The creek after one day of December rain

Me and Harold

Harold and Geraldine

31st March

Just a quick update before I fly up to Maun tomorrow and then down to the Kalahari. If you have a map I'll be near Ghanzi which is to the Western side of Botswana where it borders Namibia.

I've had a wonderful few days with Harold and Geraldine. They are very keen birders and in two days we have seen and recorded eighty birds, many very exotic ones in and around their garden.  We spent Sunday morning sailing up a nearby creek which prior to mid December was completely dry . Hard to believe from the picture, and harder still to believe that crocodiles have found their way there already.  We saw a six footer on a tiny island mid stream. I decided to forgo the photo opportunity lest I fell in or dropped the camera as there were no sides to the boat.

I heard  from Ghanzi camp that their Internet connection had been down for ten days, so I'll update when I can.

29th March

Remind me never to take a night flight ever again. Oh wait, I've got one on the way back..
I've arrived safely in Gaborone and spent the last couple of hours on Harold and Geraldine "stoop"  which we would call a veranda. It's warm and sunny and the garden has beautiful butterflies and bright yellow weaver birds, and three impala which I've already seen.
The flight was uneventful, sleep being one of the events that didn't happen. They woke us (huh!) at 5.20am and on my side of the plane there was a spectacular sunrise, the whole horizon above the clouds was fiery orange and turquoise. When the sun came up it was fast fiery and  too bright to look at, had to pull the blind down.
By  the way at Heathrow the baggage check saw fit to take every single thing out of my rucksack and shoulder bag. It's a testament to my packing skills that the contents of these two bags filled four of their cat litter sized trays. They sent the two bags to forensics and took my binoculars, camera, Kindle and phone somewhere else. Eventually they thrust the whole lot back and said Have a good flight. I was very patient. I know they have a job to do. But come on guys..

27th March

Off tomorrow, 27 degrees in Botswana with "lows" of 17 degrees. Must be why they told me to bring a fleece.

My new bf

22nd March

One week to go...
The second weigh in is almost up to the 23kg limit, at least I think it is, but I can barely lift the case clear of the  floor on the weighing gizmo so hard to be  accurate. CCB (Cheetah Conservation Botswana) asked me this week to find them a CR-123 battery charger and some rechargeable batteries which they use in camera traps and can't get easily. This all weighs a ton so I'm having to make some hard decisions.

The mosquito net was a doddle I now know how to hang one five different ways. Repacking it was another story, like getting Kate Middleton's veil into a small sponge bag, luckily without the tiara.

This time next week I'll be at Heathrow so my next update will be when I get to Gaborone the capital of Botswana where I'm spending a few days with Harold and Geraldine Hester before heading out to the Kalahari.