Well after a miserable week in Gaborone I finally got a vehicle - and what a vehicle it is (if I do say so myself)! It’s a 2002 Land Rover Defender, which is practically new for Maun standards.
On Monday I hooked up with some of my Peace Corps friends who were on their way back from holiday in Zanzibar. I left my hotel and camped with them in a house they were staying in. From there on everything got better. The Land Rover dealership in Gabs referred me to a man selling his Defender and by Monday afternoon we had a deal. Tuesday I was at the bank doing payments for the car and it was then that I really appreciated Gabs for their efficient banks and hard working staff. Maun is where banks and government agencies send employees who are on probation, or can’t be fired but need to be transfered. Maun is the G-train of Botswana, for any of you Brooklyn-ers reading this.
A very nice mechanic friend of a friend helped me look over the car and offered to check all my oils and fit new shocks for the ride back to Maun. He was very nice and I drove out to his farm outside of Gabs late Tuesday afternoon. He thought I got a pretty good deal on the car and said it “pulled” well.
I set a 6am departure time Wednesday morning for the PC girls (they grumbled a bit but I set them straight) and we were out of city by 6:30 cruising through the most gorgeous fog I’ve ever seen in Africa. I filled my tank with 100 liters of diesel and that got us most of the way to Maun. We stopped on the side of the road for crackers and peanut butter but I really pushed to get to Maun. Most of the time we were the only ones on the road - for 900kms! But that’s the beauty of Botswana - so much beautiful empty space with just a few huts here and there between villages.
We arrived in Maun around 4pm, which was decent time. I was exhausted but so happy to see my goats. Clara, a friend of mine, had been housesitting for me and taking care of them. Looloo and Feefee were quite fat but she just shrugged her shoulders and told me how cute they were. She couldn’t resist feeding them treats. I could hardly argue.
The goats love the Defender. When I was unpacking the car they climbed in and had a ball jumping around inside. It was like I brought them home a new toy.
The green thing on top of the Defender is a tent. It folds out and up and then you just sleep on top of your car. There is also an awning on one side that fold out. My mechanic friend told me that you “unfold it in the bush, sit down under it, drink beer, and get pissed.” I’ll have to try a variation of that sometime.
