Saturday, October 4, 2008

Where NOT to stay





I had a wonderful road trip back to the Tsodilo Hills and to Etsha 6, the center of the highest quality baskets in Botswana. But I reached a new low in accommodations at Etsha 6. A teacher who volunteers at Bana Ba Letsatsi assured me that he stayed at this guest house frequently and that it would be fine for me.

Au contraire.

I could not resist sharing this with you to show that I am willing to swallow hard and give someplaces a chance. This was the only accommodation in the village. I needed to give it a chance. I tucked myself on top of my sleeping bag atop the bed, placed my bug hut over my head and tried to fall asleep to the sound of the loudest donkey braying you have ever heard. Soon I could feel something biting my face and my neck. ARGH. Bed bugs!!!!

I promptly moved myself, a flashlight, water, my sleeping bag and pillow into the backseat of my car. That's where I spent the next 8 hours trying to sleep. There were times when my mind drifted back -- I couldn't stop myself! -- to some of my favorite hotels: The Peninsula in NYC, Mission Inn in Sonoma, Miraval in Arizona, the Intercontinental in Beijing, the Four Seasons in Austin, The Homestead in Virginia....Why was I punishing myself? I think I believed if I could imagine those buttery linens at The Peninsula, I could recreate the feeling with my back to the car upholstery. It didn't quite work like that.

You might wonder why I didn't drive back to Maun, burning rubber all the way. I had been warned: DO NOT DRIVE AT NIGHT!!! Even in the day, I saw impala, ostriches, cattle, donkeys and goats, some of which stood right in the middle of the road, some of which were so stubborn I could only swerve to miss them. Too many people crash into too many animals on that stretch of road. And there's only one fuel stop between Etsha 6 and Maun. So I was stuck in the Toyota Surf with my windows cracked and my friend Kirk's giant Maglite torch at the ready in case I needed to bash somebody's head. After I got used to the yoga positions for sleeping, I managed to sleep fairly well and had the happy (seriously) pleasure of waking to the sound of more roosters than you'd find at the state fair. Nice sunrise. Nice time. But oh how I hate bed bugs.

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A magical flower

A magical flower
The guide squeezes this flower and it squirts water like a water pistol

Cathy and Joe Wanzala

Cathy and Joe Wanzala
They couldn't wait to paste the Obama sticker on their car

My main man

My main man
Ernest is my trusty cab driver who blasts music as we make our way through Gabs

Ted Thomas, man of intrigue and style

Ted Thomas, man of intrigue and style
My friend, Ted, and his wife, Mary Ann, hosted a Safari Send-Off for me in Austin and treated me to a special mix of African music that already a UB student and a professor want to download.