Botswana - The Beginning

On Saturday, November 29th I took two trips to sea with White Shark Projects.  It was my last day and it was a good one!  Plenty of good sharks and the sea cooperated with me!  There had been a large 4 meter female Great White shark that the crew had seen on other trips that I wasn’t on so I was hoping to see her and we did!  She didn’t stick around long but I did get to see her in all her glory!  She was so magnificent! We also had a cute little guy maybe 2 meters long and he was fast and really spry!  After taking a quick shower and making sure I had all my belongings packed I said farewell to the crew, staff members and my fellow volunteers at the project.  I really enjoyed my time there even if it required 4 Dramamine tablets and one Ondansetron tablet every day :)

Last day on the boat

Rudi one of our drivers picked me up in the “shark” van and took me to Capetown along with some of the clients from the 2nd dive trip.  Rudi is an awesome guy and I enjoyed getting to know him.  He’s really funny, has an amazing personality and very ambitious; just an all around great guy.  It was a beautiful two hour drive west to the city and it went quickly as I was chatting with Rudi the whole time.  He dropped me off at my hotel, the Doubletree by Hilton about 10 miles from the airport.  It was a nice, modern hotel.  I so enjoyed having a room and bathroom all to myself!  I re-packed all my bags to make sure they would be compliant with Air Botswana’s guidelines, had some room service and then went to bed.  I had to be at the airport at 8am the next day.

Dominick, me and Rudi - Selfie!

The next morning I woke early, had breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then boarded my shuttle to the airport. The Cape Town airport is a funny little airport.  Just one place to drop people off and pick them up.  Just one large entrance.  You go in and find your airline to check-in, drop your bags and then go through security.  After I checked in with Air Botswana I was a bit confused and went to the domestic security line first.  I keep forgetting that even though all the countries in Africa are connected they are indeed different countries and that would make my flight international. So I was re-directed and it was no big deal.

I bought a couple books at the bookstore and then went to wait at my gate.  The gate agents show up right at boarding time and not a minute before.  You board a bus and then they take you to the plane out on the jetway that you have to board with stairs.  If you were elderly or handicapped I’m not sure how they would get you on the plane.  I was scared it was going to be a tiny little plane it was a normal-sized jet.  There was only 20 people on the flight so like 80% of the plane was empty.  I had a row all to myself as most people did.  It was a 2.5 hour flight north and east to Maun.  I slept the whole way.  I think my body was still trying to detox from my daily Dramamine!

I arrived on time to the airport in Maun, Botswana.  Talk about a small airport……….holy crap!  You get off the plane the same way you got on but there is no bus involved.  You just walk into the one entrance to the airport and there is the immigration station.  Two workers, you stand in line, tell them where you are from, what are you are doing there, how long you are staying and the address.  They also make darn sure you have a return ticket to leave the country.  If you don’t have one you have to buy one right then and there.  Crazy! As I walked from my plane a GIANT black beetle scurried in front of me.  I’m not afraid of beetles but the size was a bit much!  I thought “Oh lord, where am I?”  I don’t do bugs…….

At the gate

View of the Maun airport after deplaning

You go through immigration right out to baggage claim which is really just a room filled with all the bags. You pick yours up and go out into main airport which is just one large room.  There is only one desk to buy tickets, a small seating area, one place to get in line to board the aircraft and one area where all the people stand that are holding signs waiting for clients. Most of those are safari companies.  I looked around but saw nobody with a sign for my name.  I took my bags and stood by the front door (which was open to the street) and people watched to pass the time.  I have never seen so many barefoot people in my entire life and I grew up in Florida! lol  You can just waltz in and out of the airport from the street.  It’s just weird.  

After about an hour of waiting I was getting really annoyed.  I had no contact information for anyone in Maun.  I didn’t have a phone number. I didn’t know who was supposed to be picking me up or what they looked like.  I was just stuck there until someone finds me.   Finally, I see a woman get up from the waiting area and she is holding a sign with my name on it.  She had it in her lap the whole time but never showed it.  UGH!  Apparently she thought I was coming in on the flight from Johannesburg that didn’t land for another 20 minutes which is why she didn’t hold up the sign. OMG.  I just took a deep breath and we introduced ourselves and then we were off.  Her name is Tana and she works for Wilderness Adventures full time but runs the spay/neuter clinic on the side. Really nice lady. Originally from Kenya but has lived in Botswana since about 1973.

She drove me about 5 miles to the cottage where I will be staying for the duration of my time here.  Five miles doesn’t sound far but it is when there is NOTHING around you!  It is a paved two lane road but there only a couple traffic lights and maybe two stop signs. The rest is roundabouts.  They also drive on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road which completely weirds me out.  I’m finding that all the cars on this continent are manual.  I haven’t seen one automatic vehicle.  When we hit the roundabout to head out of “town” and towards the cottage the only thing on the road and on the sides of the road are cows, goats and donkeys.  When I say on the road, I mean ON THE ROAD.  There are almost no fences to speak of.  The animals just roam free and when you want your animal, you go find it.  Hilarious!  I got such a kick out of seeing this!

