Namibia House Boat

Our second day in Zimbabwe we checked out of our safari lodge and headed 3 hours to Namibia to stay the night in a houseboat on the Chobe river.  We had no idea how long the trip would be and where exactly we were going so it was exciting to learn we were going through 3 countries in 3 hours.

Leaving Zimbabwe we went through customs into Botswana.  Strangely after clearing our way through customs which included just writing our name in a book and getting a passport stamp we then had to dip the soles of our shoes in a pan of baking soda and water.

We were told this would help prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease that has broke out among the cows in Zimbabwe and Botswana does not want their cows contaminated.  We went along with the foot dip and had a good laugh at how odd it was, hope it helps.


After an hour traveling across part of Botswana we went through customs again to leave the country then loaded a bass boat on the Chobe river and went about 20 minutes down the river to the Namibia customs office.

Botswana on the left and Namibia on the right

Probably one of the funniest part of our trip was pulling up to the shore, no boat dock, on the Namibia river bank and walking about 100 yards into what felt like the middle of nowhere with no one else in sight to the customs office.  There was a dusty trail otherwise we would have had no idea where to go.

We actually filled out a form, got our passport stamp by the lone guy in the office and headed back down the dirt road to our boat.  Mark thought it was quite unusual to cross international waters in a bass boat, but when in Africa we have learned to go with the flow.




On the scenic boat ride we were able to see buffalo, herds of elephants, impalas, hippos (all mostly underwater so no great pictures), crocodiles and tons of birds.  Then the bass boat ride came to an end as we hooked up to the house boat and settled in for the day.

The houseboat had 5 bedrooms, a main living area, a kitchen, staff quarters and several decks. 

Our bedroom with a great view

Great views from all sides of the houseboat.

We relaxed that afternoon on the deck watching the animals come to drink at the river.

Crocodile right next to our bass boat for the water safari

For a couple hours over sunset we loaded back into the bass boat and did a river safari.  The most spectacular animal viewing was getting to see a herd of elephants cross the Chobe river from Namibia to Botswana.  Mark captured the international travel of the elephants on video, just wish I could figure out how to post it here.



Pretty impressive how they walk and hop along the bottom of the river, sticking their trunks up in the air to breath and helping the baby elephants trudge along.

Baboons eating minerals out of the salt rock.
Below is a trio of local fisherman using a canoe they hollowed out of a tree. 

For the evening we enjoyed a candlelight dinner with the three other couples who were also staying on the houseboat, interestingly two of the couples were Americans.  It was such a peaceful night on the river, hearing the animals all around us.

The houseboat was the most relaxing part of the trip and I wished we had another night to spend there.  Being surrounded by water and floating down the Chobe river was serenity at best.