Kasane Camp, near Chobe, Botswana

Gods, I'm knackered, but in a good way. We walked up to the bar at Planet Baobab last night, and it proved to be pretty darned cool. It must be great in the summer, when there are lots of people, but it was pretty much deserted when we were there. Apart from, that is, a plastered girl from the Netherlands (from whom I just about escaped with my life). It turns out she works there, and since it was a Friday, she was doing what a fair number of people do on a Friday. The only difference was that she was the only person in that state. She had me buying rounds of shooters. I'm sure she would have been great fun had we all been in a similar state. The bar was very cool, anyway – with chandeliers made out of beer bottles, and a bar that curved in and out, so you could stand between two bars, if you so desired. There was a fire outside and, at one point, the barman went out, filled a copper pan with hot coals, and placed them in the middle of our table. Magic.

During his usual after-dinner briefing, Bjorn hit us with a bit of a curve ball. It turns out they want to send out another tour from Cape Town on Wednesday, so Bjorn is driving back the day after tomorrow, so not transitting us to Jo'berg, or taking us to Kruger. There was silence after he said this, and it's fair to say everyone's a bit gutted. While I'm not sure I'd peg any of these people as the sort to be close friends, it's amazing how we've become sort-of close without really realising it. So, it sounds like the 'accommodated' truck will be taking those of us continuing. It's one of the new trucks, which is nice, but it's still a bit of a shame.

The 4am start hurt, though. We were to do a river cruise in Chobe, then a game drive the next morning. Bjorn gave us the option to do both in the same day, thus avoiding paying the park fees twice, and getting to Victoria Falls earlier tomorrow. The downside, of course, was that we would have to rise at 4am. Oh well, the twenty US dollars swung it for most people, so we were up in the middle of the night. It stung a bit – particularly as we had to make a packed lunch of sandwiches with dehydrated bread for lunch. We then had to travel one of the worst roads of the trip. Normally, the last five hundred metres or so into campsites, is a little rough, and bounces us around a bit. This particular road was of a similar state, only it was around one hundred and seventy kilometers long. I now have some idea what it feels like to be one of those lottery balls in the machine.

So, reaching camp, we had twenty minutes to pitch tents, unpack stuff, and sort out the t-shirts before the safari truck arrived. Ah yes, the t-shirts. Bjorn has a stack of t-shirts from various trips, and he wears a different one every day. He gave us the option to have 'tour' t-shirts made up. The guys come here, we give them the design, then they're ready in Vic. Falls for collection. You can imagine what 'design by committee' is like, but I've signed up for one anyway (I mean, you know how much decorating I do).

The safari was fantastic. Chobe surrounds part of the Chobe River and, frankly, knocked Etosha into a cocked hat. It was off-road the whole way, the truck we had had elevated open-air seats on the back, and the driver and guide was one of those stereotypical beefy Afrikaans types with a moustache, who's probably been brought up on raw meat. A very knowledgable guy, though, and we saw a host of animals and birds. It also added something hearing the commentary in his deep Afrikaaner voice. The terrain was a lot more varied than Etosha, including the wide Chobe river. Etosha consists more of wide open plains, and the odd waterhole. I think it's fair to say we felt a lot safer than in the Delta, too. This was a lot more sanitised, but I remember thinking, three hours into our long Delta walk, that I had no idea where we were or, more to the point, where the camp was. I wondered what we would have done if the guide had dropped dead faster than you can say, 'congenital heart disease'. And I'm loving the new camera. It's a revelation. I managed to snap birds in flight, elephants right between the eyes... It really showed it's a cut above the compacts most of the other people on the tour have. The only problem is I seem to have filled up another 8-gig card. I'm going to have to do a bit of editing, since I'm not sure I need forty-three photos of tired hippos...

...in fact, as I type, I'm listening to the conversation around the fire. Bjorn just described how our safari guide this afternoon, 'If you lift up his shirt, he doesn't have much stomach left.' According to Bjorn, the guy used to be a hunting guide. A client wanted a leopard, shot one and only injured it. The guide went to finish it off and discovered it wasn't as badly injured as he thought it would. It managed to open up his stomach with his claws, and he just about managed to throttle it to death before he passed out. He was found by the client, and they got him to hospital. Apparently, half his internal organs are damaged, and he's had twelve or so operations over the years. For the last twenty-five years, then, he's been the head game warden at Chobe. He's like something out of a Wilbur Smith novel – he even got cross when the girls got the cooler box off the truck, saying 'that's a man's job.' Would have been fascinating to have a beer with him – although he says there's so little liver left, he can't get pissed if he tries (don't ask me why: I'm not sure of the medical details)...

Anyway, after a couple of hours of cruising, the driver dropped us back to the river, and it was on to a boat for a sunset cruise. I managed to get my fill of hippos here, and god do they stink. We're getting quite demanding with our photography. At one point, twenty metres from about fifteen hippos, I found myself pointing my camera, and silently saying, 'Yawn, bitch. C'mmon, give me some action...'

So, back at camp. Steak, roast veg and sausages for dinner, now I'm typing away while the others chat around the fire. My tiny laptop is proving very popular, since it can be used to copy photos from memory cards to usb drives. The number of cameras, mp3 players, in the group is amazing. What must this have been like ten years ago?

A lie-in tomorrow – 6am. The Zim border will be a bit of a hassle, we're told, but we'll be at Victoria Falls around lunchtime, for the last full day of this tour. I really don't know how to feel. Tired, I guess.