powers and weather predicting powers).

We were supposed to go for a game walk the next morning but instead one of the guides woke us all up early (5am early) and told us it was going to rain and to put our flys on. Of course, it started raining ten minutes later. It poured all day, so we had to pack up our camp in the pouring rain and pole back down the river soaking wet. I have never been so wet. We all reached the shore when we realized that two boats were missing. We waited an hour for two boys from our group to get back and another canoe of luggage. Apparently one of the women that was supposed to pole the luggage back got spooked when the rain came, convinced there was an evil sprit coming, and would not budge. So that caused a mild crisis. But this is Africa, so by now we’re all used to waiting around.

Anyways, on to the next thing. We made it back, took much needed showers, and drove to the next campsite in time for a delicious Braii but our chef and a good night’s sleep. Next day we drove to Chobe, and we saw some elephants and a giraffe just chilling by the side of the road. That evening we had a sunset cruise and saw crocodiles, baboons, kudo, springbok, and, my favorite, SO MANY HIPPOS! It was beautiful. The Chobe river we were on had Botswana on one shore and Namibia on another. It was incredible. The next day we packed up and crossed the border to Zambia. We all had to wade in the water carrying our things on our heads to get on. We went to Victoria Falls that evening and it was on of the most incredible things I have ever seen. Little did I know how much better it was from the Zimb side.

The next 2 days we were in Livingstone, Zambia. We all had the option to sign up for different activities. I chose to just sign up for abseiling at Vic Falls the next morning, a three event package which included repelling (except I did it forward) into the gorge, doing the flying fox across it, and the gorge swing (like what owen and I did in Ecuador). That was terrifying!! But so fun as well. That afternoon we went to the Zambian market and I traded some things for a few goods. The next day we crossed the border into Zimbawbe. I made 1500 kwacha (Zambian money) for 50 billion Zimbawbwean dollars!!! We crossed the border laden with things we didn’t want to trade in the marketplace. It was our last day, so we had packed things like towels, flashlights, sleeping bags, dirty muddy sneakers, and more. One of my friends had packed cookies in a plastic bag hanging off her backpack, and a huge baboon snuck up on her, ripped open the bag, grabbed the cookies, and ran on top of a huge truck to eat them. First we went to the falls for the Zimb (even more amazing and awe-inspiring than the Zambian side) side, then we went to the marketplace, I traded a sleeping bag and a wet towel for a tapestry, some hair elastics, clips, pens, flashlights, a little bit of pula (Botswana currency_ and more to get a few presents and souvenirs. Many men tried to get me to trade my north face rain jacket, but there was no way I was giving that up! That evening we took a booooze cruise down the Zambezi and aw more hippos and crocs!

The next day consisted of traveling all day and making it to Cape Town at night. I had an amazing time, it was so cool to not only see so many new places but also to meet so many people, from our guides in the Delta to our driver and chef (both from ZImb) It was also so interesting to just driving through the countryside of Botswana and Zambia and to cross the borders, and see all the different kinds of people crossing over. There were some rough moments, like when it felt I would never again be dry or clean, and when ants infested my tents, and when my body was mauled by mosquitos, but hey, it was all worth it! Also met some great other semester abroad students.

Talk to you all soon, miss and love you!

-Bean