Days 33 and 34

(Dan’s comments are italicized)

This will be a very short post as we spent the last two days traveling.

But first, I want to apologize to all of you who have let me know that you’re trying to post comments but can’t. We don’t know what’s happening and can’t look into it until we’re reunited with my laptop in Gaborone ☹️ From our end, it’s a bit like shouting into an abyss and hoping that someone is out there 🗣️🥴

The last couple of days have been spent in the car! Yesterday, we left Windhoek (Namibia) at sunrise and drove to Ghanzi (Botswana). The border crossings were fairly painless, reminding us, once again, how Namibia and Botswana are great ease-into-traveling-in-Africa countries.

Namibia gifted us a beautiful sunrise as we bade farewell to Windhoek.
We passed plenty of monkeys (and cows, goats, donkeys, and horses) along the way.

Today, it was back into the car as we journeyed to Maun (the southern gateway to Moremi Game Park). The family that runs the guest house is delightful with wonderful kids ranging in age from 15 to 4. The 4 year old was soooo cute. He was holding three different colored toy motorcycles when we met him. Rhia asked him what color each one was, and he told her the correct color each time. She then asked him how old he was. He just looked at her, so she prompted him with “Are you 3?”, and he said yes. So then she asked “Are you 4?”, and again he said yes. Rhia then looked at me and muttered “Thought so…he doesn’t know!” I was then put into the uncomfortable position of having to stifle a laugh. I realize that, traveling the way we do, we don’t get to experience anything remotely resembling luxury (or, sometimes, heaters that work, toilet seats, or towels that are large enough to dry ourselves); but we get to spend time with the neatest local people! One room was a bit tight for space and this is how they resolved the issue…

What seems to be a closet…
…actually doubles as a doorway to the bathroom! Perhaps this is where C.S.Lewis got the idea for the gateway to Narnia?

Tomorrow, our goal is to find a way to go to the Game Park without spending an arm and a leg. I suspect we’re going to have to get a little bit creative!

Dr. Rhia Avatar

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2 responses to “Back to Botswana”

  1. cebdent Avatar
    cebdent

    Be glad you aren’t going to a game park in Kenya – a tourist was killed there by an elephant that attacked their vehicle! That bathroom door seems very quirky! Plus it takes up a lot of space! Wonder why they chose to do it that way?

    Looking forward to more adventures! Missing you in person though!

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    1. Dr. Rhia Avatar

      Welcome back! Did you have a good trip? The tourist death happened in Livingston, Zambia (just under 4 miles from where we released Rachael’s ashes a couple of weeks ago)! It’s an area renowned for having large herds of elephants. I think that, sometimes, people forget that they’re not at a zoo and that these animals are wild…so they (sometimes inadvertently) agitate them. This is why I was annoyed by people getting drunk at the water hole in Etosha…the more they drank, the louder and more rambunctious they became and the more they smoked; wild animals are agitated by all those things!! Elephants don’t see or hear very well but, rather, sense vibrations through their trunks. A relaxed elephant has his trunk hanging down, whereas an agitated one holds his trunk up to determine where the ‘danger’ is. On the night in question in Etosha, elephants kept walking toward the platform with their trunks up; people thought it was ‘cute’ but it wasn’t…it was an indication of danger!! And now, my friend, I shall get off my soapbox 🥴

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