23rd of September to 19th of October, 2018.
I get a lift to the entrance of the town, but I still have to walk four or five km to the centre. I would not mind keep walking, if it was not for the sun frying my head and making the temperatures almost unbearable.
Luckily, in a few minutes, two nice guys from Czech Republic stop their Safari car. They are really nice people and think that my travel plan is very interesting. They drop me off at a busy mall, and to go shopping at Spar. I have told them about the church plan, so when they heard me talking with a lady about directions, and she says that all the churches are far from town, they offer to drop me off in the one I choose. Oh, so nice of them! Although, I decide to get some connection and check if my CS host, Jacqueline, has answered me about her address. I will call her and ask if I can arrived two days earlier.
Outside the Spar mall, there are two female security guards. I am talking with them about the churches directions, so I borrow one of their phones. Jacqueline says I can come. Her place is about three km from town, going back the direction I came. I make a plan: I will leave The Hulk with the guards; go shopping some food for the whole week; leave the food at the supermarket; go to Jacqueline’s house; leave my stuff there and come back to town to grab my food. I rather walking the way two times, with just a little weight at the second time, than almost die carrying everything altogether.
And damn I am lucky! Just after some hundred metres walking, a very nice couple from South America, Lu from Argentina and Antonio from Chile, offer me a lift because they are going to a Backpackers in that direction. They are so nice that they even pass their place to drop me off at mine. Just lovely!
I meet Jacqueline and she is nice. I love her place. Some CS guests wrote messages on the wall. Pretty cool! I take some rest and go back in town to grab my food. Iam very happy.
Back at Jacqueline’s place she tells me I will sleep on the couch because she now has a new roommate. I don’t mind at all, I mean, I could sleep on the floor as you know, without any problem, and in this case, the couch is very comfortable. But looks like to her it is a problem because she want to make me more comfortable than that. I do not understand people, the name of the website is Couchsurfing. What is the big deal?
Anyway, on my second night there, she come out of her bedroom saying she has found another place for me to stay. I am surprised because she didn’t talk with me or anything. At first, I think she didn’t like me or something. But she insists that is just about me having more comfort, so I guess I believe her. She posted a request in the Facebook town page, asking if anybody could host a Brazilian girl from CS. That night, she came to me with a woman called Lilian on the phone, and apparently she could host me. So I say “hi!”.
I am already intrigued by the name (also my sister’s name) but when Lilian starts speaking with me in Portuguese I have to ask how she can speak my native language. The answer is pretty simple: “Porque eu sou Brasileira!” (Because I am Brazilian!). We bough laugh. After just a few minutes of conversation everything is arranged. She will pick me up next afternoon, and I can stay with her until the 1st of October. Great!
Staying with Lilian is just amazing! I still cannot believe in how lucky I am that she decided to help me. We talk about anything and have such a good time together. I meet her son, Allan, this very cute and smart little guy who also love dinosaurs, so you all can imagine how well we get along. She has three lovely dogs, and one of them is the hugest dog I’ve ever seen. And it’s so cute and friendly as it is big. And the two beautiful cats with the fluffiest fur ever!
We spend our nights talking about so many things and she gives me some very good advice, like about the blog, for example. In my last night with them, we make a surprise for Allan, and downloaded the last Jurassic World movie to watch all together.
Last night? Yeah. I spend five nights with Lilian but in the middle of the week we go to talk with Siyoka, the guy from my volunteer work. Lilian actually knows him, because they are kind in the same area of work. I think we both are quite relieved with that because before we get in there, we could not find any kind of information about him and his lodge.
Anyway, the lodge is a private project to him and right now it is not fully working. So, again, just as in Zimbabwe, I don’t have a volunteer work. We decide that I will stay with him and his family (he also does CS), and middle time, he would look for some institutions where I could do a volunteer work. It is not the best plan, because I would go to a random place, which I did not actually choose to volunteer, but at least I would have a place to stay. I just cannot understand why he did not tell me that before, by message. Why keep me in the dark until I get in here?
