Some days are diamonds...

As Wednesdays go this one's been very ordinary indeed. We were awake on and off from 2am till dawn after being woken by unfamiliar noises outside. Fortunately they turned out to have been animals rather than what we had feared, a return visit by our would-be thief. 

Then we piled all our goods for the day into the back of the ute Sarah had kindly been lent, hopped into the cabin and started out for CARACAL, only to discover that one of our tyres had deflated overnight.

A couple of 'good Samaritans' came to our aid and changed the tyre, but when they tossed the flat into the back of the ute it crushed a 6 pack of raw eggs that Sarah had bought as a treat for the mongooses. Ouch!

Before we left home I took a chance on the weather and hung out our washing in the bright sunshine. A torrential downpour around lunchtime proved I'm rubbish at predicting Botswana weather patterns. And I'm not 100% well.

Yesterday was another matter entirely. 

The Chobe River glinted and the late afternoon sun was a photographer's dream as we set out on another river cruise, this time with guests from The Garden Lodge in Kasane. 

These Namibian builders sped past, their boat laden with bundles of thatching stalks, the traditional roofing material in Botswana. That far bank of the Chobe River is Namibia.

Kudu, like this one, were in abundance.

As were the many brightly coloured birds that build their nests along the river bank.

Even this tiny dragonfly was easy to see, glowing scarlet against the reeds.

Our boat was very similar to this one, able to navigate the shallow reaches of the river and get in nice and close to the animals on the bank or on the reedy islands.

There's nothing quite like sipping on an ice cold gin and tonic and observing the incredible abundance of wildlife that comes down to the river at sunset. If you can bear to stop pressing that shutter button for a few seconds!

The hippos were in a playful mood.

As were the elephants.

But the big croc beneath these bubbles just wanted to play hide and seek.