Goats in the road

Goats in road

The cottage is really nice.  It is in a compound at the end of a very sandy road.  A lady named Mervyn owns all the property.  She lives at the back near the clinic. The rest of the property is sectioned off into maybe 9 different houses, all rented to other people, mostly whites. I have found a huge racial disparity in both South Africa and here in Botswana.  It’s definitely off-putting but that is a discussion for another day.  All are fenced but most people still let their dogs roam.  It’s just the way it is here.

The cottage is fenced and we have three cottage dogs.  They stay in the fenced area though -no roaming!  We can let them in the house and we often do in the evenings when we get back from the clinic.  We have our old dog Billie Bob (I call him Hank), Lexie and Minnie Mouse.  I guess Hank and Minnie are considered mutts and Lexie is considered an Africanis dog.  I haven’t quite sorted out the breeds yet.  The volunteers are responsible for feeding and taking care of the cottage dogs.  They are really good dogs but Lexie and Minnie are young and no one has really given them much training so they can be annoying. We will be working on that!  

Billie Bob (aka Hank)

Lexie

Minnie Mouse

The cottage is actually quite large.  A huge living area when you walk-in.  There is a TV but you can only play DVDs on it.  A nice sized kitchen/pantry area.  Three bedrooms that can hold up to 8 people.   Two full bathrooms.  One bathroom has only a bathtub so you have to use the hand held shower attachment if you want a shower.  It leaks horribly and the water goes EVERYWHERE! :( There is no A/C and it is HOT.   We do have some ceiling fans. Luckily it cools down at night and in the morning. We have to keep most of the cottage windows open to get some fresh air circulating but there are no window screens which allows ALL kinds of bugs to come inside.  I’m going to get desensitized one way or another I suppose!  We are supposed to have WiFi but it’s not currently working and my phone doesn’t get service here.  UGH!  We can go  “to town” and use the WiFi at an internet cafe but it’s kind of a pain in the ass and they are only open until 5pm. At five everything closes except a select few places.

View inside from the front door

We have all kinds of security going on here.  All the windows have bars on them. The front door has a bar gate in front of it that is kept locked unless we are home. Then the front door behind that is locked.  After you enter the cottage you have the living room/dining room area and then there is another bar gate that is kept locked before you get into where the kitchen/bathroom/bedrooms are.  There have been some thefts in the past and they want to make sure we are all safe.  It’s a bit strange but I’d rather be safe.

Parked at the cottage is our vehicle, Trevor.  Yes he has a name :)  He is a super old white Toyota Venture (looks like a Land Rover) that is rickety as all get out!  No A/C, no radio, no power steering, the windows don’t roll up all the way and the back hatch closes with a metal latch that you would find on a gate. He is very interesting to say the least!  We can use him as much as we want as long as we put gas in him and make sure he has oil, etc.  Of course, his steering wheel is on the right side of the car so you have to work the stick shift with your left hand.  That along with driving on the left side of the road…….I definitely won’t be attempting to drive him any time soon!

Trevor in all his glory

Trevor from behind

Trevor's story adhered to the dashboard

After showing me around the cottage Tana and I walked down to the clinic.  It is about a 2 minute walk down the sand road in our compound.  It sits on about 1/2 acre of land and it is all fenced.  The clinic is basic but actually quite nice. There is A/C in the surgical area but it doesn’t work the best.  I will not be complaining because it’s better than nothing!  There are 20 cages in an enclosed kennel area outside next to the clinic. Next to that, there are 4 very large dog runs. Then there is also a huge fenced in grassy area with 4 more large runs and there are two isolation kennels at the back of the clinic outside.  So far I have found that they have pretty much everything I have needed.  Most of the items are donated so they are not the best quality but they work.

The sand road

Clinic from the front

Main kennel area

Large Dog Run area with 4 kennels

My surgery area

After my tour I went back to the cottage and had a nap before the other two girls (both vet nurses) arrived.  They had been gone for the weekend on safari.  Sounds horrible right?  Tana works for a safari outfitter so I guess she frequently sends the volunteers out as a reward.  Fingers crossed that I will get to go!  They said it was an amazing place so I really hope I get to go.  Kelly (from South Africa) has been here for 5 months already which is great since she knows how the whole operation runs. The other girl Megan (from South Africa originally but lives in London) has been here for one week and is staying 3 more weeks.  Both Kelly and  Megan are leaving before Christmas so I’ll be alone until the other volunteers come in January.  Hopefully I will be up to speed by then!  The girls are amazing techs are super nice.  I am glad to have their company.  Pictures to come!

That’s all for now.  We are going to the “bush” at the end of my first week to do an outreach spay/neuter clinic.  Should be interesting.  I’m told I will be  doing surgery under a tree…… I’m guessing no A/C?  LOL

More later when I return from the bush!