Stranded in the Desert

September 27, 2012, somewhere in the Kalahari Desert, outside Maun.

7:30 am:  Our tour group leaves Maun for the 7 hour drive to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary.  Our little group consists of: our South African tour leader / driver, who goes by the letter "G";  a retired couple from Australia; a dentist and his 8-year old daughter from Australia; a friendly young guy from New Zealand; my friend Lorraine, who is visiting from Edmonton; and myself.  We have just spent 4 days in the Okavango Delta,  and 2 days in Kasane.  We are on our way for one final game drive in Botswana before concluding our tour in Johannesburg.

8:30 am:  We pass through a veterinarian check point.  These are common in Botswana. Vehicles and people cross though tire and shoe baths of poison in an effort to prevent the spread of hoof and mouth disease. Shortly after the van drives through the bath, we notice we have a flat tire.  G jacks up the van, removes the offending tire, and gets the spare. The spare is flat.

9:00 am:  G gets through to the tour agency, who arranges for a mechanic from Maun to come for him and the tire so it can be repaired in town. This shouldn't take more than an hour (we think), so we pull out camp chairs from the trailer and begin to entertain ourselves.

9:30 am:  Lorraine has already taught 8-year old Tia how to play a game with a folded piece of paper that is used to count off numbers and colours to reveal truth or dare questions and commands (you remember the game, right ?).  She also sourced a piece of string and taught a local lady waiting for her vehicle to pass inspection to play Cats Cradle.  I am watching the goings-on from inside the shaded van, where I have carefully positioned myself with my book.

10:00 am: 8-year old Tia, already bored with the folded paper game, comes bounding into van.  Her dad is quick to scold her.  She leaves with him, pointing quizzically at me.  This prompts Dad to come back into the van to scold me for setting a bad example by sitting in a precariously balanced van.  He's right, of course, but I don't like being scolded.  Like the mature grown-up I am, I leave my shaded refuge and move a camp chair to the other side of the van, where I sulk with my book. 

10:30 am:  As the shade, my last few pages, and my mood shift, I take my chair to join the rest of the gang under the sole tree.  A woman runs from across the road, asking if we have a first aid kit.  A man has been attacked by a donkey !  Lorraine dons the latex gloves, crosses the road, and cleans and treats the bite wounds.  We help the man into the passenger seat of a passing truck that serves as a make-shift ambulance.

11:00 am:  It is now close to 40 degrees Celsius. We compete for shrinking tree shade with three ladies selling cold drinks and snacks.

11:30 am:  G's ride finally arrives !  Why did it take 3 hours for the driver to come ?  It seems the mechanic's shop has only one vehicle.  It was being used at a mine site about 2 hours the other side of Maun.

3:00 pm.  G and the mechanic return from Maun and carefully replace the repaired tire.  We wolf down the (now cool and warm, respectively) burgers and drinks G has brought back from Maun as peace offerings before continuing the remaining 6+ hours of our journey.

Lessons learned ?

• If you have to be stranded in the desert in the 40 degree heat, make sure it happens next to a road-side stall selling cold drinks and snacks.
• Also, it helps to have portable chairs, a sun-hat, and a good book.
• If you want to be entertained and/or medically treated, make sure you are stranded with someone like Lorraine (and not me).

G, our van, and the offending tires

That is Lorraine, in the green shirt. Why is she so happy ?  It's 40 degrees and we are stranded in the desert !

Our tree, our gang, and the snack and drink ladies.

Lorraine in action.