By Jain
We spent last night at the Johannesburg Airport Protea Transit Hotel. Transit hotels are great since they are located in the airport itself and very handy to restaurants, shops and boarding gates. Usually the rooms are pretty basic however this hotel seemed to be upscale and very comfortable, meeting our needs and for getting some shut eye.
Last night we took a stroll down to one of the airport restaurants. Having been to Africa before I now recall that the wait and service people are very nice and are outgoing and friendly. It is hard not to notice there always seems to be an abundance of staff. Even in the tiniest shop you will see three salespeople ...o.k., maybe not paying attention to customers but at least they are there, chatting with each other, having a good time.
Sitting down to dinner last night we were greeted by five waiters anxious to escort us to our table. Once seated we waited quite a long time until Chacha introduced himself and with a big smile said his name stood for powerful one. With his warm welcome, he presented our menus and we never saw "the powerful" one again. Another waiter took our order another waiter delivered our food and yet another presented the bill. I remember the African service is slow but the orders usually turn out accurate.
Our flight to Kasane, (that is pronounced Ka Saun a) Botswana is a short 1 hour and twenty minutes. On the plane we were served a box lunch consisting of pasta salad and cold meatballs. Jay said his meatballs were slightly icey, nevertheless quite tasty. To round out the meal we also got some herb crackers from France and a huge chunk of chocolate. Hey, what else could you ask for.
Kasane is a small town located on the banks of the famous Chobe River bordering on the Chobe National Park. At the airport we hailed a taxi to take us the 3 kilometers to our new digs, the Chobe River Cottages. We will be staying 3 nights here then going two blocks down the road to stay at The Old House B and B which was our first choice but since the tourist season is officially in full bloom accommodations there weren't available.
The Chobe River Cottages are self catering units complete with a bedroom, kitchen and a patio. Ours is quite nice, located next to the pool. Well when I say pool I mean cement pond, really...but it is clean and the premises are well maintained. Our first order of business is to head to the Spar market about a block down the road.
To give you an idea of what Kasane looks like just imagine a small town in a 3rd world country in the desert the color of brown, a lot of dirt, dry, and poor. On second glance let me describe it as in the desert, the color of brown, a lot of dirt, and poor. But more I look around I start to see the people, the activity, and surroundings and appreciate its uniqueness. This is Africa and there's no place in the world like it.
There is one broken down highway leading to the shopping center that has a bank, grocery store, KFC, liquor store, a misc of tiny shops and safari tour operators. Along the highway, locals have set up makeshift souvenir stands trying to entice tourists to stop and take a look.
As we walked along the highway we passed by those waiting for the bus and carefully maneuvered around a warthog who is looking for some food. We are comforted by knowing warthogs only eat grasses and green stuff, not humans. However since talking to our neighbor we have been warned Warthogs can be dangerous if threatened; their tusks and teeth could get nasty.
In any foreign country you can get a pretty good feel of the people and the country if you just go to a grocery store and take a walk through the aisles. Here in the Spar market in Kasane Africa there is a tiny produce section, fairly large mystery meat section, a big selection of "Billabong" (that's beef jerky to us) a huge section for potato chips, candies, sweets and a whole aisle with large stacks of bags of rice. These bags are the size of an economy sized bag of dog food you would buy at Costco.
Well it's out for dinner and we venture down the two lane highway to one of the few Kasane restaurants. Jay, after seeing warning sign for Hippos posted in the garden, asks the waiter, "How dangerous are Hippos really?" Our waiter smiles reassuringly and says, "If chased by a Hippo just run in a zig-zag pattern as fast as you can and if possible look for a log to jump over". Evidently Hippos have a very short foot to knee span so any jumping is almost impossible. Good to know. As we started home we realize we can't run in a zig-zag for fear of being run over by a truck barreling down the highway, and we running fast is out of the question ... so we start to look for logs.
Sweet dreams from Africa.
