Maun - the arrival

Trip Start Jul 16, 2004
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Trip End Aug 01, 2004


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Where I stayed
(Maun hotels)

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Sunday, July 18, 2004

We now sit in our little hotel room in Maun, Botswana. A little dazed and confused, but we have arrived at last! Don't let anyone tell you that international air travel isn't hard work, even if all you do is sit on an airplane for 21 hours trying to keep your blood flow and urine production at a minimum, and the other nine hours wandering through congested airports, standing in lines to show your passport to unsmiling strangers, sticking your arms straight out at your sides so another unsmiling male stranger can feel you up, walking to get some blood flow to your brain, and peeing as much as you can so you won't have to for the next ten and-a-half leg of the trip.

Oh yes, international air travel is hard work all right. It makes one long for the days of sailing ships when such a trip took months. At least you had a chance to get some fresh air and walk around a little, not to mention getting used to the time changes...

Oh well, we've only got weeks, not months. And this isn't a travelogue about air travel, blood flow, and peeing, it's a travelogue about an African adventure, and ours has begun.

Our tour group finally coalesced in its entirety. We met the president of Wilderness Travel, Bill and Barb Abbott, while in line to check in for our flight from Jo'burg to Maun; their kids, Nicole (18) and Scott (14), on the plane ride over the Kalahari Desert, and finally Nancy and Dan Foster while in line to get through customs at the little airport in Maun. (There's a lot of waiting in lines...)
Anyway, Nancy and Dan are mother and son. I'm estimating Nancy to be in her early forties and Dan is 14. They make an attractive mother and son pair, both with abundant dark hair and warm smiles. So far everyone seems decent and agreeable and I hope they think the same of Jayne and me.

We were met by Alwyn, the tour leader, just outside customs in Maun and then transferred the mile or so down the road to Riley's Hotel in what was described in something I read previously as the "center of town". It doesn't bother me a wit that there aren't many people about. I've met the 8 others that we'll be sharing the safari with and our leader - that's plenty for me!

Once we were all ensconced in our rooms, Jayne proceeded to take a bath in the slightly brownish tap water and I laid down on the bed and promptly fell asleep before I could even get my travel socks off.

The weather this afternoon is perfect for me, in the low to mid-seventies (it's winter here after all), but it was downright chilly in Jo'burg this morning as we disembarked off the 747 (series 400 - with the winglets you know) to board busses to take us into the terminal to begin our regimen of waiting in lines and displaying our passports.

I've now showered (in the slightly brownish water) and we are preparing for a little exploration of the town and the trails running along the Thalamakane River just beyond the hotel grounds. We'll meet up with the group and Alwyn at "6:30 or 7:00 - African Time" for our orientation dinner. I'll report back later.

9:30PM

We had our little walk out to the small marsh, got only a little lost, met up with the group for dinner and a review of our itinerary, and now it's time for sleep. Tomorrow we go on Safari. We begin in the morning at 9 or 9:30 - African Time.
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