Out of the truck, in to the food chain. . .

We have moved to a significantly more posh camp today still on the Okavango delta. I am staying in a “tent.” I use the word loosely. My “tent” has a porch, a queen bed, a desk, a phone, air conditioning, full length mirror, bar fridge, safe, and a shower bigger than my last apartment. Did I mention that we are currently on the edge of the Kalahari desert? on the poorest continent in the world? in a country with a 45% unemployment rate? There are people in this country without access to fresh drinking water and I have a BAR FRIDGE in my “tent.” A maid wakes me up at 6 am with tea and biscuits which have to be brought in my room right away because of the abundance of thieving monkeys. I then walk 200 m to the main lodge where breakfast is served. At 7 am, we drive around for 3 hours in our own personal Landcruiser with our own guide (The carbon foot print for this trip is tiny- for my friends not well versed in sarcasm-that was it.) We then return to the lodge for brunch, siesta in our air conditioned "tents", and a dip in the pool. After all the riding, sleeping, and eating it is then time for afternoon tea. We will need our energy for our afternoon game drive. How could we sit for 3 hours if we didn't have a full stomach? (again-sarcasm) A full 4 course dinner is served when we return from the drive at 8 pm, after which we can relax on the deck, or in our "tents", or go for an environmentally-friendly night drive (I really shouldn't have to tell you this time) Most of the time I am embarrassed to be a part of this culture. It must seem utterly ridiculous to the Botswanan people that us "whiteys" demand so much luxury in the middle of freakin' nowhere. I constantly want to apologize to the waitress, barman, maid, gardener, and driver for the frivolous nature of all of this, for my president only giving money to AIDS organizations that teach abstention, and for my British colonial heritage.

On the other hand. . .
I have seen elephants, giraffe, cheetahs, lions, zebra, 5 different types of antelope, hyena, hippopotamus, wildebeest, and jackals. Thank you mom & dad! I have also seen the oh-so-adorable baby elephants, giraffe, lions, zebras, and hyenas. This is a truly beautiful place and despite having nothing, some of the most wonderful people. Yes, I realize my parents are paying them bunches of money to be nice to me, but they seem nice anyway. I spent a while talking to this huge African man named Julius. He told me how Oprah once came to the game ranch, HE flew in HIS own plane. Julius didn't know how HE made all HIS money though. Julius didn't know that Oprah was a woman, but knew it was very important that HE came. This made me giggle and I politely told Julius that Oprah was the first black Queen of America. It seems true enough.

Well, I gotta go now. It is time for high tea and I want to get there early so I can make an appointment with the masseuse. (Fortunately/unfortunately that was not sarcasm)

I will post pictures later. . .