  2 days after our rafting adventure, Jerry and I went on a safari! We thought we would go to Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe but after some price comparisons and a realistic look at how much time we had left in Africa, we opted for a 1 day trip to Chobe National Park in Botswana. (At Victoria Falls it is called the '4 corners' because Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe all bnorder each other) We were in a group with 2 South Africans, a Swede, and a Brit.
They drove us to the border and then we switched into a 4x4. We had a short drive over to the dock and the first part of our trip was a safari cruise. And it was amazing! The first thing we did was drive literally 4 feet away from this HUGE crocodile. They only attack when you are in the water so the guide says it is safe to get this close. Everyone in the boat was scared to death though. We kept out distance with the hippos- which are the most dangerous animal. We also saw tons of bird life... great white egrets, purple herrons, fish eagles, kingfishers. Then, it was THE highlight of the day. We saw an entire herd of elephants crossing the river and giving themselves mud baths on the other side. It was amazing. The baby elephants would hold on to the tail of the big elephants with their trunks as they swam across. It was awesome. There are 45,000 elephants in Chobe so this was just the beginning. After about 3 hours on the water, we stopped at a sweet 5 star safari lodge for lunch.
Jerry and I were in heaven. They had avacados, fish, steak, lamb... so much great food. And we definitely hadn't been eating $30 meals in Africa thus far. They even had a dessert buffet. Sigh. After the best meal of the trip, we set off for a 3 hour game drive. We saw elephants (tons and tons), impala, kudu, giraffes, water buffalo... and for the grand finale... some female lions taking a nap after a kill.
But, it turns out they weren't really napping. We were about 15 feet from the lions and one got up and started walking straight towards the vehicle. The driver had a big 'oh shit' moment and we were speeding off. Jerry has a picture with the lion just feet away from him. It definitely wasn't hungry though... just wanted us to leave it alone. On our way home we saw some zebras... so we basically saw all the animals in the park except leopards. Next time! 
