The first half of our trip will soon come to an end. Most of our fellow travellers will be leaving after a few days in Livingstone. I and Andreas will continue our journey to Kenya, together with Matt and Nathan, and some new people will join our truck. It feels kind of sad because we had a great time as a group over the last three weeks, but I’m sure we’ll have a lot more to enjoy. We leave Botswana very early to get to Livingstone in time for some people to do some rafting while the rest of us is going to have a great breakfast at the lodge. We’ll be staying here for 4 days. The campsite is waterfront by the Zambesi river, with a pool, a bar and a restaurant in a beautiful location just looking at the water flowing. One of the greatest differences with Botswana is the temperature and high humidity which is also bringing plenty of mosquitoes. Actually, the worst moment of the day is indeed when getting into the shower which is stuffed with insects both alive and dead!
After leaving the Okavango delta region, we head north towards the border with Zambia. Before crossing we stay for two days close to Chobe National park, one of the most populated park in the area. It’s home to a large group of elephants, which we meet already along the road towards the camp site. We spend a couple of nights just close to the park to get the chance for an early morning game drive. For the first night the Italians have the duty of preparing dinner, which ended with bruschetta made with sweet bread! In some places anything goes!
After crossing the border between Namibia and Botswana, our first stop is in Ghanzi, home of the Bushmen, the oldest group of humans, at about 100 000 years. These tribes are spread between different countries and are becoming fewer and fewer over the years. Nowadays, they have rights to live over most of the land, but still have a hard time to be able to continue their traditions, like hunting and migrating. The Bushmen are highly respected here, they are considered wise and strong. They live all their lives outside and when you look at them you feel they have an incredible sense of confidence. It is almost like you are immediately convinced that they know better. Many young people from this group has tried to go to school, but most fail and go back to their groups. I ask the guy who is bringing us around how old the oldest woman is, he translates to her and then she looks at me and starts talking. Her skin is thick and dry, the wrinkles are deep, but she is extremely agile and flexible, she could be 80, but she sits on the ground and gets up very quickly, like a kid. I don’t understand anything and just nod (like Merly Streep in Out of Africa, talking to the chief of the Kikuyu), but I feel an immense sense of respect for her. She doesn’t know how old she is, there is not such thing as birth certificate, she just remembers that when she was a kid there were no cars around…