Ken Ratzlaff and Jerry Feese travelled to South Africa to take part in a building project after which they went to stay with friends in Gaborone, Botswana and then northwards to spend a few days in the Chobe National Park.

The comfortable Chobe Safari Lodge, located outside the park near Kasane.

As Ken and Jerry found out, driving in Botswana is in itself an experience. You have to keep a permanent eye out for cattle, goats, donkeys, snakes and the occasional elephant.

Luckily the roads are generally in good condition so you don't need a 4x4 when driving around the countryside except in certain areas and parks including Chobe. Apart from the ever present domestic animals, included in the scenery are the beautiful baobab trees and lots of dusty villages.

Ken and Jerry pre-booked their stay at the Chobe Safari Lodge situated in Kasane right next to the Chobe river. There is a wooden deck bar on which you can sit and slowly drink in your beverage and the magic that is a sunset in Africa.

It's a short drive from the Lodge to Chobe National Park. Ken and Jerry took two trips into the park: an early morning drive and an afternoon boat ride. They spotted herds of buffalo so large that it baffles the mind, stretching across the horizon.

It's not an unusual occurrence in Chobe to come across the following scene - hippo lazing in the shallows of a waterhole with a family of elephants visiting to drink and a large herd of buffalo resting in the shadows a few metres away.

Crocodiles may look docile when basking in the sun on river banks, with their mouths open and their breath hardly detectible, but there is reason to be scared of them. In the area around Chobe Game Lodge three tourists have been taken by these primitive beasts in past few years. Some of them are reputed to weigh up to a ton.

Whilst on their river cruise, the skipper stopped the boat when they saw a group of elephants crossing the water. At the deepest point of crossing all they could see were trunks appearing above the water for air every now and again. Elephants are plentiful in Chobe and they saw many more in varying group sizes.

There are also plenty of opportunities for bird watching in Chobe and surrounds. Ken & Jerry spotted kingfisher, fish eagle, cormorant, carmine bee-eater, marabou stork, ground hornbill and more.

Ken summarised it best: "...northern Botswana is the land of elephant, buffalo, hippo, croc, birds and more in huge numbers. Each day, Jerry and I repeated the mantra ...: 'Another Beautiful Day in Africa!' And that it was."