We had to leave early for Kasane as we had booked for a sunset cruise on the Chobe River through Kubu Lodge for late afternoon. We stayed over at the Kubu Lodge camping site in Kasane. The lodge is on the banks of the Chobe River.
Traveling to Kasane is always challenging because of the huge amount of trucks using this road as well as traveling through a nature reserve that forms part of the area with plenty of elephants. In 2006 the road was in a terrible condition, but over the years it improved – it was built, rebuilt and again resurfaced many times. Sad to say, but the decay is again visible. Old potholes are resurfacing and in some places it is almost impossible to overtake.
Kasane still looked the same as we remembered it from 2010. Except for the bakery, where we bought delicious Christmas mince pies and freshly baked bread, no longer existed.
The Spar grocery shop also still looked the same. As for the rest, new stalls had emerged where African art and lovely painted materials and handbags can now be bought.
The campsite at Kubu Lodge is further away from the main area with its own swimming pool and ablutions – situated on the banks of the Chobe. We were the only campers and we were allocated stand number 2. We had lovely big trees providing much needed shade. The ablutions are a bit run down, but they were clean. In one of the toilets I came face to face with a very small snake. We both decided to respect each other’s space and parted ways.
The lodge booked the cruise for us and provided transport to and from the jetty where the cruise departed. We were the only people on the boat which made for an unforgettable experience as the guide (by the name of “Brave”) and driver of the boat were able to cater for our specific needs.
We saw a lot of hippo’s, crocodiles and other wildlife. On two occasions we came very close to crocodiles. Because of the lack of good rains as yet, many of the elephant graze inland and don’t often come onto Sedudu Island. We saw a small heard of elephant in the distance, but too far for the boat to go near them. We hope to do the trip again when we head back home in January 2017. Hopefully by then, the rains have made grass more attractive for them to swim through and graze on the island.
We had one experience that made us jump – while we were very (like in VERY) near a HUGE crocodile (according to Brave almost 40 years old) the canvas on the boat made a cracking sound sending the crocodile straight back into the water splashing mud and water all over us.
A sunset cruise on the Chobe River is a must when you are in this area. You never know what awaits you.
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