Chobe National Park - Day 11

Expect the unexpected, a dead elephant loaded on the back of a truck. 

We were a bit later than expected to start thanks to having breakfast in the campsite and last minute packing but we were still on the road just after 6.30am.The biggest change from previous years is the Kazungula bridge opening which allows trucks to cross through from Zambia into Botswana on their way to South Africa so we had plenty of trucks to deal with along with the plentiful wildlife on the side of the highway like elephants and antelopes, but we made Nata in good time. 

A quick refuel and we were off again, this time the road itself was pretty shoddy. It's been deteriorating for the last few years but the heavy summer rains and the sheer volume of trucks has resulted in numerous potholes and plenty of broken shoulders. 

Luckily they have started working on the road, which meant a few detours, but luckily they've temporarily filled in most (but not all) of the potholes, so it was slow going until Francistown. From then the car traffic increased as it's the main road to Gaborone and anyone who had taken 2 days off to get a full week's worth of holiday was also heading back home. 

At least the majority of the trucks peeled off at Palapye to reach the SA border. In the end we made relatively good time mainly because we only stopped for fuel twice, but we got home before dark - always our main objective - and quickly got to unpacking. 

Another fabulous trip to the northern regions of Botswana. Savute and the larger Chobe delivered in spaces and hopefully it doesn't take us another 15 years before we get there again!