Thursday Early
Evening
Knowing this adventure is almost over makes me hyperaware of
so many things I have come to take for granted over the past six weeks: I
treasure every moment and every degree of temperature and every moment without
cloud or rain. Soon I will be home and unafraid of direct sun, sleeping with
covers with weight and getting through the day without my fingers and feet
swelling up (and slimming down overnight).
And because I am hyperaware of the impending end of this
journey, I am already thinking about how to be somewhere warm again next
Christmas.
But Steve and I ended our trip to South Africa with a superb
high at Ukutula. Namibia has been super interesting (but awfully hot for Bwana)
but I will end this adventure to a hot and dry country with two nice days in
Meno a Kweno Tented Camp in the infamous delta area of Botswana. Meno a Kweno
looks lovely in the brochure I have, like the exquisite tented camps of
Tanzania. Here’s hoping…
Whether or not there will be Internet there remains to be
seen.
As usual, walking in hot dry Windhoek, I was drawn to the
steeples. I love architecture of faith and here is no exception. Churches are
my sanctuaries when I travel (when they are not in services). I can be cool,
usually alone, feel safe and relax in a church, no matter where I am or what
faith.
At dinner, I met Tom. He is an engineer from Belgium who is
here to be part of a bike race through Sussosvlei and its 40° temperatures. I
suspect Tom is seriously heterosexual. We had a thrilling night—at least I
did—because his work is in staging. He and his team, for example, created the
huge “Space ship” staging for the global U2 tour and he is now working on
special staging needs for the Cirque du Soleil area shows. Super interesting
guy.
The plan is I get picked up at 6:15 am tomorrow for a 9:15
flight to Botswana, followed probably, by a long drive to the delta. Plan B, is
that my hotel takes me if the driver does not show up. More whenever….
Friday: To Botswana
I got up at 4:30 and was picked up at 6:00 for a drive to
the airport with Iwanna Dye. I was scared stiff, plus he got me there way too
early for my 9:15 flight. A short flight and I was in Maun and while I waited
for my ride to the camp, a man stole a wallet and the whole neighbourhood went
after him. He was caught and arrested.
I met exuberant Germans, Nicole and Tom who also came to
Menoa Kwena. I bought everyone a drink while we waited for our drive (two hours
and sucking on my inhaler) and now I am writing to you from the banks of a
river that has been dry for 17 years. We are on a cliff in dry, dry desert and
it is 34°. I have a tent built with charm, solar lighting and a sweet shower
and bathroom right on the edge of the cliff and I look down on the river.
Best of all, there is a splash pool right on the edge of the
cliff in which to keep cool. My favourite part so far is meeting and talking
with the chef. This is a true safari style camp; cooking of bread and our meals
is in tins on coals with coals also on top. Fab-u-lous! Outdoor showers on demand with water heated
from the cooking shower. Fab-u-lous! No power; no Internet.
It is hot and silent. We eat all together at one big table
and I am meeting everyone. I am opting out of all the activities I paid for
like the nature walk, in ten minutes, and the all-day drive. I cannot imagine
all day in a truck with people who have seen no animals before and are enjoying
their first safari; we will stop forever for my 4 billionth Wildabeest, zebra,
antelope, warthogs, etc. etc.
Instead, I read, relaxed and contemplated my re-entry to
winter and spent as much time as I wanted in the pool being cool. And at night,
dinner was a blast as was sitting around the fire talking under a full moon
that drenched us in a faux daylight because of the reflection of the white
sand.
Night delight: Bush babies in the tree overhead.
Saturday
Up at 6:00 and HOT by 9:00 and the whole mob here left at
10:00. I was virtually alone all morning, then a large family group of very
friendly people (Dooley/Palmers) arrived. Their kids (Oscar 10; Bella 13) are a
delight. They are profoundly mature, polite and engaging children in whose
company I delight. I spent all afternoon in the pool with them, their parents
and their Oma (Meryl). They made what might have been an almost boring say, fly
by in fun.
Terry and Meryl, Karen and Andrew, Bella, Oscar and Amanada (who is adopted); these are the Palmer/Dooleys. (Andrew is Irish). Rosie and Rob,
two others here, are people whom I could also spend the rest of my life with.
Honest admission: I shuddered when I saw the family arrive.
Again, I had to face my very negative view of others. And as so often happens,
these people to whom I take an instant aversion turn out to enliven and enrich
my experience. It’s rather sad that no matter how many wonderful people I meet,
I can’t shake my deep-rooted desire to remain aloof. Thank God for kind
extroverts like Meryl.
At 5:00, welcome clouds and cooler temperatures. I am
excited about sleeping in much more comfortable conditions tonight. At 6:00 we
went to visit the bush baby that was released yesterday.
Sunday: Last Day
The day started with a bush walk in the morning with the
Joquasi bush people. A routine. Our guide is the handsomest most charming young
man imaginable; his mother is one of the dancers. The best part by far was me
being the first to hear what I thought might be elephants in the river. I
called the guide; the elephants got louder and louder and we realized that they
were coming up to where we were.
When they smelled us, they panicked. They started bleating
and trampling the bushes but we could not see them coming. The bush people took
off; that got me a little worried, but In fact, we had scared them so the
trumpeting and growling we heard was a warning and they stampeded back to the
other side of the river.
A lovely casual day with the Dooley/Palmers in and by the
pool was my afternoon. They are spectacular people, every one of them. And at
6:30, we went to see how the newly independent little Bush Baby was doing. No
question: I am his new favourite person now that Laura is gone. I wear the
shirt he has marked and we spent a never-forgettable half our together. I am in
love with XR. He would visit no one but me.
Monday: Departure Day
Last night after an extremely pleasant evening with Rob,
Rosie and the Palmer/Dooleys, I went back to my tent for my final night and
this never-use-a-flashlight, never-wear-shoes idiot encountered a large yellow
scorpion—not deadly, but you want to die or cut your limb off for three hours.
Not being a killer, I chose to stay with him/her and watch until she burrowed
into the soil so that I could go to sleep with confidence. (Silly, I know.)
Up to a cloudy day. Yay! It is cooler than usual and the
breeze makes it bearable for me to wear my goin’ home clothes during the drive
to Maun.
The Palmer/Dooleys would welcome me back, and Rosie and Rob
have invited me to come to Australia. Having human destinations appeals to me
very much; it is one way to enjoy travelling alone.
Every trip ends in suicide. Last year it was Zanzibar to
Switzerland via Dares Salam and Istanbul, then to Toronto and then home. This
year: 10:00 am Dec. 31 departure by car to Maun; 2:00 pm flight to Johannesburg
that arrives at 3:40, followed by an 8:15 flight from Jo’Burg to Frankfurt
arriving at 6:15 am Jan. 1; finally, at 10:15 am, my last flight from Frankfurt
to Vancouver, arriving at 12:20 noon on New Years Day.
My tent at Meno a Kwena.
The library area.
The eating area ensures that everyone meets each other.
I met THE most wonderful people here.
Bwana taks in the view from his porch.
My outdoor shower with FABULOUS view.
My second visit with bush people.
Our fabulous and handsome guide.
His mother.
"Disney" bush hunt. Still, it was fun.
