February 21, 2007
Today was the most uneventful day of the trip. Which, isn’t a bad thing at all. I didn’t sleep all that well last night, camping on the island. I was dirty, sweaty and had a ton of sunscreen and bug-spray coating most of my body. I had quite a few itchy mozzie bites and was ready for a shower! Nobody had brought any beer to the island, either, and I think more than a few people were ready to get back to that! 
I was looking forward to spending another night at the Guma Camp with it’s excellent deck and campsite.
This morning it was threatening rain, which would hamper the mornings activities as well as get everyone wet with nowhere to shelter. We were supposed to head out in the mokoros for a morning ride and a walk on a nearby island after we broke camp. Martin finally made the call and we left one tent up in case they needed to store everything while we were out in the boats.
The boat trip was pretty short. We stopped on an island similar to the one the day before and took a short walk. This walk was cut short as well, this time by a herd of eight or more elephants! We saw them off in the distance and M’po decided not to take the walk. Instead they took us on an extended boat ride around some of the islands. One of the islands had a sort of cove that we went into. In some parts, trying to access the cove, the water was very shallow and it took a couple tries to find a navigable route. We did and ended up seeing some more elephants off in the distance. Today I must not have felt like taking any pictures, because I don’t have any except for one taken on the first island.
We headed back to the island camp, loaded everything up, and started making our way back to the mokoros island. The ride again was beautiful, and was so cool to just be pushed along through the grasses and think about where I was and what a great place it was to spend some time in! I was as far away as I could be from where I was working a year ago in that godforsaken office in Everett – in southern Africa, in the Botswanan bush, on a mokoro in the middle of the Okavango Delta! It’s hard to believe where I’ve been sometimes thinking back.
Today was also our first hippopotamus sighting! Another one of dozens of situations where I needed a longer lens, but you can see its head popping up out of the water. This shot is a major crop from the original. I think there were three hippos during the course of our watching at this spot.
Shortly after the hippos, we got back to the mokoro island and transferred to the powerboat. I was dreaming of an ice cold beer! It was hot. And, like I said, we were grungy. Martin had said when we got back that we should go ahead and set up camp. Me and the four Australians disobeyed, though, and headed straight for the bar. I wasn’t going to do anything without some refreshment! After a nice, cold one we did set up our tent. Martin and I were bent on sleeping as far away from everyone else as possible. At first, we set up our tent in a spot we weren’t supposed to. M’po asked us to move it, or he’d get in trouble with his boss. He helped us pick out another spot as he knew what we were trying to avoid! He put us plenty far away … we had the kitchen, bar, dining area and staff quarters between us and the rest of the group! Woo hoo!
After the tent was up, it was into the shower and then back to the bar. We chilled out and talked and got to know each other even more. It was interesting how much we all had to talk about over the course of the safari. Each day we got more comfortable with each other, especially after everything you experience together, and our bonds grew tighter. A few beers usually helped the situation, but we always had plenty to talk and laugh about. We sat on the deck and enjoyed the view. Soon, dinner was ready and we gathered around the table in the excellent dining area for our last meal at this camp.
Afterwards, there was more beer and then the wine was broken out. I hung out with the Australians and chatted and I ended up telling the abridged version of my life story. I was sorta surprised when they asked me “So, Steve, what’s your story?” It’s not something many people ask of me. They grilled me a bit about the details and was kinda glad when the subject was changed! I realized later that I really hadn’t been that forthcoming with them during the whole trip previous. They really didn’t know much about me. It’s amazing, though, how after you share more of yourself how much closer you feel to people. It’s not just about how well you get to know them, it’s about how well you let them get to know you. Friendship is such a two-way street and creating deep friendships can happen very quickly if you let it. I’ve definitely learned to open myself up when I want to and establish a base of trust. Now, if I could just figure out the romantic side of things a bit more and find a good woman … then I’d be getting somewhere!