Soggy? You might ask, “but isn’t it the dry season?” Well yes it is and the water was not coming from above but rather below as it seeped in through the door of the vehicle as we listed to the left, stuck in the mud of rain water which had formed a river on the way to see a possible plot of land for sale. Upon return to Maun last week we were informed by our landlords on the ostrich farm that they were planning to increase the rent (again) and that they weren’t too pleased about the safari vehicles parked on the property or the container we had erected (three years ago!) to store things safely (it is an 18 wheeler truck trailer – many people here use them to secure their belongings).
So with this news in mind, we decided it might be time to start looking for another place to live. Renting or buying is the next question so we decided to take a drive around on Sunday morning to look at possibilities. Little did we know that this would turn into a soggy, muddy, and quite expensive adventure.
On our way we saw our friend Mr. Mike walking toward our house and picked him up to go out and see a plot of land we heard rumors might be for sale. Since Mike knew where it was and we didn’t, he became our guide. You should know that the rain waters from the rainy season this year were remarkable and there is standing water in places that are normally dry. If you couple this with the fact that the flood from Angola (typically a good thing) has not even come down yet (usually comes in June), then you have a lot of talk and concern about water these days.
The first water crossing we made caused a little concern as we literally floated for a few moments losing traction in the process. But we “came right” (as they would say here) and successfully made it out the other side. When we came to the next major crossing, Mike proceeded to walk the route to ensure it was OK for passing as he had done on the previous crossing and indicated back to us that it was. Sadly it was not and we got about half way before we got stuck in the mud and the vehicle started to fill with water. I’ve never actually sat in a car and had my feet get submerged…it’s an odd sensation.
Mr. Mike went to get help and a neighbor arrived with a tow rope and proceeded to pull us out of the water while we pushed from behind (that’s right... waste deep in water, ankle deep in mud and... PUSH!). Unfortunately, even with 24 hours of drying out in the sun things still aren’t quite right and the vehicle stalls regularly. We will give her one more day in the sun and see if that helps. If not, she goes into the mechanic.
Besides that, things here are pretty typical here in Maun. We arrived Wednesday and Thursday was “Ascension Day” – a holiday here so no one was at work (I was under the impression that Jesus ascended on Easter but a quick Google search indicates there is some debate about this). This gave us a day to try to get our bearings before going into the chaos of work on Friday.
On Saturday, we took a quick drive up to Moremi game reserve (to remind us why we love Botswana). High waters prevented us from making it all the way into the park but we did manage to see elephants, giraffe, kudu, impala, warthogs, hippo and a variety of birds just on the drive up. Nice!
Just as it takes Paul a few days to adjust to the organization and timeliness of the States, it takes me a few to adjust to the chaos of Botswana. We're trying to make sure we take time to appreciate which ever world we are in. On the drive in to the office today we stopped to see an odd (orange-ish) colored chameleon cross the road. Very cool!
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