Into the Wild...first time to stock up

  Maun, Botswana
Friday, September 11, 2009

Here is the little propeller plane we took which was actually very nice on the inside. We had the second to last row on the plane going Johannesburg to Maun (Botswana), it was 2hrs long and without a single cloud in the sky we could enjoy looking down on the Botswana country side. It was brown, and then light brown oh and we saw the one road that cuts through the middle of the country.  When we started to descend for landing the pilot came on to warn that since the temperature was so hot the landings get bumpy, yeah well that was an understatement.  It was like a rollercoaster right up to the wheels hitting the ground! 



After we came back to earth we realized the 'airport' consisted of a single little thatch roof bldg and our luggage was being loaded into a minivan and backed it into the 'arrivals area'.  There were a few really small 2-4 seater planes nearby ready to take guests further on to the uber-luxurious lodges in the delta. 

We were immediately met here by a lady from our 4x4 company who wisked us away to their office down the road.  During this 10 minute drive the rep started to give us the run down of the town, swinging around to talk to me in the back seat while swerving around donkies and goats which apparently have the right-of-way.

We pulled up and set our eyes on our veichle/home for the next 6 nights; a 2005 Land Rover Defender 110 TD5 which affectinately became known as "Tank" for the rest of the trip.  This thing was a monster!  We met Mac, the owner/bush mechanic who gave Chris the grand tour of the truck and showed him everything we would need to know, this guy was the spitting image of Dennis ????.  He climbed all over the truck like he was a kid on a swing set and followed most things up with "...and if that doesn't work, just give it a good kick."

We discussed our route which was immediately met by apprehension from Mac.  He reminded us that it was the wettest June/July Botswana has had on record since the 20's and that water hasn't disappeared yet.  He warned us of lots of deep water crossings and how many people he has been pulling out of the water up there (he works as a retrieval truck).  **Oh boy...what did we get ourselves into??**

We wrapped things up with them and headed into the town.  We had a list of things to tackle today which included finalising our entrance permits for the National Parks, filling up the 125L diesel tank and lowering the tire pressure to 0.8bar for driving in deep sand; also food, meat and beer shopping (which required 3 different shops).  We had to carry everything with us to last the next 6 days because there are zero shops or gas stations from here on out.  This made for a long day in a very new place which was a bit outside of our comfort zone (hello donkey herds in the roundabout).  Chris was struggling a bit getting used to the gears but was managing well.  We re-packed the truck like 3xs and called it an early night after reviewing our maps and routes again.  We were waaaayy too excited to start the real safari adventure tomorrow!