I am currently in Kasane, Botswana. It is a small and remote town on the Chope river, up north close to the Zambia border/Victoria Falls. It is a big tourist destination because its proximity to the Chope National Park, which I heard has excellent Game Drives.
The journey here has been interesting. I left Cape Town on early Tuesday morning. I was in Johannesburg by 7AM. After hanging out at the airport for a couple of hours, I headed to Park Station about ½ from the airport to take a bus to Gabrorne, the capital of Botswana. It took about 6 hours in a nice and air conditioned bus. They played two movies, one was a kids movie that I don’t remember the name of and the other, Hitch (Will Smith).
On the bus, I met this guy from Swiden who was returning to Kasana after getting his camera fixed. He has been cycling through Africa for the last 21 days, through Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and all the way to Bostwana. He is heading to Nambibia after Kasana.
Anyway, we shared a room for 200 Pulas in one of the Lodges in Gabs, which means I only had to pay P100 (about 12US). He left early the next morning while I stayed behind to check out the city and was planning to take the night train at 9PM.
Long story short, I did not take the train because it was already full by the time I got to the train station. Transportation is really packed/busy at this time of the year because people generally go to the country side to celebrate Eastern with their families.
After looking around for other lodges to stay, I ended up going to a soccer match with a taxi driver and also ended up sleeping in his one room house just outside of the city. I gave him a 100 Pula and we shared a chicken for dinner.
The next morning, I took an early (6am) bus to Francistown, another major town up north close to the Zimbabwe border. The line for the bus was as long as a football field and I had to stand for the entire six hours drive to Francistown. Yes, the bus was packed and people were standing on aisle of the bus in a space that is not even comfortable to stand. Try standing up for six hours in a confined space! That is all I have to say about that.
I was tired and hungry to when I got to Francistown around 2:30pm and the buses to Kasane were all gone to Kasane (another 6-7 hours drive). I decided to go to the nearest guest house (160Pula) sleep the rest of the afternoon. I took another/smaller bus to Kasane early the next morning (6am) and arrived in Kasane around 2 or so. I have been chilling here at a friends house for now and will be doing some river cruise and game drive before I head up north to Zambia tomorrow mid day.
Happy Easter!
