“Hey guys, time to get up,” Trevor said sleepily, walking around the tents. I would learn to get quite used to this voice in the mornings, and usually popped right up out of bed. On this first morning however, after having gotten up at 4:15am the morning before and having gone to bed at midnight, I struggled to get myself up at this ungodly hour. It was 5 am, the sun hadn’t risen, and there was a chill in the air.
But of course, as I really need very little sleep to function, I was up and quickly getting dressed and packing my things, once my eyes had fully focused to the dark. SarahCatherine and I were the first ones to completely pack up our tent, tent poles, and sleeping pads. As this was the first morning of any of us ever having to take down our tents, though, it took others a while. This system would soon become a lot quicker, as our ten-day camping excursion progressed.
Breakfast was coffee, tea, toast, and various cereals. The group yawned and ate in silence, still surrounded by the early Botswanan morning. The group mumbled “Happy Birthday” to me as they slowly ate their breakfast. I was long awake, and drank my coffee quickly. Trevor had told us we had a long drive today and the sooner we left Camp Itumela, the sooner we would arrive out our next camp.
(Downtown Maun, Botswana)
By 6:30 am the truck was packed, the group was fed, and everyone had gone to the bathroom. Thus began our 7-hour drive. The first three hours were extremely boring for me. Everyone slept, even those people who had gone to bed early the night before. I read a magazine, took a little nap, and finally occupied myself by staring out the window. The scenery was still barren, red dirt and leafless mini trees, but animals had been added to this drive. Along the sides of the road we continued to see herds of donkeys, horses, and cattle grazing. They were all very malnourished, their skin sagging off their bodies while their ribs and spine protruded from their backs.
(Cattle on the side of the road)
Also popular on the drive was mud huts, springing up randomly on the side of the road. I was enthralled with this old age type of living, and we started a game on the bus of trying to find huts, so we could capture them in pictures.
(Thatch huts)
(Mud huts)
The game hardly worked. But for those of us who saw them, they continued to be a mystery for us. With the mud and thatched huts came fences. Not just everyday fences with two vertical logs connected by two horizontal logs, but vertical logs stuck into the ground closely next to each other.
(Fences)
As the day continued and the sun rose higher into the sky, the animals became more hidden as they laid under the shade of the large leafed trees that scattered the sides of the road.
As the long ass drive continued, and we neared towards 11 am, we finally turned our ipod back on, and started up the card game that would without a doubt make up some of the most defining moments of our trip. Asshole. Universally known, a game understood by the Americans, Norwegians, German, and Canadian. And so the game brought us through the rest of the truck ride, landing us at Camp Sitatunga in Maun, Botswana right around lunchtime.
Roasting hot already, we unloaded Shashe and once again set up our tents, sleeping mats, and bags. SarahCatherine and I jumped from the truck to get the best spot, and ended up with tents crowding us all around. Lunch was sandwiches and fruit, and then we had the rest of the day to play. Everyone made their way to the pool, bar, and volleyball area of the camp. SarahCatherine bought me a birthday Smirnoff Storm, and we soaked up the sun by the pool. This was by far the hottest birthday I have ever had. Most of the group attempted to play a game of cricket, stopping part way through so as not to scare a large cow that walked in from the forest.
(Cricket)
Then we laid around by the pool some more until again we attempted to play a game, this time volleyball. My team won, of course, and we all jumped in the pool.
(Volleyball teams and referee)
The water was freezing but a few of us crazy folk decided to stay in and play pool games until we were literally shaking with cold. My first shower of the trip was in order, and the hot water felt great. By this time it was almost 6 pm, and the sun had almost completely gone down, making it a bit colder out. The group made our way to the bar once more, this time more bundled up than during the day, and played Asshole. We laughed, fought, drank, and played cards. Elroy made us take a short break to show us a Bushbaby, a small monkey, that was climbing the tree in our campsite, and then we continued.
(Bushbaby)
Finally, by 8 pm, our dinner was served. The camp staff had made us a meal of rolls, rice, cabbage, and beef stew.
(20th birthday dinner)
We all ate at a long picnic table in the bar area, and talked and laughed. I enjoyed the delicious dinner while sipping on a Hunter’s Cider, a drink one of my fellow trip mates had bought me, surrounded by my roommates and great spring break friends. After everyone had finished eating, we sat around and talked. Suddenly, I was bombarded with singing from the group, and a chocolate cake with “Happy Birthday” writing and “Happy Birthday” candles was plopped in front of me. As Team Elephant sang, and I realized what an amazing trip I was on, sitting here in Maun, Botswana, I wanted to cry.
(20th birthday cake!)
Instead I made a wish, which in fact came true later, and blew out my candles. The cake was the best cake I have had in Africa so far. As it turns out, SarahCatherine and Colleen had asked if they could get a cake for me, and our driver and cook had gone out earlier that day to pick one up. I felt so blessed as I sat there and gorged my face with the cake. After a while, the rest of the team trotted off to bed, leaving more than ¼ of the cake left. We couldn’t let the cake go to waste, and we wouldn’t have room to fit it into one of the trip coolers, so SarahCatherine, Colleen, and I took it upon ourselves to finish the cake in just 3 minutes.
After eating the cake, Colleen treated me to a Storm, and Ketil treated me to one later, and we played our favorite game, Asshole.
(SarahCatherine, Me, Ketil -future tentmates in the Delta)
For a while some kids from the Southern Ambition trip joined our game of cards, but soon went to bed. Eventually the rest of Team Elephant retired to our tents, at around midnight. It had been the best birthday I have ever had. I wasn’t with my family, I wasn’t with my best friends, and I didn’t open any presents, but it didn’t matter. Celebrating my birthday with a group of 20 people who I had just met the day before, in Botswana, on the trip of a lifetime, was all I needed.
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