Frightful Ferry & Border Crossing and A Sobering Check In!

We arrive at the Ferry which will take us from Botswana into Zambia across the Zambezi River.  My days as a Marine Inspector come back in a flash...I'll say that without even trying very hard I could find about 10 things that would have never passed a Coast Guard Inspection!
We can start with the lifejackets...the few I saw on deck..

There is also the lovely lifering...

I took a photo of the open machinery, (that you walk right past)but can't seem to find it.

We do the crossing and Greg dazzles us with his driving of the camper off the tiny ferry.

Greg then refuses to be scammed by the crew who does this for a living.  He waits in about ten different lines and pays all of our various fees.  We have two helpers that assist us with the process, but then they try to trick you with all of the charges.  Greg is not to be scammed, at the end he even makes them go back inside to one of the payment spots to find out the true cost of our "insurance" certificate!

A great indicator of the organization and swiftness of the entire spot can be summed up with the photo of the mailboxes that we stood near while we waited in one of the many lines...look at that efficiency!

We finally are in Zambia and through the border post.  After another checkpoint we head for our place to stay for the night, The Bushbuck River House.  We find it after a bit, I was a little turned around on which direction we were approaching from...but hey I've never been to Zambia before, right?

The place is beautiful and it leads right down to the Zambesi River.  The lady lets us park our camper right out in front and she gives us a tour of the property, with a few safety warnings I've never gotten anywhere else.  Here they are:

1. Watch out at night when you go out on the lawn, make sure you have a flashlight so you don't startle the hippo that likes to come up on the property.
2. Don't go down to the river, there are crocodiles.
3. Don't go past the very cool lapa (like an outdoor gazebo) where there is a small little tributary off the river, because there is a GIANT crocodile that lives in there.
4. Finally, Kelly is walking around barefoot and the lady warns her to wear shoes because there are scorpions!

We never did see any of the scary stuff, but I did see a Mopane Worm in the grass, these are a delicacy in Africa, people cook them & eat them... I have never been brave enough to try them!

Mopane Worm

So our stay there was really nice and it was a beautiful spot, you just had to not let your imagination get too carried away, or allow your six year old to roam about on his own!

The lapa, where the giant croc hangs out, down to the left!

We had a early dinner and a lazy night playing cards, as we got to bed early for our big day tomorrow a bike tour to Vic Falls!