25^th June – We got bumped!!!!

We woke up at our dodgy hotel, still in a deep depression after leaving Ant’s Hill and went to a very mediocre breakfast.  Before breakfast we took our luggage to the front office and reminded them that we were booked on the 8am shuttle to the airport.  At seven minutes to eight we went to the office to be told –“sorry the bus has gone”. After expressing our disappointment in this, the receptionist pick up the phone then said that the driver would be here soon.  He went and got the bus (from the garage) and ‘drove’ us to the airport. We did over 100ks in 60 zones, up on the verge and at least 100 meters on the wrong side then through the red light.!

We got to the airport, check in and went to do some Duty Free shopping. We arrived at the gate – seven minutes before final boarding to be told “sorry, we have bumped you to the afternoon flight”. 

We told them that this would not do as we had connections etc.  “Sorry, your luggage has been off loaded.  The flight is at 3pm. Go to the transit desk to get boarding passes.”  We pleaded, begged, whimpered. No joy.

We then managed to get a flight with another airline, but Air Botswana could not release our luggage. It would take at least four hour to get it back.  They will send it up on the 3pm flight.  Then we panicked about the no luggage flying without the owner rules and decided to wait. Yah!  Six hours in an airport. Plus we would now arrive in Botswana at 5pm not 11am and had a four-hour road trip to our next port of call. 

So what do you do?  Get lunch and eat it very slowly.  Have a back massage, look at the shops, update your blog, have a foot massage then go and sit at the gate. Sarah bought Rayban – folding – wayfarers!!   It’s very exciting. And of course this flight left late.

So, we decided to change our plans.  We would skip our booked visit to The Kalahari and spend the time in Maun, in the heart of the Okavango Delta. The four hour drive would have taken five in the dark (and would not have been safe) and would only give us one full day there.

We got our car and drove around Maun. It was just like we imagined Africa to be.  One busy main road with things happening everywhere. People walking all over the road, cows wandering around, goats everywhere, chickens and dogs, everyone in really bright colours. Didn’t expect the heaps of donkeys wandering around. Many of the donkeys were tethered together in pairs with a neck rope about 1/2 meter long. Very funny. And the lovely mud huts with thatched roofs.

We got to our accommodation, made of imitation traditional huts. All in a circle around a fire pit.  We watched the Bush Baby’s race around the trees at dusk.  They were a bit smaller than a squirrel but rounder and could leap massive distances and are so fast you could barely see them.  We think they were teleporting.

Just as we were going to go and get some dinner the town lost power. We sat for a while around the fire pit then decided to skip dinner and go to bed. It was 7.30pm after all.