Day Twenty Nine - Road from Kasane to Maun
8 am departure on the button - not bad for 7 vehicles and 27 people.
I started the morning drive and the route was straight forward and uncomplicated. The land was flat for as far as the eye could see and we drove past fields of mown down corn that rivalled the prairies.
We weren't on the road 10 minutes when we came upon elephants right on the side of the road and not 100 feet further, there were 4 giraffes! The rest of the drive, we had to be very careful not to hit cows, burros, dogs, horses, goats and even people either crossing the road or walking right on the edge.
We only stopped for a quick stretch break on the side of the road about half way to Nata, our lunch stop. The sign at the "lay-bye" (their term for rest stop) warned that we were in a park with wild animals and we were accepting responsibility for the risks that went along with that!
In Nata, we pulled over at a garage that had a little hut with picnic tables, a perfect place for us to have the "snacks" we'd packed from the last breakfast buffet we'd enjoyed at Chobe Bush Lodge. Some also augmented their lunch with chips and drinks and treats from the garage store. While we were eating, a few local children came around and looked at us with longing eyes and a number of us offered them sandwiches, chips and treats and were rewarded with big smiles and thank-you's.
We had a minor incident where one of our crew tried to use the local ATM and his card disappeared into the machine. Fortunately, there was staff there even though it was a Saturday, but the wait for them to retrieve the card and the hassle was typical of the "acuna matada" attitude when we, of course, were anxious to get back on the road!
Nevertheless, there was no harm done and we got to our lodge in Maun well before dark which was the biggest concern given the state of the road (wicked potholes!) and the risk of hitting animals!
The Sedia Hotel is a more authentic lodge than some of the modern ones we have been staying in. The lobby is full of huge wood carvings of elephants, hippos, cape buffalo and warthogs all sprinkled around the floor so you have to be careful not to trip over them. There are huge wall tapestries done in vivid dark colours of giraffes, natives dancing, elephants and lions - all woven by locals in distinctive, earthy, unusual styles. The walls are painted a dark, earthy red and there are masks and carvings hanging on every wall that isn't covered in the tapestries.
8 am departure on the button - not bad for 7 vehicles and 27 people.
I started the morning drive and the route was straight forward and uncomplicated. The land was flat for as far as the eye could see and we drove past fields of mown down corn that rivalled the prairies.
We weren't on the road 10 minutes when we came upon elephants right on the side of the road and not 100 feet further, there were 4 giraffes! The rest of the drive, we had to be very careful not to hit cows, burros, dogs, horses, goats and even people either crossing the road or walking right on the edge.
We only stopped for a quick stretch break on the side of the road about half way to Nata, our lunch stop. The sign at the "lay-bye" (their term for rest stop) warned that we were in a park with wild animals and we were accepting responsibility for the risks that went along with that!
In Nata, we pulled over at a garage that had a little hut with picnic tables, a perfect place for us to have the "snacks" we'd packed from the last breakfast buffet we'd enjoyed at Chobe Bush Lodge. Some also augmented their lunch with chips and drinks and treats from the garage store. While we were eating, a few local children came around and looked at us with longing eyes and a number of us offered them sandwiches, chips and treats and were rewarded with big smiles and thank-you's.
We had a minor incident where one of our crew tried to use the local ATM and his card disappeared into the machine. Fortunately, there was staff there even though it was a Saturday, but the wait for them to retrieve the card and the hassle was typical of the "acuna matada" attitude when we, of course, were anxious to get back on the road!
Nevertheless, there was no harm done and we got to our lodge in Maun well before dark which was the biggest concern given the state of the road (wicked potholes!) and the risk of hitting animals!
The Sedia Hotel is a more authentic lodge than some of the modern ones we have been staying in. The lobby is full of huge wood carvings of elephants, hippos, cape buffalo and warthogs all sprinkled around the floor so you have to be careful not to trip over them. There are huge wall tapestries done in vivid dark colours of giraffes, natives dancing, elephants and lions - all woven by locals in distinctive, earthy, unusual styles. The walls are painted a dark, earthy red and there are masks and carvings hanging on every wall that isn't covered in the tapestries.
We were met by two lovely receptionists who called out "Welcome to the
Sedia Hotel" over and over again while passing out cool fresh
cloths for us to wash our faces with and fresh juice for us to quench our
thirst (this has been the tradition at most of the places we've stayed at and
it is quite lovely).
They had our keys all lain out and then showed us our rooms. It was very,very hot so we unloaded the cars as fast as we could and then made a beeline for the pool and some to the bar.
This was definitely a "locals" hotel as the pool was full of the natives on their own holiday! So many children laughing and playing and screaming in the pool....it was so fun to watch!
They had a long table set out for us and a buffet of salads, vegetables, kudu, lamb and chicken and fabulous chocolate cake and vanilla sauce for dessert. Unfortunately, Molly was late to dessert (not sure how THAT happened and she missed out on the cake - not happy!). After dinner, I was on a mission to get the blog posted so tried to get online. The router was situated at the bar, just behind the dinner table on the patio so I sat there patiently waiting for a signal.....it took forever.
Finally got on and was able to send the blogs to Michael who posted twelve days in one night!!! So, we're back in business! Thank you for your patience!
Still more adventures to come........JT
They had our keys all lain out and then showed us our rooms. It was very,very hot so we unloaded the cars as fast as we could and then made a beeline for the pool and some to the bar.
This was definitely a "locals" hotel as the pool was full of the natives on their own holiday! So many children laughing and playing and screaming in the pool....it was so fun to watch!
They had a long table set out for us and a buffet of salads, vegetables, kudu, lamb and chicken and fabulous chocolate cake and vanilla sauce for dessert. Unfortunately, Molly was late to dessert (not sure how THAT happened and she missed out on the cake - not happy!). After dinner, I was on a mission to get the blog posted so tried to get online. The router was situated at the bar, just behind the dinner table on the patio so I sat there patiently waiting for a signal.....it took forever.
Finally got on and was able to send the blogs to Michael who posted twelve days in one night!!! So, we're back in business! Thank you for your patience!
Still more adventures to come........JT
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