Chobe National Park game drive, then on to Zambia

June 20
My morning begins with another 5:30 am wake up call for a game drive. We see elephants eating branches and leaves from tress, baboons picking through elephant maure to eat the undigested seeds, and hyenas (picture 2) and jackels, both of whom eat anything left by other carnivors. Birds, monkeys, and a water buffalo herd (picture 1) finish off our morning observations.
After 30 min on the stationary bike in the gym, quick shower, and breakfast, I am driven 30 min back to Kasani airport to meet another driver who takes me 40 min to the Zambia border (on the way we wait while elephants cross the road). I transfer onto a small boat for a 3 minute ride across the river, where I am met by my lodge guide, go through customs and border control (picture , and continue on a 40 minute van ride to Tongabeze Lodge near Livingston.

I immediately love this place. My private chalet (picture 4,5) made of wood and stone is at the far end of the lodge and sits on a wide peaceful river. the staff are gentle, friendly, and willing to please.

For my afternoon activity I choose to visit the 'curio shop' that supports a local orphanage, and then onto the local market (picture 6). Due to the strict weight limitations on luggage on all of the small planes I took, and being the end of my trip, I had planned on shopping here and at the airport in Johannesberg (Jo'burg). Each stall seller greets me with "please come into my shop. It costs nothing to look", followed by either they or their grandfather made the craft they are selling, which can't be true since most of the products are the same. As I scout the market for something special to buy, it is exhausting to have to continually say to each seller that tries to engage me and point out each of their items for sale, that I want to see everything that is available in the market and will return to their shop after I decide what I want to buy.

Returning with my purchases of a carved wood chair, and 3 stone carvings, Issac, my personal valet greets me with a hot bubble bath!

My guide explained that I am fortunate to arrive on the last night of the ‘lunar rainbow’ at Victoria Falls, so as I rush to be at the office for a timely departure I turn off the lights and don’t see the step down to my veranda , and crash my knee into the solid wood door. Withering in pain, I quickly hobble to the office in the dark. With an ice pack on my knee, we leave with other quests for our rare evening view of a rainbow across Victoria Falls. We arrive to a locked gate, and after our guide spends an hour looking for the employee with the key (who has not shown up for work), we reluctantly return to the Lodge. To distract myself from my pain, I look at my pictures on the office computer and chose the ones for my blog with input from Issac.
I enjoy the warmth of my heated blanket, but my throbbing knee wakes me up several times during the night with worry that my swollen knee cap is fractured and I won’t be able to walk around Victoria Falls tomorrow.
Zambia , a democracy of 72 tribes, gained its independence from England in 1964. It has a population of 11 million, with copper mines, tourism, and agriculture being the main industries, and a small clothing manufacturing sector. Zambia exports maize, sugar cane, corn, and cotton. People speak their tribal language, and English, which is the official language.
My guide tells me that most of the children go to substandard government schools which cost approximately $450 per child per year. Vocational programs cost about $300 for each semester of classes (every 3 months). This is a lot of money for the average Zambian.