I'm alive, in Maun.

I'm being barked at to update the blog. I'll update just a note now though, as internet in Botswana is even less reliable than it is in South Africa (shocking, aye?). I'm in Botswana, in a town called Maun, which is on the Okavanga River. I wake up each morning in my tent and look out on the waters of the delta, which is at its highest levels in 30 years. There are crocs and hippos in there, but I've yet to see any (here, that is). There are gods-- I mean dogs all over too, and my plan to win them over has paid off. The timid dog, Marge, or Margaret is now my friend. It has nothing to do with the biscuits or peanut butter. I let her sleep in a pile of Geoff's (my obnoxious travel companion) clean clothes while he's on a walking tour with the Canadians we met up with.

I'm not going to post much, as when I get back I'll do a proper posting with pictures. For now, rest assured that I have arrived safely and the beetle, which we erroneously chose as our mighty steed has a future surely to involve some sort of vivisection. I've spent about R4000 on repairs to the beetle/tires so far, while the actual month long rental was R2500. At this point, It'd have been cheaper to have flown- BUT, I'd not have camped in the Sossusvlei Desert, in Namibia had I flown, nor all the insects 'n such.

We leave for the 9 day safari in Northern Botswana on July 4th and come back to this backpackers paradise where I'll be able to update once more before heading back. At this time I have no idea how I'll be returning to SA, as the beetle's latest ailment involves a wobbling back tire and even I know this is too much to risk, especially when driving barren African roads.