It seems silly to complain about lack of air conditioning or hot water or a pristine swimming pool when you are 100+km out in the desert. But this was the most expensive lodging we have experienced on our trip. Maybe not not Plaza New York expensive, but definitely equal to a night at the Hotel Vancouver, including a nice dinner at Bishops. This may be Botswana, but is a hot shower too much to ask? This was not the worst place we have stayed t is trip, but it managed to out-do Oxbow Lodge in the lack-of-value-for-crazy-price category.
The next morning, we did manage to book a walkabout with a San "bushman" for a guide. There are no wildlife of note about, but instead he showed us some of the tricks of trade involved in eking out a meager existence in the Kalahari desert.
He was able to point at some seemingly-random spot on the ground, start digging, and pull out an edible root. He had to dig to his shoulder to bring us up a wild carrot. He found water-containing gourds, the plant the hosted the caterpillar that was the source of the poison that allowed them to kill a giraffe with small arrows. He also made rope from a succulent, and demonstrated how to make a snare for fowl, and he had us making fire with two sticks. All very cool.
After, we raced an ostrich back to Gaborone.
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