Chobe National Park

Our fear seems to be true, we are not getting a permit for the southern part of Chobe. We cannot provide proof of reserved camping. There is nobody from the campsite booking office today. Tomorrow, at 8.00 hour. We are right in time for the counter. With the wanted lady behind it. She pays more attention to her manicured nails than to her customers. It doesn't look like she wants to do even one minute of muscle work to help us further. "We are fully booked" is all she can say. Encouraged by the park managers, she feels forced to check what the availability is and is lagging behind. She is back within 45 seconds with the announcement that 10 October is a first free site. We won't wait seven days, she knows that too. We can write the park permit on our stomach, now that there is a clear 'no' for the campsite.

Dutch courage
A campsite on the official main road is possible. Onno found a special day route last night. The park official is startled by the plan, "Can't, too dangerous. Too deep sand, you get stuck. We only give a permit with two or three cars. ”We are used to the terrain. "Our car is equipped for all circumstances, we can save ourselves from difficult situations," we object, partly bluffing. "You can be attacked by lions," she adds her last trump. We give it up, a pepper spray in handbag format probably doesn't make an impression. Not on her, not on a lion. Is it the relief of the park official that we abandon the wild plan, or the confusion about what we are going to do now? In any case, we get a three-day permit for the park without difficulty.

Locked up
We submissively follow the permissible through route, on the way to the planned campsite. Not much to see on the way, we will certainly get further. The elderly white owner of the Eco Lodge & Camping receives us. We are the only guests. When asked, he tells with some pride that he is originally from Rhodesia. As soon as Onno is, he asks, "Was the departure voluntary?" The man closes like an oyster. He radiates that his best days are behind him. He warns us, “The campsite is an open area. Watch out for the elephants, there's an injured elephant walking here. It can be quite irritated. Two weeks ago, a guard at a nearby lodge did not survive a night encounter with an elephant. We have another sundowner in the bar, where you write down what you drink. Then we walk back to the campsite. The gate closes behind us. We swallow. Although the man and his staff are between four electric fences and we are in the wide world, we feel trapped with the wild animals.

Roar
Onno focuses on cooking. I try to choose a position in which I can see the animals arriving on the large empty campsite. Another camper arrives in the dark. We do not know them and they do not make contact, yet we are happy with their arrival. We feel less alone. I am happy once we are in the roof tent. Then we wake up with a loud roar and elephant groans. The sound comes from three directions. Do the lions attack the elephants? We gaze in the dark, but see nothing without a flashlight. I feel safe in the high roof tent and continue to sleep peacefully. Onno is emerging as a scriptwriter. He already sees the film. A lion jumps on the hood and smashes the tent cloth with his claw. Adrenaline flows through his blood. Then sleep does not work well anymore. We are relieved when it gets lighter. When we wipe the sleep out of our eyes and look outside again with the umpteenth roar, we see two elephants intimidate each other. "Most people confuse elephants roar with lions," the owner says reassuringly that morning. We just feel like a bunch of losers.

Track seekers
Around noon we arrive at the next campsite in the hope that we will get a place. "No", the answer is, when I finally find the responsible lady, "all places are reserved". "I hope this is my lucky day, that someone has canceled", I continue. Then she says that the campers at nr. 7 are willing to share the camping site with others. It is a hospitable Brazilian young couple that travels the same route as we cross Africa through Africa. They saw lions on a large open pan that morning. In the afternoon we tour the park in the hope that we will also find lions or leopards. Unfortunately. The next morning we leave early and rush to the pan in question. Unfortunately the lions are not habitual animals. They have moved on. Later in the morning we meet the Brazilians again. They have spotted lions with 5 youngsters under a tree. We get the GPS coordinates of the place and an hour later our car is in front of the tree with the lions. This time the real ones, and no elephants imitating them.

River Khwai
We continue our journey through a vast and dried-up swamp landscape. The drought still has advantages, because in the wet season this is probably a big mud party. Later that afternoon we arrive at our campsite on the Khwai River, where the elephants and hippos are our cousins ​​that evening. We see the sun go down over the river and are completely happy.