Pula

In Botswana you hear pula everywhere, and it is not always about cash.

The pula is the national currency, named after the Tswana word for rain. Rain is precious in a dry country, so the name carries hope. The word means rain, money and the way people exclaim “cheers”. My thoughts on pula may have led to us not getting to the Okavango Delta on time.

No Flight Today

We arrived at the airport, but found out that the planes could not safely land on the delta runway due to rains. So, we loaded up the bus and headed to a very nice hotel close to the airport. There, we enjoyed lunch and drinks while awaiting an official verdict on whether weather patterns would change for the better, making a flight possible. When it looked like we would not get off the ground until the next day, some of us thought, “This is a nice hotel. Let us stay here tonight.”

My pula prayers answered: no flights today!

Pula!

We ended up returning to Chobe, staying at another Baobab camp, one that required hasty touch-ups by the staff to get functional, having been out of use for some time. The staff did a fantastic job making the camp for us and splitting support across two camps. We enjoyed drinks while listening to the falling rains.

Flying For Certain

I have an irrational fear of flying in smaller planes. Not a fan in the least, most of the time at the airport I spent pacing. Staring out the windows toward the tarmac, the lovely Donna came up next to me and said, “So this is where Cessnas come to die.” My response ended up puzzling her. Usually talkative and jovial, I simply slinked away, far away, to the other corner of the gate area. When she found out later of my fears, she felt terrible, but she did not know and I should not have such unfounded reservations regarding flying.

We then got on the planes for the twenty-hour flights. Or, it felt that way!

Delta Cats

In the Okavango Delta, the lions fear planes a lot less than I do. Here, a group of female lions walk around close to the dirt runways.

Another grooms herself a short distance from the planes.

This one watches a plane take off, without a care in the world.