Botswana now!

February 1st 2020
Not far from the border of South Africa I still carry the discomfort of the existence of townships, the corrupt government and the stories of danger in my neck and it took no less than a week for mind/body to understand that we are in a different country of Africa with totally different politics.
The history of Botswana does much more than cover a gap between the histories of neighbouring South Africa and Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, and Zambia. In prehistoric and very recent times the Kalahari thirstlands of Botswana have been central in the historical geography of the region, as the intermediate territory between the savannas of the north and east and the steppes of the south and west.
Between the 1880s and its independence in the 1960s, however, Botswana was a poor and peripheral British protectorate known as Bechuanaland. The country is named after its dominant ethnic group, the Tswana or Batswana ('Bechuana' in older variant orthography), and the national language is called Setswana (aka 'Sechuana').
Since the later 1960s Botswana has gained in international stature as a peaceful and increasingly prosperous democratic state. It has had one of the fastest growing economies in the world, rising from one of the poorest to lower-middle income level. This new prosperity has been based on the mining of diamonds and other minerals, which have built up state revenues, and on the sale of beef to Europe and the world market. There has been extensive development of educational and health facilities, in villages and traditional rural towns as well as in rapidly growing new towns. But there has also been an increasing gap between classes of new rich and new poor. (From Wikipedia)
Only 2.3 million people live in Botswana.
Today  I notice that we haven’t seen any paler people for a while...
It does’t seem to matter much. It’s comfortable to move about and the stares and questions don’t leave us awkward. Politeness appears to be important to the natives here and I don’t mind....feels good! The ABSENCE of tension. Only now do I realize how palpable tension was in SA. There, I was always looking for the next white person to feel reassured...I am so sorry to say!
Here in Botswana I start losing to see color again.
Aside from the different customs and looks. Respectful - seeing eye to eye without fear and projections.
What we get from the natives now is fear of wild life. They really think it is a bad idea to ride through a national park from Nata to Kasane.

As much as I believe we need to listen to the natives, I also think their fear is very abstract.
White people who have been traveling a lot or who have been guides in national parks here think otherwise. Not that wildlife isn’t dangerous, but one encounters animals in parks on the bicycle much less frequent than trucks and reckless drivers. I feel the danger of getting killed by a truck is a higher possibility ...not just in Botswana - though I have to add that most drivers we have experienced in this first week in this country have been very respectful.
National Parks in Botswana are not fenced, so the animals can pursue their natural migration.
Into the Wild    

February 8th Hwange and Chobe national Park
The road led us to the Elephant Sand Lodge - 50km into the road through the park where wild animals rule.

The lodge is a place build around a water hole. Tent camping and expensive luxury tents for rent as well as bush cabins. Of course we pitched our little tent -

the cheapest version available and our preferred way anyhow.

We had dinner with the elephants! What can I say? I truly have never seen anything like this. Being so close to these majestic, gentle giants basically left me speechless.
They come and they go, they play with the water, they play with each other and they bully each other. I learned that these are mostly males...single males. Not seen a female yet.
We signed up for breakfast tomorrow as well...I can’t wait to get to have breakfast with the elephants.  AND, tomorrow is the anniversary of our tour: ONE year on the road as of the 9th of February. What a way to celebrate!