Gone Fishin'

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Happy St. Pats to all you Irish out there.  And a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Geoff's brother, Andrew.

I admit yesterday I was a bit cranky.  It is getting down to the last couple of days and I'm getting a little weary.  It has been quite a journey.  Speaking of journey - fun facts:  moving giraffes are called a journey, standing giraffes, a dazzle of zebras, a gang of buffalo, a bask of crocodiles, a parade of elephants, a pod hippos, a leap of leopards, pride of lions, cackle of hyenas -- that's all I can remember at the moment.

Lying in bed watching the baby baboons playing in the grass with the warthogs. Cool. Getting ready to see what the fishing is all about.  No flies, just lures. We met up with our fishing guide, Nevin, shortly after breakfast.  He is a local from Namibia with a small fishing skiff.  Geoff and I each took one of the high seats.  Nevin told us that this is the worst time of year to fish for tigers.  Great.  So we were reduced to trolling.  He gave us each a rod with two different color lures and putted along to the Namibia side of the Chobe River.  I got a hit pretty early on but lost the darn right as it got close to the boat.  Really wouldn't have mattered much.  I think the lure was bigger than the fish - no much of a trophy photo.  The next hit came not too far after.  Again, I got him up to the boat and then he jumped off.  This one was bigger but still nothing to write home about.  The third time's a charm.  The fish struck, I hooked him good, and landed him in the boat.  Not a trophy but a good picture none the less.  This is catch and release - so back in the water he went.

Up and down the river we went passing crocodiles and hippos.  It was very beautiful and peaceful. I felt bad for Geoff.  I figured I had the good lure, so we switched rods. Yup, sure enough he hooked one. But the only thing that came up was an eyeball!!  Somewhere out there there is a fish with one eye who is not too pleased.  Geoff's next hit was a real beautiful looking tiger fish.  We think on the skinny side of 3 pounds.  That was pretty exciting and the highlight of the fishing excursion. We were back at the dock by 10.

Today was a lot better at the lodge.  This morning at breakfast we were the only people there at 7am and not many more were there when we returned at 10.  Don't know where they all went and we really didn't care.  We picked a couple of chaises and jumped in the pool to cool off from trolling in the sun. We had a good deal of peace just to sit and read until about noon.  Then the day boats started coming.  They all are here for the buffet lunch as some sort of day trip.  Good time to go to the bar and have a quiet lunch there. We had a nice lunch from the ala carte menu and nobody bothered us.  Another dunk in the pool - check out the jacuzzi, and it was time to get ready for our next activity - game drive.

The game drive in the jeep is pretty much the same as the game drive in the boat except from a different perspective. We had a full jeep of 10 people plus the guide, Mbara.  I know there was an Aussie family but not sure where the others were from. We drove down along the river, seeing most of the same creatures. We did see lots more crocodiles today and the elephants were having a bit of fun with us.  Jumping out from the bushes and trumpeting.  The same animals but always beautiful.  Our search for the lion and leopard didn't pan out.

We were making our way back, when Mbara got the jeep stuck in the sand.  The sand was very high and he slowed down to talk about the birds. The next thing - we stuck!  He got out - which we are told is a complete no no - and let some of the air out of the tires.  Still no luck.  Only one thing for it - everybody out and push. Well this was a first. It wasn't going so great and then someone noticed that the jeep wasn't in four wheel drive.  What the????  These jeeps are old with manual 4 wheel drive. Apparently, it was originally in gear when we got to the park and when Mbara switched it, he really took it our of gear instead of putting in 4 wheel drive.  Phew!  We all jumped back in accompanied with a couple of pounds of sand and we were on our way. 

We passed a pile up of jeeps waiting for a single lioness to make an appearance. It was getting late for us, so we gave up and drove back stopping for sunset on the way.  As it was, we got back a half hour later.  Mbara really wanted to find that lion.  I also think he felt bad about getting stuck.  I bet that doesn't happen twice.

Back at the lodge, showered and went straight to the buffet.  Still lots of meat - some of it we just saw in the park.  I really think that is not good policy but then again I don't make the policy.  We were able to fill up on all kinds of salads - some better than others.  The atmosphere is nicer here than across the street - you get to look at the river.  It is also a bit cooler.

We have one more game drive in the morning and then a private boat tour (which probably goes to the same place) just before lunch.  Then the rest of the day we are free to veg and stare at the day trippers.

CLICK HERE: TODAY'S PHOTO ALBUM

Next time ... The Last Drive