Ooh, what did we find in the drawer of the hotel!

 April 26th

 Look, please don't think this holiday is just one disaster after another; it's not. We have to realise that Africa is a completely different continent from Europe, and therefore, the laws over here are not the same. So when I tell you about last night's sleep, or the lack of, it's something that would not have been tolerated in Britain. 

On arrival at the hotel, music could be heard, not loud, just a background noise. As said in the previous post, the buffet dinner was delicious, drinks were had afterwards, and then we all departed for bed. We lay for ages listening to the music, tried to sleep but assured ourselves that the noise would abate around 12 to 1 o'clock. We must have drifted off until, at about 1.30am, we were woken by a thump, thump of a base speaker followed by VERY LOUD singing, which I swear could have been heard on the next continent! Ian lay for a while and then said he could take it no more, got dressed and departed for the motorhome, which was further away from the sound. I stayed awake reading a book; no sleep could be had until I must have dozed off despite the noise. By 5.30 I was awake again, and it was still going on! By 6.30 I messaged Ian to see if he was going to return to the room. He was awake but had had a better night's sleep further away. Anyway, no use complaining to the hotel staff. It had nothing to do with them. A culture festival was being held at Malope Gardens, various artists made appearances, and it was an all-nighter! We were told the gardens were 2km away....WHAT???? The staff said the speakers were huge and imagine what it was like for the people who lived closer by!

Oh and this was found in the hotel drawer

 Not a lot to say really 😉

Another driving day, this time from Francistown to Nata. Not too early a start, as we only had to drive 275 km. We all left individually to make our own way to the Nata Lodge campsite. The hope was to arrive early enough to enjoy the bar and swimming pool, but once again, we hadn’t reckoned on the road.

The A3 is a major route from Francistown to Maun, and what was evident was the new road under construction. But this caused no end of problems because the width of the road was reduced considerably. So many lorries are travelling on a Sunday, unlike the UK, days off must be few and far between!  Anyway, 80km an hour could be reached occasionally, and it was along a decent stretch without pot holes that Ian got up to that speed. This was nearly our undoing as a massive hump in the road saw the motorhome take off, land with force and take off again because another was right next to it. Blimey I feared for the suspension as well as plates etc, and how tyres didn’t burst was a miracle! That slowed Ian down somewhat!

 Plenty of shredded tyres from the state of the road.

Wrong side of the road but I suppose its safer for the cyclist to see the oncoming traffic.

Harley Davidson riders

Health and saftey would have a field day. Lorries and cars wizzed past them with barley an inch to spare!

Botswana has a strict rule about bringing meat into the country. Foot and Mouth is the reason, and at least three stops on the route to dip our shoes. Questions were asked if we had any; this time, we could honestly tell them no. 

 

Nata Lodge was set in dense scrub with small areas for the motorhome to park. 3 of our group were already there and showed us to a spot nearby where we could plug into the site electrics.

 

 Then it was off to find the bar and pool. We were told the pool was cold, dipping a toe in, and they were not wrong! Much to cold for us, so we opt for a cool drink instead. 

 

That evening we ate in the restaurant. I can't fault the food, it's delicious, but waiting an hour and a half was ridiculous! Trouble was, you can't be angry with the girls who served us or the chefs cooking the meals. Nothing is hurried in this country, and everything is done with a smile. They are such happy people.

And todays photos