The Hide Hwange National Park

... have a queen-size bed. Our room also has satellite TV, although we can&#8217;t get the TV off the one Botswana channel, a bar fridge, a large writing desk, and, to top it all off &#8211; four brand new, never been used, still in the package and attached as a strip, condoms by the bed. Hey, talk about a one night stand! After all, this is the executive suite.<br><br>The hot shower feels unbelievably good and ...

Maun to Nata <br><br>313ks<br><br>Up at 6 the temperature today is great until about 10 am. At another place with a pool and bar. It is about 40 degrees at the moment.<br>Met Robin and he is all set to go. My campsite cost 55 pula ($12NZD) robins room cost 550 Pula.<br>Have used the tent a lot as it is far cheaper than a room and you seem to get the same amenities. <br>Off to Zambia in the morning. Then to Livingston and the Vic falls. <br><br>Cheers miles

... is absolutely beautiful as the photos show. The staff are very friendly and obliging. The campsite needs a bit of tidying as the pitches were hard to see, as there was lots of grass hiding the fireplaces, but as building work is still in progress I am sure that in a short time all will be of an excellent standard. There is a new ablution block, which is very tastefully decorated, and the old one is being upgraded too. There was plenty of hot ...

... the four of us set off Hwange National Park&#8230;.we were not disappointed.<br><br>We arrived at Main Camp in the afternoon and entered the reception area to book in for the night. From what we could tell there were no other people present in the park. A very smartly dressed lady in park ranger uniform greeted us and after checking in some rather imposing books, filling in a couple of forms and double checking that there was enough space on the ...

... of July off to spend with my folks. At least Oliver gets paid weekly, me it's monthly which will suck. I may have to grab some temp work just to earn some weekly cash. Cross that bridge when we come to it. <br><br>Really want to paint and recarpet the flat as will be horrible in a year if we lease it out immediately. I think we need to win lotto!! Our accounts looked so healthy before we started travelling... amazing how quickly it goes!! <br><br>

As our trip drew to an end we drove from Chobe to Nata...the Makgadikgadi Pans were filled with water and completely unpassable. The tour usually stays at Nata Lodge, but unfortunately it was destroyed by fire last year. Instead we pulled up at what was essentially a motel truck stop...the Northgate Lodge. Upon further inspection however, it ...

... and dining area, with a lovely big dining table and a very comfortable lounge and verandah. All of this with a view towards the waterhole as it was all open with no walls or glass windows - just plain open. As we arrived we were welcomed by the manager Barry and the rest of the rangers. We were shown to our hut before joining the other guests for lunch. We had a delicious lunch before going on our first game drive with our ranger Daffy. On the ...

... the viewing interesting. The street towards the north is changing from rather good conditions to a stretch full of potholes, that reduces the speed of our journey. Driving a such a street is like some video games where you have to react on sudden obstacles that appear on a random pattern -- just this is real life !!

... you have to remember that all this took place in Big 5 country with a herd of ele very close behind! From the car I could see impala, kudu, warthog, zebra and the elephants - what was around that we couldn't see?! I didn't leave the car and we were on look out - how many people have to leave their cars in a NP to rescue another?! Another thing we learnt today was the fact that lions have been hanging about at the picnic site where we ate lunch a couple ...

... was our longest drive yet, at just over 600km, but along the way we saw loads of elephants along the roadside. Most of the time they would just ignore us, but occasionally they'd give us a sharp stare, and a few even charged at the truck. Chobe made up for our other game drives as, in addition to seeing lots of elephants (Chobe has 120,000 of them!), we saw plenty of other game. In the first few minutes, our 4x4 was driving through a deep pool when a hippo ran out from under ...