| For once a leisurely breakfast this morning, in
the restaurant of the hotel. We had to vacate our rooms by 10 am, and
deposited our bags in the foyer. It was then just a case of relaxing at
the poolside with a cool drink. It gave us a chance too of catching up
with diaries, editing a few photos (i.e. deleting some of the rubbish we
had taken over the last two weeks!) and the opportunity to exchange
e-mail addresses. At 11.50 we were picked up by Solly and Rasta - no
trailer this time, so we loaded the bags on to the cab roof-rack and
took the short journey to Maun Airport. We booked our luggage through to
Heathrow and then Nancy and I met up with an old face - that of Bibi,
who had been our guide on our 2007 trip. It was good to see him again -
a very experienced and knowledgeable guide - and good to see him still
enjoying guiding. He was actually awaiting the next incoming group of
Explore travellers - blissfully unaware at that stage of the
difficulties he would be facing two weeks hence in the wake of the
Icelandic volcano eruption. Our time at the airport gave us a chance to
buy last-minute gifts at the nearby craft shop - though we thought them
a bit pricey!! We decided to wait until we got to Johannesburg. Before too long it was time to bid farewell to Solly and Rasta, and to
Botswana as we boarded our Air Botswana flight to Johannesburg.We
had a few hours to kill at Johannesburg, and after a visit to
the coffee bar we did some shopping at the excellent "Out
of Africa" |
 |
outlet. Then finally it was on to our A340 once again for our
overnight flight to Heathrow. Dinner was served and then I settled
down to watch a Mr.Bean film on the aircraft's entertainment system.
I don't know why I bothered really - for we had our very own Mr.Bean
sitting next to us. Derek was having a little difficulty with the technology. The
aircraft was fitted with a very much up-to-the-minute personal touch-screen
entertainment system. First of all I became aware of Derek and Jenny
giggling away next to us, and looking along, I think Derek must have thought that
rather than a "touch-screen" system, his preference was for a laptop!! His
entertainment system was certainly in his lap, still attached by its
electronic umbillical cord to the back of the head-restraint in front of
him. Try as he may, it wouldn't go back in. There was great
amusement between us all - Derek and Jenny, and just across
the aisle to our right, Mark and Ros. We were all in hysterics, Derek
too, so it was no wonder that he was unable to repair it. I offered him
some gaffer tape, but then realised it was actually in my hold luggage.
Finally he had to admit defeat, and call the steward. He appeared
from behind, to find Derek, still laughing uncontrollably, trying to put
it all back together. Derek, fortunately, was unable to witness the
expression on the steward's face when he arrived, as he rolled his eyes
upward. The steward managed to get it re-attached to the back of the seat in front,
although it didn't appear too secure. Fortunately we didn't encounter any
subsequent
turbulence on the flight, so there it stayed - somehow. Priceless
entertainment - and all for free!! Our flight landed on time, we
reclaimed our luggage and bade a final farewell to our fellow
adventurers. The trip, despite our share of problems, had been a
wonderful experience.
As always, we had already been discussing our
plans for next year and beyond.
Try as we may, we find it very
difficult to exclude Africa from the top of our list, and a timely
advertisement as we had earlier boarded our plane at Johannesburg
caught our attention ........... |
