Early in the morning, just after sunrise, everything is quiet. The Zambezi silently flows between the Zambian and Zimbabwean banks and the trees on the other side are reflected in the water. The night was rather cold and a thin layer of mist is floating over the water. Soon it will disappear as the warmth of the sun increases. In the distance a column of smoke points upwards to the sky and a faint distant roar can be heard: Mosi oa Tunya, The Smoke That Thunders.

The Victoria Falls, as they were called by Dr David Livingstone, the first European to visit in 1855, form the greatest known curtain of falling water. Just after the rainy season the Falls are nearly two kilometers wide and more than 500 cubic meters of water a minute are plummeting over the edge into the 100 m deep Batoka Gorge throwing up a column of spray that can be seen for miles around.

The difference with earlier visits to the Falls is striking. Much earlier in the season (June instead of September) and only just over a month after the height of the flood season, the amount of water falling over the edge of the basalt cliffs is much larger. Instead being able to walk for several hundreds of metres on the dry bed of the Zambezi, as we've done before, the very same bed is now one rushing mass of water. At the same time most of the gorge is invisible because of the tremendous spray caused by the falling water.

The best viewpoint on the Zambian side is Knife-Edge Point. This viewpoint normally offers good sights on the Eastern Cataract, The Main Falls and The Boiling Pot. Not today, however! The thick spray effectively blocks our view on the Falls and we only get glimpses of the Armchair and Rainbow Falls. The spray soaks us in seconds, even with a raincoat. Although we had expected some haze, we weren't prepared for a local monsoon. Fortunately it's not cold.

Being soaken wet and with very limited views on the Falls, we don't stay to long. Again we cross the Knife-Edge Bridge and again we "enjoy" the difference between June and September. At least it's clear now why the area is a lush green in this predominantly dry country: it's raining 24 hours a day! With the prospect of returning again in a couple of days, we mount the truck again and head for the next destiny: Chobe NP in Botswana.

After about an hour driving from Livingstone, we reach Kazangula, the borderpost of Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Due to the recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease it's not allowed to take meat and dairy-products over the border and we stop to hide everything. The Zambian border is passed quickly and we board the Kazangula ferry for the short trip over the Zambezi into Botswana. While we're waiting at the Botswana border, two elephants walk by!

Our destination in Botswana for today is Kasane, a half an hour drive from the Kazangula borderpost and situated at the edge of Chobe NP. Chobe is Botswana's premier game reserve and packed with wild animals, notably large herds of elephant. Tens of thousands of elephants live in the park that was established in 1968. Unfortunately we're only staying at the Chobe waterfront, missing the more remote parts of Chobe (e.g. Savuti).

In the afternoon, we leave for our first gamedrive in the park. In an open Landrover we make several loops over the sandy tracks. Naturally we encounter lots of elephants, both breeding herds with calves and solitary males. One of these males is a little bit curious. We encounter it on the banks of the Chobe and it slowly approaches us while using its trunk to sniff the air. As it slowly steps in front of the car and almost touches one of the persons sitting in front row, our driver decides that this is close enough. He drives away quickly and explains us later that judging from the elephant's body language that it was about to charge making it unwise to stay any longer.

With the Chobe river as a boundary to the park (and the country) it's not remarkable that Chobe is a birder's paradise. A lot of birds can be seen sitting in the trees or flying over our heads. A Lilacbreasted Roller shows its bright lilac and blue colors when it flies up from the branch it was sitting on while a Yellow-billed Hornbill is solemnly watching the scene. Then suddenly an African Fishing Eagle flies by, impressive in its flight. For a moment we hope that it will show its fishing technique, catching a fish from the river while flying close over the surface, but unfortunately it decides to land in a nearby treetop.

Our attention is drawn to a distant treetop that is packed with black spots. Those might be vultures waiting for their turn to get a part of a kill. We cross a shallow branch of the river and try to get near to the tree. But soon we discover that it's not possible to come any nearer than a few hundred meters, too far to see what the vultures are waiting for. There are no tracks towards the tree and strict regulations in the park forbid us to leave the tracks. A little bit disappointed, we turn back. A single Lappetfaced Vulture is looking at us while we re-cross the river.

In the meantime the sun has started to set gradually turning the sky from blue to all kinds of red. A beautiful moment and we stop to watch the sun slowly disappear behind the horizon. Only one thing is missing to make the moment really unforgettable: the silhouette of tens of elephants bathing in the river as I've seen them on my previous visit to Chobe in 1991. Fortunately this is still no zoo!

Although our driver mentioned that he had seen a pride of lions close to the gate the day before, we didn't expect to see them as it already turned dark and we were on our way back to the campsite. Already outside the gate our driver suddenly changes his mind, turns and takes a sideroad into the bush. And in the light of our headlights there they are, two lionesses, one sleeping on the track and one standing close by. Even more satisfied than before we arrive at the campsite leaving our driver with a well deserved fee.