The thing is, I would be able to stay with him just from next Wednesday on, so he asks Lilian if it is OK for me to stay with her for a few more days. She agrees, of course, but I keep thinking: what if I had not a place to stay? If I was not lucky enough to have found Lilian, then what?
During that week, Lilian and I went to visit a friend of hers, Monica, this lovely Canadian woman who is living in Africa for some long years already. Talking, she tells us that she needs someone to house sitting for her, one week from now, because she has some business in Gaborone, and her wife would still be travelling in Zimbabwe for more a few days. They have a cute cat called Pax, which needs to be fed, and also the garden needs some attention. Next Saturday, she will go for a short trip, so I also could come and help her if I want, and after that we could decide what to do. I rather stay with her, even that I would be alone and not in a Botswana family, learning more about the culture, because I like her a lot since the beginning, and she is in need of someone to help. So I decide to stay.
Even knowing Lilian just for a few days it was hard to leave her place…
Monica’s house it is so cozy, and with a big and beautiful garden, which attracts all the birds. She also has a nice fresh vegetables place and it is good for me to practice how to take care of it, you know, for my future one.
So we spend one week together before she needs to travel. I am trying to help her as much as I can, in the house or in the office, but unfortunately there is not too much I could do. At least not that she told me. Again, I have another great week, cooking together with a friend and learning a lot from her.
After she leaves, my days alone are not completely alone. I have Pax for company and he is so lovely that sometimes he could even scare me. Laugh. Seriously, when he comes and try to hug me for the first time, he jumps into my neck and I thought he was mad at me or something, but them Monica explained that it is how he shows his affection. After that, I would always let him play around my neck and sleep in my lap. A love story. And also Sapina, the maid, would come three days per week and spend most of the day at home, so…
I go for some walks most of the days but just around here. I do not go to town simply because I have no reason. It is always so busy over there, and full of people and safari cars everywhere, so I just prefer stay in the peaceful of the house.
I am always cooking, which is great! I have some great ingredients, fresh vegetables and salad from the garden, plus some wine! Wonderful time for Lei!
When I was still staying with Lilian, I also met another lovely lady, Hilary. She is from England but is living in Maun for a long time too. She has this really nice place called Hilary’s Coffee Shop but she also gives some ballet classes. I helped her at the Coffee Shop for two times, just doing simple things, and it was really nice. In my first Sunday at Monica’s house, Hilary invite me to come for a boat ride on the river. We had some snacks and drinks and a good time.
When Monica comes back, her wife, Christiane, comes with her too. I am a bit nervous to meet her, because I was staying in her house for the last two weeks and she did not even know me, so… But everything passed as soon as we met. She is also a really nice person and we have more in common that I could imagine.
I think they are putting something on the water of Maun, because all these amazing women I met here, do not look at all their real age. They are so beautiful and full of energy to do anything, that I feel I might stay here a bit longer, and perhaps grab some of that for myself.
In my last night, Monica and Chris invite me and our friends to a movie session. We have dinner at this amazing place, Motsana Centre & The Arts Cafe, and could catch up a little before the movie starts. It is there where I say goodbye to the good friends I made it here.
So about Maun… there are some great views at the river, mainly for the sunset, and there is a Museum called Nhabe, that is in a nice building and you could check because there are some local crafts, which you can also find on the streets. You can also check the famous old bridge, the only one people used to take to go to town (and you will not believe that it was possible when you see the bridge…) until a few years ago. You can walk around the river then. It is nice! And if you want to catch a movie watch some art performances, Motsana Centre is a nice place to do that. But apart from that, Maun is a common town, where mainly people coming for the Okavango Delta will pass by. At the malls you can find anything you want, from simple things to the fancy ones. But that is it. I think the best thing of Maun are the people.
10 Years Around the World 