After a much anticipated punch night, featuring the cooler bin filled with a potent "fruit" punch (mostly alcohol) and punch-fuelled crazy antics, a 6am departure saw our truck populated with many subdued sleeping forms. Botswana's flat landscape was expected to be great for sleeping through, though several interruptions to see giraffes and elephants walking and drinking along the roadside were accepted.
Our destination was Chobe National Park, where the elephant population of 64,000 gave very good odds for seeing at least an elephant or two. An early morning game drive was an awesome experience. We saw hippos lumbering along the road, as well as lazing in the water. It was fascinating to see such a huge creature trot along at some speed.
A rare treat was seeing two prides of lions with cubs at very close range. The cubs were very cute and we enjoyed seeing their rough and tumble play. One pride had killed a kudu (a type of antelope) and we watched as herons edged closer and closer to the kill, until the lion leapt up and chased them off.
The park was rich in other wildlife, with impala, monkeys, elephants and warthogs crossing our path. We revisited the animals on a sunset cruise where we saw baby elephants swimming and chasing monkeys and male elephants locking horns in a fight.
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