Pictures

First week of Driving

I have described how I ran out of fuel in the Toyota Hilux when we were going to river sand. Well the next day Ben, Matt, Gitte and I headed off with MD and Maguwe to the ferry. On the way there it was very uneventful, arriving at the ferry in good time. On the way back Matt had the first drive, after lots of revs he also had an uneventful drive. I then took the wheel, I successfully navigated round the deep sand while we hopped from tuck shop to tuck shop in search of mobile phone credit for one of the teachers. We then headed back to the school. I picked up an old man with a bag of fish to give him a lift to the nearest village and a local worker a little while later. Then after going sideways through a deep bit of sand the car ground to a halt. Ben looked out the window and exclaimed loudly. I rather optimistically asked if the hub cap had come off.  Then I went round the back of the car to see the back left tyre had completely shredded. We went to find the spare tyre, jack and wheel spanner in the boot. Unfortunately only the spare tyre was in the back. This was because someone had taken out the jack and spanner when the car went to the services recently so they didnt get knicked. We were in trouble. In the middle of the Okavango Delta in the searing heat and a broken car. several minutes later we stopped another car that drove past on the sand road, he had a jack but not a wheel spanner. We decided that it would be best to jack it up on some stones and then wait for another car with a wheel spanner. While we were waiting i managed to use a pair of plyers to pull out the nail that caused the puncture, I will frame it and put it on my wall. About and hour later another car went past and luckily he had a wheel spanner we could borrow. We swiftly got the shredded tyre off and the spare on. We decided to look at the broken brake hydrolics cable when we got back. Brakes are not important in Botswana.  

Bana Ba Metsi - Children of the River

Going down the dusty track that leads to the school was an experience that i will never forget, it wasn't going to be the most spectacular or crazy moment of my year. Instead, it was what all my hard work and all the support i have received from my friends and family had come to and it was just a fantastic moment. I had arrived.
The first thing Matt and I did was to go and see our new house for the year. First impressions were good, from the outside it looked like a spacious condo with outdoor space to barbecue. The inside however was a different story. The inside looked like a seriously disorganised garden shed. There was stuff everywhere. There was dust everywhere. And there were spiders everywhere. It was an enormous mess, but it was our mess. We roughly drew out a plan of action about how we were going to clean the place and then headed on to bed. Our first night in our new home.

Mauuuuun (how its actually pronounced)

We were awoken with a cup of tea at eight o'clock this morning by Ann, we were breakfasted and turned around by nine o'clock. After an uneventful drive to Jo'burg we arrived at the terminal, the wrong terminal. After the brief detour we arrived and checked in on our flight to Maun. After saying goodbye to Ann, Matt and I were free again to continue our adventure. The flight to Maun was beautiful, flying over the bush that seemed to go on for millions of miles. The moment finally arrived, the moment that we had both been anticipating for months. We touched down in Botswana.
Shuffling through the tiny terminal we had to fill in imigration forms. After some dodgy forms we were went off to try and find our baggage and then Peter (out host). We had not got 10 steps before a voice behind us proclaimed 'Boys, over here!' This was when we got our first glimps of Peter Dow.
Peter is an absolutely facinating guy. Originally a US citizen he has since changed nationallity to be a native Botswanan and he has lived here since 1977.
Now, just chilling in the Old Bridge Backpackers i am convinced it is the most relaxed place in the world. Top notch.

Arriving in Africa

Touchdown. After an 11 hour flight wedged in the back corner of the airplane, we have finally arrived. Got through passport control with ease and had my first encounter with and African(more to come)! We found our bags on the luggage belt easily, and got stuck into trying to tear off the over overcautious plastic wrap that my mother made me put on my rucksack. We then headed off to pass under the nothing to declare barrier into a completely different world.
Ann was there in her Project Trust shirt as promised and we set of into Johannesburg. After a day of being spoiled with tradition South African cuisine and watching the rugby, we are preparing for our short hop on the plane to Maun tomorrow.