Blogs from Botswana, Africa - page 58

Awoke in the morning with only a slight hangover...er....memory of the wine and the conversation from the previous night, and after some vitamins and juice started to pack to head out. As we started packing, the the little boy we met the day before came into Dani's house and sat down with us. Unlike the USA, most kids are not given much attention as they are growing up, and it was clear with this little boy that he was enjoying our company and our attention. We started taking bags to the truck, and he was right there with us, taking the smaller bags out along side Jerry. So. Adorable. When we were all packed up, and had said all our good-byes, this little boy ran to Dani, who picked him up to wave us goodbye. It ... read more

With no love lost between me and Joberg, I got on a bus on the 6th and headed north to Botswana. The ride was uneventful, albeit long, and around 9pm I was getting off the bus and looking for Mr. Knight. An viola.....there he was, getting out of a cab in all his full Jerry-ness. We grabbed my pack and headed toward the cab. As we were walking he explained to me that half of Gabarone had lost power (a fairly common event in Southern Africa), and our hotel was on the side with out power. This also explained why the biggest city in Botswana was pitch black. After a short cab ride we were at the Oasis Hotel. We got to our room, and Jerry....whaddaguy...had purchased 2 little bottles of champagne to celebrate my arrival. ... read more

Leaving Ghanzi and the Kalahari Bushmen, we headed further north into Botwana to the town of Maun - the gateway to the famous Okavango Delta. The world's largest inland delta is a swampy, low lying area covering a large section of Botswana. Fed by a number of rivers in Namibia, Angola and Botswana and disconnected from the ocean, the delta dumps 11 cubic km of water onto the Kalahari Desert every year irrigating 15,000 square kilometres. After a night at Sitatunga campsite near Maun, we boarded an open-sided truck to drive through local villages and bushland before arriving at the edge of the swamp that would serve as our departure point. Separating into groups of two, we were "selected" by a poler, James, and then packed our tents, sleeping mats, bags and water supply into the ... read more

Revenge And so to Zimbabwe whose border we strolled across without incident. This was the second border where a visa for Tracey was TWICE the price of David’s. A little revenge against the old colonial masters! In fact David joked about this to the immigration guys (as only he would) and they all agreed that this was the case. Zimbabwe was fantastic and depressing all at the same time….… but all of this will be described in greater detail in our next blog, for this visit was little more than a short cut across the north western tip in order to reach Botswana and the world famous Okavango Delta. We're going to need an Ark After crossing the border we encountered the first example of why we have given this blog the title “The Kindness ... read more

BOTSWANA PART II ON ALL FOURS The first person to eat an oyster must have been at least as courageous as the first person to eat a mopane worm, or at least as hungry. That thought crossed my mind when we were with Paul, one of the rangers at Mashatu Game Reserve. We were out talking a walk, no big deal. On second thought… BIG DEAL. Up until this point our eyes here searched the distance. We scanned the crests of far off hills, squinted into distant thickets of mopane trees and tall grasses, glassed down the eroded canyons of watercourses. We looked for creatures that could be measured in tons. Today, we followed Paul on foot and within ten minutes we were down on our hands and knees inspecting little rocks, focusing on species that ... read more