Moments in Maun

Morning. I'll do other versions of the lion kill story and the John Kata interview later, but look on the Desert & Delta Safaris blog for what I had mentioned in a posting below.

You might imagine what I am doing now that I'm back for a little while from the bush. I'm sure you're thinking it's something exciting. Nope. Tomorrow will be. I'll hop another bush plane and head east for my last few days with DDS. But for now I am eating pizza, a cheeseburger, french fries,a Kit-Kat bar (not at one sitting) and hoping to get a manicure and a pedicure during my 48 hours in town. Oh, the small pleasures.

What I am not doing: drinking red wine or Jameson's. Life in the bush provides ample opportunity for sundowner drinks, and I took advantage of every opportunity. Plus, I became an erstwhile bar tender at Xugana Island Lodge. Got quite good at gin and tonics. Shook with fear when a guest requested "a Manhattan" or "a cosmopolitan." I ran for help every time. Drinking the fancy-pants cocktails is quite different from mixing them.
Healthy living. That's what starts today.

I also woke up in the night hearing a strange animal noise. It was new to me. It sounded like a motorcycle at first, punctuated by ee-ors. Ah, yes. The sound of Maun: wall to wall donkeys. If I can't hear the lions' roar, the donkey is a poor substitute. But, then again, I acted just as frightened of them when I was walking down a Maun road in March as I did when I got close to the lions at Camp Okavango.

Next week I'll be up and running with the blog again. It's been a pleasure to hear from you who've sent emails and notes. Many thanks.