They made it!

After 37 hours of traveling Dad and Cindy finally made it here to Gabs. It wasn't easy getting here and they had a few stressful moments whether or not they would get on a couple planes. They went standby San Diego to Chicago, Chicago to London(they got to go 1st class on this leg), London to Jo'burg(this was the stressful one) and Jo'burg to Gabs. What a day. I went to work and left work to pick them up at the airport. Dad got in trouble for taking a picture of the plane. I didn't know if they were on the plane or not. I kept watching the people go by trying to see them but didn't. They finally came out from customs and I took them back to my apartment. I showed them around the apartment and gave them the keys and they were going to take a nap and shower and maybe go for a walk. They took a short nap because Dad got his watch alarm confused with local San Diego time. They woke thinking it was almost 5:00pm when actually is only 2:oopm. It was only after they took a very fast shower and dressed when they realized the correct time. Realizing they had more than three hours before I came home from work, they went for a walk. Not far from the apartment, they found a grocery and a liquor store. This made both Cindy and Dad happy. Dad bought Hansa, a local beer brewed in Gabarone. They came back and unpacked some more and I got home around 5:30pm. We looked at pictures I had taken from the Delta. After that we went to Squaremart so Dad could go to the ATM and we went into the grocery store. Dad was asking if everything was safe to eat. I got a better broom there too. After that we went to Bull and Bush for dinner. We ordered 3 different things and shared. I got the ribs, Dad the T-bone and Cindy the fillet. Dad and I had a beer and Cindy a Coke light. The fillet was the best it was so delicious! The bill was only 270 pula, we left a 30 pula tip for all of that was 300 pula which is $45 US. The one fillet would have been more than that in the US at a nice restaurant. We will probably go back again. They both really liked it. Cindy loves Botswana and can't wait to see more. It's not what Dad thought it was going to be like at all and he likes it here as well. I am glad they are here. It's nice to be with your family. We will be off on an adventure tomorrow and try to book their safari.

Visitors

My dad and Cindy are arrive for a visit this week. I am excited to have some visitors. I can't believe they are really coming. I think they are going to have a good time. I hope they get to see some good stuff on safari. I will join them on safari for part of their trip but can't take off too much work. THey want to go to the Delta and I was just there so I will skip that part. I went shopping and got more food for the apartment and dad some of the local beer. I have to finish cleaning up the apartment before they get here!

I went to another movie on Monday evening. It only costs 33 pula for a movie and that isn't even $5 US. It is great. We saw the Proposal with Sandra Bullock. It was funny! I haven't gotten very much reading done here like I did in India. I haven't even finished my 1st book yet. I am still on the Greg Isles book but it is really good. In India I read 4 books in 4 weeks and I have been here almost 3 weeks and haven't finished the 1. I guess you can tell I am having more fun here! Got to get ready for work.

Weekend in Gabs

This weekend in Gabs, Justin, David, Kerrye and I went to Matsieng to see the footprints. There are many myths about the footprints, but they are actually rock carvings and not actual footprints. I saw 3 new birds there(I wish I had brought the big lens), the blue waxbill, the violet-eared waxbill and the melba finch. I might go back before I leave to get a better picture of the birds.After the footprints we went to the country club and the wealthy area of town. There was a nice golf course and very large houses there. I saw 2 new birds there also, the brown-throated martin and the reed comorant. In the afternoon/evening we went to a braii put on by the local staff for Justin and David because they are leaving next week. I tried the box, shake shake kind of beer, it is about 4 pula which isn't even $1. It wasn't very good and it was chunky, not filtered sorgum beer. We had barbeque meat and was a lot of fun. On Sunday we went back to the museum and to the 3 dikgosi monument. These were the 3 chiefs that went to the UK to seek independence for Botswana. There I saw a few more birds. Have to wait for Aunt Susie for feedback on one of the birds. I dont' know if I have it right. The birds are just beautiful here and I have turned into a bird nerd as the book "Whatever you do don't run" calls it. I have seen over 60+ different birds so far in 2 1/2 weeks here. There are so many more to see! We went to a brazilian restaurant tonigh for dinner. David and I split a bottle of wine. It was a South African vinyard and it was quite good. It was a red blend of Cab, shiraz and merlot. It was called Tin Mine. I would have it again! My Dad and Cindy are coming in a few weeks so I am sure we will have more safari adventures then. It is back to work tomorrow.We have to take David to the airport at 5:45am, yuck. Thank god I bought a coffee makerand brought my own coffee! THey only have instant coffee here which is suprising.

