Maun, Botswana - The Busiest Airport without Lights

I could sleep in a little as my flight did not leave until noon, so of course I was at the airport around 8am. After Botswana I would be traveling to Namibia and driving across the desert. The Namibia dollar is directly tied one to one with the South African Rand and they accept both notes everywhere in Namibia. I knew I would need cash when I stopped to refuel so I decided this was the perfect time to hit an ATM and get some South African Rands. I asked the person at the information desk and they pointed me to the ATM. Someone arrived before me and seemed to have a quick transaction, and as they turned away I saw they got cash. I tried to insert my card and it seemed something was jammed in the slot. The guy who just got cash was quick to help and tried to explain how to insert my card. But I still had no luck. He then said let me show you and took my card. He tried to misdirect me and pointed to the touch screen as he flipped my card under his hand and tried to palm it. I felt something was off when he approached and grabbed his hand as soon as I saw his move. Telling him “no no” and grabbed my card back. He said he was showing me how to insert my card and I replied “show me with your card”. And with that he was gone. I’m sure he heard me ask at information where the ATM was, jammed the card slot, and flashed some cash so I thought he actually used it. Then he was planning to palm my card saying he inserted it but the machine was broken and I would have to contact the number on the ATM, while he walked off with my card. Yup, little has changed in Johannesburg and I was glad to be boarding a flight to Maun, Botswana.

We landed and I filled out the health form and had my temperature taken before presenting my passport to immigration and waiting for my luggage. Maun is not a big airport but the number of daily bush planes taking off and landing make it one of the busiest in all of Africa. We all came in on a jet from Johannesburg and would be flying out on 30 or so different bush planes to our various camps. I found my pilot, who seems to have received his pilot’s license on the same day as his driver’s license. In fact I can’t remember having a bush plane pilot in Botswana that was shaving yet. But they were all awesome, very professional and very personal. They were typically from the U.K. or Australia out here for their gap year. A concept that the U.S. desperately needs to embrace if it wants stop falling behind the rest of the world. It’s basically a year after high school but before college that you go out and figure out who you are, see the world and live life. There are tight luggage restrictions and the airport has no lights so it is only open during the day.



It was just me and the pilot as we headed to Kwara Camp in the Okavango Delta.




They first fly over the airstrip to make sure it is free of animals before making their final approach.




Moremi Air dropped me off and then quickly took off again.


I would meet my safari driver Big Tom and my tracker Gums at the airstrip which was about 15 minutes from the camp. We headed to camp and the first thing they had me do was sign a waiver saying that if I got eaten my family would not sue. After signing I was looking to relax a little as it was extremely hot. But this was a safari camp, not some vacation resort, and you are going on safari. I had 30 minutes before we left so I went to check out my “tent”. OK, so I was not exactly roughing out in the Delta.


The animals were everywhere, in fact at night and in the morning you are required to be escorted by a camp guide as the elephants and hippos can be a threat. The view from my “tent” with a warthog walking by.






Baboons were all over the place here and we had to have a special lock on our door to keep them out of our “tent”.


Life was good, I had another open air shower that I was looking forward to using tonight with my headlamp.


With Big Tom at the wheel we headed out from camp encountering elephants before I could even sit down on the vehicle.








Tom and Gums had been out this morning with other guests and they saw a lion kill a warthog so we went to see what was left. I would quickly be surprised on how close we were able to get to the animals, this was much more intimate then in the Serengeti. We found the lions and what was left of the warthog.
















We then went in search of a pack of wild dogs which I was told is a rare sighting. Along the way we passed some zebra.






We then came across the pack of dogs and I was told how they eat their prey live. In fact at the next camp I would see a video on my guide’s camera of dogs eating a warthog. The warthog was squealing for about four minutes with its back legs now completely gone, until finally one of the dogs ripped out its heart and lungs and the poor thing finally died. I was glad to see it on video instead of in person as I’m not sure I could have handled it. Yet they seem so cute.
















Kwara Camp had eight “tents” with a maximum capacity of 16 guests at one time. This evening Big Tom and Gums had me and an older woman from the U.S. along with a couple from Italy in their vehicle. We stopped for “afternoon tea”, which was really happy hour. Gums had checked with me before heading out and had plenty of St. Louis beer, the local Botswana brew, along with some nice appetizers. And like so many other times I can’t believe how lucky I am, out here on the Delta enjoying appetizers and a beer, taking in amazing views, seeing wild animals in their natural environment. I feel a little less mixed up.
















The sun fell from above and I took time to enjoy the moment and what it meant to me.








We headed back to camp for dinner with Gums keeping an eye out for any cats or other creatures of the night.




Back at camp I got to meet the rest of the guests and would quickly find out they are my kind of people, we had a lot in common and shared a lot of the same world views. The staff joined us for dinner which was wonderful. We got to talk with them, they were no longer just our guides but they were now our friends. What an amazing experience, if I could only find a way to share it, but that would prove impossible without actually being here.




After dinner we sat around the camp fire and continued to share stories before our guides would escort us back to our “tents” one by one.


VIDEO: Botswana - Day 8 - Kwara Camp