Stage 66-70: Elephant Highway #Botswana

Amazing!! We rode the most spectacular 713 km the last five days. Very long days in the saddle with temperatures close to 40 degrees but we were rewarded with an incredible wildlife show. The section we are currently riding, between Vic Falls and Windhoek, is called the “Elephant Highway”, and it took not even 15 km before we had our first Elephant encounter just after the border crossing turning towards Kasane. The route from Kasane to Maun leads through various national parks and has one of the largest concentration of Game in Africa. The Chobe National Park has a spectacular number of an estimated 50,000 Elephants. We saw lots of them while riding on the road but also inside our campsite. No fences meant we had to be watchful at all time not to get to close to the big guys as they can quickly charge after you if they feel invaded in their space. Apparently Elephants can run up to 40 km/h and would certainly not want to be in their way if they upset. The ride has been very flat and on tarred roads which in theory should be an easy sail. But the long distances and change in climate, from a tropical to a semi arid climate, is pretty tiring. The rest day here in Maun comes just at the right time to re-energize for our next 5-day stretch to Windhoek.

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Crossing the Chobe River just after the Botswana border check point. 4 Countries meet here, Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
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So exciting. I spotted an Elephant.
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Incredible! An Elephants is walking through our bushcamp
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Spotted another bicycle. The owner is a young Engineer student from Zambia who uses the bike to commute.

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