Maun

Peter's seen a book about the 200 places you have to see before you die, and the Okavango Delta is one of them. We planned to drive up to Maun anyway, because it offers our guests loads of touristy things to do, while we hang out with Piet and Klaas & Toots.
Maun is a strange little town. Being the starting point for the delta, the famous game parks Chobe and Moremi, and the northern part of the Central Kalahari, it’s ruled by the tourist industry. Guides and other safari-people, very young pilots; they’re all over the place. We don’t know if there is a connection, but according to some Maun-people it’s also the place where human driftwood ends up.


Like last year, when we travelled with Joost & Cristina, we could stay in Pietje's house. A beautiful plot, just outside Maun, close to the river, and 7 dogs – what more do you want? Klaas & Toots around the corner, but that’s where they stay. Officially anyway, because work requires them to kind of live in Klaas’ restaurant, across from Maun International Airport.


Annette & Peter decided to fly into the delta and spend a night at Gunn’s Camp. It is summer here, not the best period to see animals because the grass is high and there’s water everywhere. But the delta is always stunning, and you’re sure to meet some game, at least hippos. Together with the crocodiles these innocent looking veggies are involved in most wildlife-human accidents because they’re very aggressive. Then again most accidents are caused by the stupidity of tourists who don’t do as the guide says, so who’s the aggressor?


Next to seeing friends, our Maun-visits always include Good Food. A dinner at Klaas’ Bon Arrivee (we’re now producing the new menu), Toots’ home-cooking, and Pietje’s fully fitted kitchen give us a nice break from ‘suffering in the bush’. During this visit, Toots finally managed to force Bram into a palatshe-cooking lesson. The funny thing about palatshe (maize pap), and bogobe (sorghum pap), is some people produce absolutely disgusting glue-like substances, while others cook something delicious. Bram now knows the basics of cooking it lekker.