Date: Sunday 3rd August 2008
Staying: Sedia Campsite, Maun, Botswana
Song of the Day: Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secure - Arctic Monkeys
Getting across Africa by yourself is not very easy. The people that do these television programmes have support crews and money behind them, as well as networks to bail them out. For the everyday person, none of this possible; hence we do tours. Our tour was in a bright yellow truck by the name of Tokoloshe.
Tokoloshe can best be described as an army truck with a bus cab on the back. The inside of the truck has a fridge and chilly bins for storing food. Under each of the 28 seats is a locker for each individual, you have to provide your own lock. Storage is underneath, and it is a bit of a climb up into cab which is quite high off the road. Our driver was Issac, an ex-army officer from Kenya, and our tour leader was Lou, from Foxton (for those that don't know, about 30 minutes drive from where I grew up). Our group was quite diverse. There were 8 Kiwis, 2 Dutch, 1 Scot, 1 Italian/English, 1 South African, 1 from the Isle of Mann and the rest were poms. Our Tour leaders brother was on the trip, and it turned out he went to the same high school as me.
Our drive was to Maun, the entry point to the Okavango delta. Wildlife was plentiful on the side of the roads, including Elephants, warthogs, Girrafe and so on. We even got to see some dust devils at a distance. Other than this, it was a fairly relaxed day, getting on and off the truck to swab our shoes at the multiple foot and mouth checkpoints.
My job on the truck is Fireboy, so it is my job, along with 3 others, to start the fire for the cook groups along with setting up tables and chair etc. This meant that while most others were running off having drinks, we had to stay behind and work. We also have to get up 30 minutes earlier than anyone else in the mornings, not good when your leaving at 5.
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