Holiday in the Delta

We had a 4 day holiday here in Botswana. The other girl from work and I went up to the Okavango Delta. We were lucky to get a spot to go. I thought they were planning the trip before I arrived but it didn't happen and everything was booked. The planes only go on certain days up to the Delta so they let us take Friday off work which was very nice. We left early on Fri morning and flew to Maun. From Maun we went on a little 4 seat plane to the Delta and our Camp. Camp Kanana has its own airstip(dirt) . It was beautiful flying over the Delta. I didn't see any animals though. We got to the airstrip and were met by the manager of the camp. He drove us to the camp and on the drive I saw my 1st lilac breasted roller which ended up being my favorite bird. I also saw a fish eagle on a termite mound over a water hole. They look like a bald eagle. The birds were spectacular in the Delta. I saw so many. I also saw the rare and hard to find Pel's fishing owl on my 1st mokoro ride. We had a guide named Fly, he seemed so young but said he has been doing the mokoros for 15 years. He was one on my favorite people there. Kerrye and I were paired with a grandmother from Australia and her 2 grandchildren. I hung out with them most of the time. Our 1st activity was a boat cruise. We say 1 hippo in the water, 2 young nile crocs, giraffe and lots of birds. The next morning after we were woken up at 6:30am with a tray of coffee then breakfast at 7:00am we went on a game drive. The Delta isn't known for big game but mostly the birds and mokoros. We say red lechwe, impala, giraffe, tsessebe and lots of birds. There were a lot of leopard tracks but we never saw one. Back to the camp after the drive. On all of the activities you get a snack and drinks. Once your back at the camp you can hang out until lunch at 12pm. After lunch you can have a siesta until the next activity which they have another light snack at 3:30pm. All you do is eat and drink! I never took a nap. One of the little girls and I would go looking for birds ad I would take a shower during the break because there was no hair dryer and it was too cold in the morning or evening to let your hair dry on its own. Cocktails were no charge at this camp. They had a fridge full of different beers, 4 different wines and hard stuff plus lots of fruit juices, bottled water and soft drinks. After you get back from the evening activity you can freshen up and go back to the camp for drinks and sit by the camp fire before dinner. Dinner was great they had really good food and way too much. I did try kudu, springbuck, guineafowl and brim a local fish. They baked fresh bread which was wonderful.

The 2nd evening we went on a walking safari. I had taken a shower before and had lotion on my legs and when I got back the dirt was all stuck to my legs. They were black! Saw more birds, red lechwe, impala and a giraffe. Our guid Wago pointed out the different trees, animal tracks and anything else exciting. The next morning we went on the mokoros. The young girls didnt' want to go because a hippo charged a boat the night before and were scared. It was unfortunate that the people made such a fuss over it because they were scared of all the water activities after that. We didnt' see any hippo's. The mokoro was great, saw a malachite kingfisher! You got really close to the birds because you glide through the reeds in the little canoe. The night activity was another game drive. Saw zebra and a few new birds. The next morning Kerrye wanted to go on the boat dride again. We were doing the mokoro in the evening and I didn't want to do 2 boat activities, plus the boat was pretty boring. I wanted the game drive since there were fresh elephant tracks and I wanted to see an elephant. We went ont he game drive. We were the only people on the game drive that morning. All the other people in camp were doing other activities. The older aussie girl came with us. It was the best game drive of the trip! We saw the elephant, kudu, warthog, banded mongoose, vervet monkeys, baboons, zebra, giraffe, kudu, tsessebe and lots of impala, red lechwe and tons of birds. All the antelopes were on edge. We had a lion go through camp the night before so all of them just stuck in one place and we could get really close and they wouldn't run away. We were on the hunt for the lion. Wago found it! it was a lone male lion! It was thehighlight of the drive. I took so many pics of him. We ended up being the only ones to see him. Everyone went on the game drive in the evening to try and find the lion but they couldn't find him or the elephant. We went ont the moloro and fly tried to find the Pel's fishing owl again because I only brought the small lens onthe mokoro the last time. It is heavy and hard to hold up on the mokoro but I used it the 2nd time. It would move the boat when I panned with it. Didnt' find the owl but I did get 1 pic tfromt the 1st sighting. We saw a hippo on the way to the mokoros and some frogs in the reeds. It was great, I am glad I went. It isn't the place to go if you want to see the big 5 though.

