The next day

The day after we encountered the dead elephant we took the kids out on the small boat that worked. The plan was to ferry the boys down the river in groups to the same place that we went the day before so that they could fish all morning. This was the first time that i had been onto the river, and driving this boat down the Okavango was just incredible. Matt and I took it in turns to drive the boat back to get more kids. On the third trip back Matt returned with a grin on his face. He said 'I've just seen a massive crocodile! Its just the other side of those reeds.' I immediately got on the boat and went back to the school to get more kids. Just as we got to the other side of the reeds sure enough there was an absolutely huge crocodile just chilling in the middle of the river. It was at least 3 meters in length. We just steered the boat round it and hoped we didn't run out of petrol. That was a very enjoyable morning, even though it was extremely stressful getting all the reluctant boys back onto the boat at the end. This was a more successful day fish wise, several boys caught large fish, even though they had the most primitive of rods.

Independence Day

On the weekend of the 29th of September the whole of Botswana Stops working for the annual Independence Day holiday. At Bana Ba Metsi it was no different, the children had Saturday to Tuesday off school and manual work. On Monday the big plan was to take the big school boat up the river with all the boys to an island where it was safer to swim in the river. We would camp there for the night and head back the next day. We all trouped down to the boat in the morning, only to find that we could only get one of the 2 motors to work on the boat. No worries. Mr Dow quickly made up a new plan and it was decided that we would drive the boys down in the two Hiluxes a couple of kilometers to a place on the river that is nice and you can catch fish from the shore. The place was beautiful, it would not looked out of place on National Geographic. There was grass on the shore, trees that over hung the river, birds everywhere and reeds on the opposite bank. It was right at the heart of the Delta. We parked the trucks and all of us walked down to the river, on the way we heard a shout from one of the boys. We ran over to see what the fuss was about and we were hit by a stench that burned the inside of your nostrils. The same smell as when we carried back a baby elephant skull from a walk the previous week. Right there before us was an elephant., from the smell it was quite apparent that it was dead. So we ventured over to investigate. Wow, what a magnificent sight. A full grown elephant was there on the floor and it looked like it had only died in the last day or two so most of it was intact. It was strange to feel what the skin felt like and how heavy the trunk was because you will never get an opportunity to get close to a live elephant elephant in the wild. They are just too dangerous. So after this brief diversion we get back on the mission of catching fish.We watched the boys make makeshift fishing lines out of nylon and a stick for the rod. Some of them were wading in the deep mud of the shallows trying to find worms to put on their hooks. For the couple of hours that we were there, not many of the boys managed to catch a fish. All that was apart from the one boy called 'Trust', he managed to catch five! I have absolutely no idea how he managed to get so many more that the boys, perhaps he knew an ancient African fish dance, or perhaps he just had the right hook.
On the way back to the trucks we went back past the dead elephant, i noticed that the tusk underneath the head was still there. As the flesh had rotten slightly it wasn't two hard to pull out. I then had to take it back to the school and hand it in the next day to the Wildlife Fund in order to avoid being imprisoned as a poacher. But for that night i was in possession of a £600 tusk as well as a pair of hands that smelt like rotten elephant.

Elfants

It was a normal Monday evening. I was about to jump in the cold shower to remove the days dust and sweat from every orifice of my body. I removed my shirt in preparation. Beep Beep, my mobile phone had received a text message.
Message from Seiphuro the school carpenter: 'Elfants at Mmareki's house'
I shouted something to Matt and ran out of the door, i then stopped and ran back to get some clothes. Then sprinted the 100 meters to Mmareki's house dressing while i ran. Matt and I arrived and there it was, about 30 meters through the bush there was an elephant. It was the first one that Matt and I had seen since our time in Africa. Wow. We were told that it was only a small one, but to us it looked pretty big. It was fantastic. To see an elephant in the wild just 150 meters from your own home is definitely something special.

Saturday

Last saturday I wanted a break from the boys. So i decided to go for a walk down to the river and find somewhere nice to sit down, listen to music and read a book. Matt thought that was a good idea so came with me. Before long we had found a lovely tree by the river which offered shade, seats and was climbable. I sat down and read my book for what seemed like 10 minutes but turned out to be closer to 2 hours. Then i decided to conquer the tree. I set about preparing myself mentally and physically for this monstrous challenge of climbing to the top of this tree. I powered my way to the top of the tree with the athleticism of a rhino. But i was rewarded for my hard work with absolutely fantastic views of the Okavango Delta. Picture to follow.

An Elephant Not-Sighting

This morning started out as a totally normal day. I got up at about 6.45 (10 minutes early so i could plan my double lesson for that morning), had a cup of tea and headed out at about 7.15. Assembly went without a hitch, Mr Dow as usual said some wise words. After a brief staff meeting a went over to my Standard 5 class to teach them about quadrilaterals. A double lesson flew by and i was soon back at our house. I then had a decision, I could either go to the workshop and help the school carpenter and mechanic with their work. Or i could stay here for a little while and plan the weeks lessons. I choose the second option thinking that I would be very organised this week and not to the lesson plan on the morning of the lesson. This took about 40 minutes. After I had finished this dull task i then headed out to the workshop to help some of the other staff, i had not gone 50 meters when i saw Mr Mosotho (one of the manual teachers) dart behind a building. I heard a few voices so followed him behind the bush and round the back of a building. I then found all of the staff members who were not teaching and the two German volunteers Konstantine and Rafael. I asked what had happened, thinking that maybe someone had lost a ring on the ground or something. Mr Dow just replied 'There were elephants just behind that fence'. I started scanning the bush but I could see no elephants. I heard one of the teachers say that now the only chance you will get to see them was if you climb a tree. I ran down the side of the fence in search of a suitable tree, there wasn't one. A while later i went back to the group of teachers to find out what had happened. Konstantine then told me that they were working in the work shop when they heard elephants nearby, they then went to the fence to see. Konstantine described how he was 5 meters away from a huge elephant only minutes before i arrived! There were 20 in the herd and one came only meters away from the fence. Gutted.