Mid-winter Zambezi Meanders

Last wekeend was all about the River. Our renovated boat engine needed testing, so on Saturday evening we puttered around below the rapids. Now that the water is dropping back to normal levels, the sound of the rapids almost drowns out the noise of the traffic on the main road nearby. As we floated down with the current, I noticed silent elephants materialising on the riverbank just next to us. 

They were here, in the evening light.. sadly I did not manage to capture them on camera.Contradictions of our riverine settlement:  we can be floating in the quietest part of the beautiful river, watching elephants arriving for a drink of water, while still hearing the trucks passing by on the road along the river.

Putting my small foot inside a giant elephant footprint while launching the boat....

 The water in this section of the river seems puzzled and confused, and is being thrown about every which way by the emerging rocks. We came past this area of leaping water in an otherwise smooth, swift current..

A final test on our boat engine was required, so on Sunday morning, we loaded up the holidaying kids, picnic gear and passports for a day meandering around in the channels between the Chobe and the Zambezi rivers. Due to our our multi-country location, one has to leave Botswana and enter Namibia to do this.

Once legally in Namibia we set off into the Kasai Channel, all the way down to where it meets the Mighty Zambezi, as it is so often named. This mother and baby hippo launched into the water as we passed by. Thank you Zac for the photo!

The waters of the Zambezi are fast flowing and the first view of this huge river at this flooded time of year often gives me the shivers and a feel of great vulnerability - it seems hostile and powerful, and I'm all too aware of the massive Victoria Falls about 80km downstream from here!

This couple in a traditional Mokoro dugout canoe (you will probably need a magnifying glass to spot them) turned their small craft into the current and prepared to cross the river shortly after this! The river and channels are a way of life for these folk.

Having crossed over and paid a quick visit to the Zambian shore of the Zambezi, we retreated to Namibia and the sheltered channels closer to the Botswana side, in search of one of our favourite sandbanks, which had been submerged by the floodwaters for a while.

Happily we found most of the beach out of the water again. How to describe the beuaty of this place... You are on your own out here. Geographically not too far away from the busy town and tourism and trucks, but light years away in atmosphere. Sheltered by the papyrus channels, you will seldom meet another boat here, and the only sound is of the wind whispering in the reeds, or birds in the papyrus, flying or fishing in the river. Waterlilies grow in the sheltered bays...

Here is a view from our beach, over on the other side, separated by several other channels, you may just see our home town up on the ridge on the far shore!

The white sand is prisitine, fine and squeaky, washed for months by the pure, clear flood waters rushing along.  When you step into it, under the icy, clear water, it sinks below you, and enfolds you in all its squeaky glory. Quite an addictive feeling and better than any foot spa! Here are the kids giving their feet the Treatment!

NB, it is not a good idea to hang around too long here, and one must always keep a very strict eye out for our reptilian co-habitors of the riverine world - the crocodiles.

I could not resist another photo here of the sand and the clearest, most beautiful water. Words are just no good here, but it kind of makes your heart sing a bit!!

Sadly we had to pack up and say goodbye, in order to meet the border closing times - leaving only our footprints behind us, we gave our little beach back to the birds to cover our footprints with theirs again. Till the next time!

Leaving our sandbank behind..

This weekend is mainly about work for me, and a very busy week coming up, so I will sign out now, and wish everybody a wonderful week, wherever you are...