We arrived back to Gabs around 11am and went to lunch with Justin and David then out and about to visit some villages. We went to 2 local pottery places and saw the Livingston cave and the site where his house was. That evening we went out to dinner for Justins b-day and then to the casino. Didn't win but who cares I saw a lion! I will post more pics when I figure out how to do the slide show. Also if you click on the picture it will blow it up. Make sure you use the back arrow out of the picture if you x out of it you x out of the blog. I took over 2000 pics on the trip. I am still going through them. I have identified most of the bird but still need some help from Aunt Susie!

1st week

It has been 1 week since I left California to come to Gaborone. It is a quiet town, the opposite from Mumbai. It is clean here. They don't recycle here though. It is hard to throw out bottles and cans. Last weekend we drove to Molepolole and Mochudi. The drive through the country was nice. We saw a lot of goats, donkeys and cattle. We were looking for the Aloe Forest but never found it. Tomorrow I am going to the Okavango Delta for 4 days. There is a National holiday on Monday and Tuesday so we don't have to work. I can't wait. It should be so much fun. I have to pack tonight and get my camera batteries charged. I will post pictures when I get back. Here are a few pics from the drive last weekend.

Finally in Gabs!

I finally made it to Gaborone! I got upgraded to 1st class from San Diego to Atlanta. That was the only smooth portion of my travels to Gabs. My flight from Atlanta to Jo'burg was delayed because they oversold the flight and had to get 7 people to give up there seats. We finally got on the plane and proceeded to sit there for 1 1/2 hours while they tried to find the bags of those 7 people that gave up there seats. The pilot didn't make up any time in the air and I only had a 2 hour lay-over. There were many of us on the plane that were trying to catch our next flight. We had to go to another setion of the airport for international transfers. They weren't very helpful there let me tell you. None of us made our connecting flights. We went to the airline counters that we were booked on and they wouldn't help us and told us to go to Delta. We went there and they wouldn't help us and said we had to go to another Delta counter and they would help us. We had to go out through customs and find the Delta counter. I was with 2 woman, 1 from Maun and the other from Gabs. The Delta counter wouldn't give vouchers for the woman from Maun and her son and I because our flight weren't booked through with them(Delta). I wasn't happy. I told them Delta was the reason I missed my flight and I was a Medallion member but she didn't care. These people are very rude. She did get me on the next flight even though she said she couldn't. The lady from Gabs said I could go to the hotel with her so I wouldn't be alone. THey had a car to take her there. We got to the hotel and it wasn't like a normal hotel. I shared a room with Pelo(sounds like Pellow) and used her voucher so I didn't have to pay. We left for the airport at 5am. She was on an earlier flight on air botswana and I didn't want to stay at the hotel alone. She helped me find where I was supposed to go and she had to go somewhere else. I went to 3 different counters before I found the right one. Of course the men were much more helpful than the women. They would just ignore you and then would tell you the wrong place to go. My carry-on was to big to carry on but the 2 men said it was ok, just go and the women the opposite. I shuck it through when I finally got to the right line after about an hour of trying. Then I had to find the departures gate and again you ask them for help and they ignore you and when they do help you you can't understand them. It was an exprience, hopefully I won't have to go through it again. I got through the security check ok then it was off to customs. The guy kept saying something to me and I couldn't understand a word he said. I kept saying I am sorry I don't understand. He then went on about how I was angry, I said I mssed my flight but I am not angry I just can't understand what you are saying. He laughed and let me through. Then it was off to the gate which you really have to pay attention to the signs or you will miss the right gate. They go off in all directions. I found it and sat there for 2 hours before I was to board. Luckily I had a book. I was exausted because I really didn't sleep at all at the so called hotel. My plane was to board in 20 minutes when the gate next to me started to board. They were weighing the carry-ons! Crap! I had to come up with a plan, there was no way