http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Botswana , North West , Maun en-us Wed, 09 Dec 09 04:38:11 +0000 Wed, 09 Dec 09 04:38:11 +0000 THE CONTENTS OF THIS BLOG ARE MINE PERSONALLY AND DO NOT REFLECT ANY POSITION OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT OR PEACE CORPS. I returned from IST Peace Corps Inservice training head crammed full of all the wonderful activities that dedicated Peace Corps Volunteers accomplish and well okay feeling a bit old and out of touch compared to these fast thinking fast talking worldsaving youth that join http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-454213.html Movin On UpOK so Richard thought that neither of us got sick from that plane full of coughing people but he was wrong. Today Kayla was sick with a head cold. So we canceled our plans for the day and decided that lounging around Backpackers especially in 40 degree weather was not a bad thing to do. So far it has been much hotter than we expected and higher than average than what is usually e http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-445511.html Getting to Know Maun Yesterday we slept in lazed around and then caught a ride into Maun to pick up a few lunch supplies. It was fun doing some people watching in the grocery stores. We had hoped to find a bookstore for a Botswana Bird book but no such luck on a Sunday. So when the driver was ready to return to Backpackers we came too a little overwhelmed by this new and strange environment a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-442406.html Off to BotswanaWe left Heathrow after a hectic taxi drive from Camden at Leanne and Brad's home. It only took 45 minutes but the route as difficult to remember. The flight was 11 hours of not much sleep our neighbours all around in a constant fit of coughing. But no residual cold or worse so far.Then a beautiful flight in a bright turbo prop with smart looking attendants. Then we found taxi a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-442004.html We left Zimbabawe on July 2th. I was verys sad the whole day. Zimbabwe might be my favorite country in the world besides home of courseGoing to Botswana they have a very interesting procedure. You have to actually get out of the vehicle and walk across this dirty towel that is supposed to clean your shoes. I don't get it but you have to do it throughout the country. It is supposed to stop s http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-424951.html Day 22 Tuesday 12May09 JRJ Up at 8am had breakfast and packed away our stuff ready to go to back to Benji and found out that what we thought were hungry hippos outside our tent turned out to be hungry cows munching on the grass. Left camp at 945 after another logistical fiasco. 4X4 broke down on the way back to village which put us behind schedule by another 30 mins. Once our stuff was a http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-412677.html AllenWe hebben besloten een andere blog te gebruiken. Je kan onze avonturen vanaf nu volgen ophttptoonensaminafrika.reismee.nlGroetjesToon en Sam http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-403498.html Journey to the end So after such an eventful easter weekend we set off again on the big yellow bus heading for Botswana. The heavy rains seen in Malawi had clearly been here because the roads were flooded and the border crossing into Bostwana was so far under water we had to take a boat.We stopped at a campsite that had been hit hard by the water the actual campsites were flooded so we camped on http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-401819.html The Old Bridge Backpackers. Such a lovely place to arrive at after the days in Cape Town The bar and restaurant that are overlooking the river. The fig trees that gives shade. The pool that you can cool of in during and after a hot day. The out door showers that allow you to watch the stars while having a shower. The tent we slept in. The nice staff. Awesome We higly recomend this placeHorsesO http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-399922.html On Monday we started our 3 week southern Africa overland tour and left Victoria Falls for Chobe National Park. We are now travelling via overland truck with a group of 19 1 other english 3 dutch 2 spanish 2 american 1 romanian and 8 australian most of whom are around our age however the americans are in their 70s We also have a Kenyan crew consisting of a tour leader driver and a cook. We http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-388733.html Words cannot begin to describe how unbelievably incredible our experience was in the Okovango Delta. We have just got off the plane a half an hour flight over the glorious delta and are sitting in a small internet cafe. I have to start off by saying that it has absolutely been the highlight of our trip so far. The flight over to the Kwara airstrip was a one in a lifetime experience. From the air http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-376144.html Okay Irsquom going to attempt to go on a blog blitz to try to catch you up by Christmas. Most of you are probably on break or looking for ways to procrastinate instead of studying for finals anyway. So where was I Right upon our arrival from Kasane we spent two nights camping at a hotel in Maun with a free day to take advantage of the largest swimming pool we had or would see. Then on S http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-354694.html Happy New Year I hope all of you had a lovely holiday season and have a wonderful 2009Back to the blog we said goodbye to lovely Namibia and headed to our next destination BotswanaAfter an overnight bus trip we arrived about 30 kilometers from the Botswana border. We weren't quite sure how to get to the border from there or how to go further for that matter but again we were blesse http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-353878.html We had a really long drive day after our night in Thebe Safari Camp 12 hours in all. I woke up with my knee still being very sore and painful to put any weight on for too long and my infected mossie bite looking very badly infected again. My infection is on my foot on my other leg. My foot is now very red and has swollen to twice its usual size. The pressure I can feel in it is just amazing and http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-352918.html Day 21We woke up rather later than usual the morning after the party still revelling in the memory of the excellent food and drink. We headed into Maun to look for a garage where we could get our car serviced as on top of our fan belt trouble we also have holes in our radiator and problems with our fourwheel drive. Maun is a very agreeable place it is known as the safari capital of Botswana b http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-350602.html Day 20We left our makeshift camp at about 8 and headed towards Moremi Gate after thanking the gate warden for his kindness. The drive was stunning as the area around Moremi and the park itself is really part of the Okavango Delta. Great swathes of grassland marsh woodland and lakes and hundreds of birds. The boys were excited to spot a Crimson Breasted Bush Shrike Migrating Steppe Eagles and http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-349563.html Hi Everyone Forgive me for writing this now I'm home but internet in the African countryside is hard to come by.Right longest journey ever 11hours on a plane to Johanesburg and then 2 full days driving through South Africa and Botswana. We stopped in Palapye on our first night and were supposed to camp but due to it being dark and none of us knowing how to put the tents up we all bunked on th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-330016.html Just a quick update to say that we are now in Botswana. We are preparing for a camping trip into the Okavango Delta. I am really looking forward to sleeping among the animalsYesterday was our last day in Namibia the highlight of which was meeting a tribe of Bushmen. They were so incredibly friendlyI should go before the tour bus leaves without me but again I hope everything is going well at http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-299674.html A birthday to rememberWe're writing this retrospectively now Over a month has passed since I celebrated my 31st birthday in Botswana.After going on our fantastic safari to Savuti we came back to Maun to spend a couple of days with Mr James Gifford. It was great to see Giff in his element out in Botswana and we got to meet lots of the expat community. We also managed to go on a mokoro trip in http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-293148.html Driving into Botswana from Namibia is long long and boring. The landscape is unvaried and by and large hardscrabble desert. I listened to an entire book on my ipod during the drive and I'm going to have 10 of these blog entries written in my notebook before I actually get to post them as all potential internet connections actually don't work when called upon. Today we arrived in Maun at a r http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-West/Maun/blog-290816.html