Days 46 and 47

(Dan’s comments are italicized)

“Come spend a night sleeping under the stars,” they said. Once again, I envisioned a cot/folding bed in a tent; once again, I was wrong! But let’s go back to the beginning…

We bade farewell to the Okavango Delta and hopped into our trusty steed heading toward Gweta and the Nwetwe Salt Pan. The road was better than we expected and, to our delight, we passed herds of zebra, ostrich, and elephants on the way. And yes, I do mean that they were on the side of the road of this major (read paved) road!

Gweta is the northern entrance into Nwetwe which, at 12,000 sq km, is the largest of the salt pans. We should have known better, but we expected a town! Even by Botswana standards, this could barely qualify as a town…though it does have a post office!

Our idea was to stay in a guesthouse for a night and at Gweta Lodge, sleeping under the stars, for a night. However, there is nowhere to stay at Gweta other than Gweta Lodge…and we learned early on that any accommodation including the word ‘Lodge’ means expensive (by our standards)! However, I bartered them down to a reasonable price ($54), which included a full breakfast. The room was good and had an attached (open air) bathroom. Sadly, the Internet was down, as well as all power until dark, and even then, it was intermittent, and we had no hot water but ..minor details!

At breakfast, we met a family who had camped under the stars the previous night. They (well, the mother) HATED it! They said it was so cold and miserable that they had the people bring them back to the hotel at midnight. They told us, in no uncertain terms, to cancel our booking as there was no tent or folding bed! The dad had planned this trip for their 25th wedding anniversary. During their description of the night, I saw the pain of guilt on his face at having such a well intended plan fail so spectacularly.

After a lengthy discussion, Dan and I decided…to do it anyway! I think planning ahead and managing expectations is half the battle in any experience; so I adjusted my expectations and negotiated for the provision of more blankets with the owner of Gweta Lodge. I put on almost all the clothes I have with me (including my pyjamas under all my shirts and pants (plural)); then we relaxed while waiting for our departure time of 3:30 p.m. I am discovering that luxurious comfort does not create memorable experiences, but that tempered expectations help a LOT!

From 3:30 to 4:45, we waited some more (with less relaxing and more anxious pacing)! In Africa, time is a bit more free-flowing than it is in the Western world (it’s probably what Westerners get most upset by)! But, finally, it was time to go! Just before reaching the salt pans, we stopped to watch meerkats and have a photo taken…

The salt pans are otherworldly! And the sunset there was awe-inspiring and humbling as you were reminded of your insignificance in the grand scheme of things. Dan took some of his most beautiful photos to date…he was certainly inspired!

The toilet was a pit that the guides had dug and had put a toilet box on for comfort. Privacy was a three-sided box so those at camp couldn’t watch! Just walking to the toilet was otherworldly. The flatness gave me the feeling of walking through a two dimensional world.

The whole experience was so ethereal that my brain struggled to comprehend! I found the baroness and flatness of the pans very disorienting. There is an absence of any objects to provide depth giving me the illusion of infinity. We were served a three-course dinner in the middle of nowhere, we saw a night-sky like I’ve never seen before, and we slept on the floor in a desert in winter dressed in everything we had in our backpacks.

To my surprise and delight, I wasn’t cold during the night! I was stuffed in so many clothes, we had the guides move our beds (almost) atop the fire, the mattress/sleeping bag combo had extra blankets, and Dan acted as a wind block! You’re welcome!

Do I enjoy sleeping on the ground at my age? NO! Would I do it again? Absolutely! And these next photos give the answer as to why…

I spent a lot of time looking up at the sky from my pillow watching the clearest and most beautiful part of any night sky. With the constellation of Scorpio directly overhead surrounded by the soft but clear light from the Milky Way Galaxy. While I was watching, meteorites intermittently streaked through the scene. I also put in earphones and listened to a newly released album from Mannheim Steamroller titled ‘Summer Song (Music + Ambience)’. And to top it off, I was warm!!!

We shared this experience with a wonderful Chinese couple and have a lot of comments to make but will leave that til the next post as we want this one to be about the salt pans themselves.