I would check my backpack with all my camera stuff in it. The rolling bag had my computer in it so I was going to take the computer out if they stopped me and let them check the bag. While I was waiting a man from my Altlana flight came over, he missed his flight to Zambia. I should have gone to his hotel, his was 3 minutes away and had restaurants. It was time to baord and luckily they weren't weighing bags! I got on the bus real quick in case he was just late coming over to weigh the bags. The bus took us over to where the smaller prop type planes were and when I saw the plane I though my bag will never fit in there. Luckily when we stopped at the plane they had a skycap cart so I took out my computer and they took the bag. It wasn't a full plane so I had the row on both sides all to myself. It ws a short 1 hour flight to Gabs. We got to Gabs, one of the smallest airports I have ever been in, and went to the customs to fill out the papers. Of course I didn't have a pen and they didn't have any to give. Luckily a nice guy from Australia had another pen and lent it to me. The 2 of us weren't so lucky with our bags. Neither of us had our bags on the plane. I wasn't happy and of course I was thinking they broke into my bags in Jo'burg and what was I going to do without any bags. I didn't have a phone number to give them to have them tell me if they would arrive on the next plane and I didn't even know if Kerrye, Justin and David would be at the airport to pick me up. Pelo gaveme her number and told me if they didn't pick me up to call her and she would come and get me. I was so happy to see them sitting there when I came out. We went to the apartment so I could drop off my stuff that I did have and then went to lunch. We were going to go to the market before we went back to the airport but I wanted to wait to see if my bags arrived because that would change what I needed to get. We went to the airport and went to the S. African airline counter and they said we had to co to the office. We go there and the 2 women working there were sitting on the couch and said they were at lunch and couldn't help them. Come back in 1/2 hour. They were so rude. An Air Botswana perosn wlked by and asked if we needed help and told her what we needed. She couldn't help us because it was a different airline but she couldn't believe they wouldn't help us. They finally finished with lunch and she came out to help. She took me to the back and I saw my bags, I was so happy!!! I had to go through the line when I had to tell them if I had anything to declare and said no, he had to check my bags. I think it was because the were so big. We went to the costco type store on the way back to the apartment where I got a coffee maker and some other items. I couldn't get too much because there was no room in the trunk with my bags. We hung out at the apartment for a few hours before dinner and I put the mattress pad and my own sheets on the bed. So glad I brought those!!! My bedroom is such a mess, there is stuff all over the floor, I need to get some hangers. We went to dinner at Bush and Bull and had a filet. I asked for Medium but it was more like med-well to well done. I will ask for med rare next time. It was only $10 US. Stuff is much cheaper here. After dinner we went to a grocery store and got more supplies and then back to the apartment. I slept for awhile and got up. There are a lot of barking dogs-would drive my dad and sister nuts! I will hopefully get used to it or have to use earplug. I decided just to get up and write on the blog and drink coffee. Today we are going to visit a village and see some rock paintings. Hopefully I will take some pitures today. I did see a white headed vulture flying when we were leaving the airport. Didn't get a picture to have Aunt Susie ID it for sure but I am pretty certain from the markings of its underside that I am right. I am just happy the traveling part is over. Will write more later

4 more days

I only have four more days until I leave and there is still much to do. Unfortunately I didn't get JoDee finished before I went. She wasn't very helpful in the matter, she was in a terrible false pregnancy and she has been in a mood ever since my suitcases were out and I have been packing. I got a new lens for my camera for my birthday and have been practicing with it. I have posted some of the pictures. JoDee being silly, JoDee in the ring with Valerie(she was so naughty and didn't behave well-suprised she even placed), Griffen in the pool and the seals and birds from the kids pool in LaJolla. The extra bedroom is full of all my stuff that still needs to be packed. I think I need to weed some stuff out or my bags will be overweight.