We spent last night at the Johannesburg Airport Protea Transit Hotel. Transit hotels are great since they are located in the airport itself and very handy to restaurants, shops and boarding gates. Usually the rooms are pretty basic however this hotel seemed to be upscale and very comfortable, meeting our needs and for getting some shut eye.
Last night we took a stroll down to one of the airport restaurants. Having been to Africa before I now recall that the wait and service people are very nice and are outgoing and friendly. It is hard not to notice there always seems to be an abundance of staff. Even in the tiniest shop you will see three salespeople ...o.k., maybe not paying attention to customers but at least they are there, chatting with each other, having a good time.
Sitting down to dinner last night we were greeted by five waiters anxious to escort us to our table. Once seated we waited quite a long time until Chacha introduced himself and with a big smile said his name stood for powerful one. With his warm welcome, he presented our menus and we never saw "the powerful" one again. Another waiter took our order another waiter delivered our food and yet another presented the bill. I remember the African service is slow but the orders usually turn out accurate.
Our flight to Kasane, (that is pronounced Ka Saun a) Botswana is a short 1 hour and twenty minutes. On the plane we were served a box lunch consisting of pasta salad and cold meatballs. Jay said his meatballs were slightly icey, nevertheless quite tasty. To round out the meal we also got some herb crackers from France and a huge chunk of chocolate. Hey, what else could you ask for.
Kasane is a small town located on the banks of the famous Chobe River bordering on the Chobe National Park. At the airport we hailed a taxi to take us the 3 kilometers to our new digs, the Chobe River Cottages. We will be staying 3 nights here then going two blocks down the road to stay at The Old House B and B which was our first choice but since the tourist season is officially in full bloom accommodations there weren't available.
The Chobe River Cottages are self catering units complete with a bedroom, kitchen and a patio. Ours is quite nice, located next to the pool. Well when I say pool I mean cement pond, really...but it is clean and the premises are well maintained. Our first order of business is to head to the Spar market about a block down the road.
To give you an idea of what Kasane looks like just imagine a small town in a 3rd world country in the desert the color of brown, a lot of dirt, dry, and poor. On second glance let me describe it as in the desert, the color of brown, a lot of dirt, and poor. But more I look around I start to see the people, the activity, and surroundings and appreciate its uniqueness. This is Africa and there's no place in the world like it.
There is one broken down highway leading to the shopping center that has a bank, grocery store, KFC, liquor store, a misc of tiny shops and safari tour operators. Along the highway, locals have set up makeshift souvenir stands trying to entice tourists to stop and take a look.
As we walked along the highway we passed by those waiting for the bus and carefully maneuvered around a warthog who is looking for some food. We are comforted by knowing warthogs only eat grasses and green stuff, not humans. However since talking to our neighbor we have been warned Warthogs can be dangerous if threatened; their tusks and teeth could get nasty.
In any foreign country you can get a pretty good feel of the people and the country if you just go to a grocery store and take a walk through the aisles. Here in the Spar market in Kasane Africa there is a tiny produce section, fairly large mystery meat section, a big selection of "Billabong" (that's beef jerky to us) a huge section for potato chips, candies, sweets and a whole aisle with large stacks of bags of rice. These bags are the size of an economy sized bag of dog food you would buy at Costco.
Well it's out for dinner and we venture down the two lane highway to one of the few Kasane restaurants. Jay, after seeing warning sign for Hippos posted in the garden, asks the waiter, "How dangerous are Hippos really?" Our waiter smiles reassuringly and says, "If chased by a Hippo just run in a zig-zag pattern as fast as you can and if possible look for a log to jump over". Evidently Hippos have a very short foot to knee span so any jumping is almost impossible. Good to know. As we started home we realize we can't run in a zig-zag for fear of being run over by a truck barreling down the highway, and we running fast is out of the question ... so we start to look for logs.
Sweet dreams from Africa.
Sent from my Galaxy Tab® S2
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