Nata

   On Tuesday morning we woke up at oh-dark-thirty to hit the road. Mommy Trish was driving down to Johannesburg, so she was able to take Carrie and I and drop us at Nata Lodge on her way down. After a bit of a snooze and chatting in the car, we arrived nice and early at the lodge…. About 8 am. Sadly we were too early to check in…. so we got some coffee and started our relaxation by the pool! The summary of our trip is reading, swimming, and eating!! We were soooo blessed to have our lodging AND food paid for by Ellen and Trish, lovely ladies who must care a whole lot for us! Quite a gift for us budgeting girls!

     Nata is a town about three hours south of Kasane and is located in the Magkadigkadi Pans, the largest salt pans in Southern Africa (at least). These pans used to be an ocean (wayyy back) but now they fill with water during the rainy season and dry up during the dry season to leave all the white saltiness behind. During the rainy season they get many migrating birds to the pans, such as…. Flamingos!!!! We were able to just catch the end of the rainy season so when we went on our pan trip we got to see the flamingos, pelicans, avocets, etc. They were a bit far away but very cool to see! On that 3 hour trip we also got to sit on the edge of a huge pan that looked practically like an ocean and watch the sunset. It was a beautiful sunset because of two storms on either side of us. The landscape is soooo flat you feel like you can see forever! We could see rain that was probably hundreds of kilometers away. Huge sky! 

     The first night we had a full-course meal – a LOT of food! We started with a cheesy bun and salad, then moved on to our steak, veggies, and chips then ended with a waffle with ice cream and a slice of cheesecake. We are both pretty good eaters but we were both rolling back to the tent after that! But we couldn’t not eat food that was given to us! Also had a wonderful breakfast in the morning… even though we really weren’t that hungry!

   So I’m totally going out of order, but just writing as things come to me! The tent that we stayed in was en suite so it had a bathroom in it. Very awesome accomodation!!  It even provided enough room for the Cha Cha slide…. Exercise in the morning! I personally loved the shower – so neat to be able to shower under the stars! After our two lovely days of relaxation and reading a lot, we had to head back to Nata to catch the bus back to Kasane. We thankfully found a lift with a nice group of Germans that were heading that way and dropped us at the bus stop. After waiting for nearly an hour for the bus we were getting a bit bored….. so of course we resorted to food and bought a yummy bread patty thing. As we were sitting there eating our homemade bread/pancake thing, a man walked up and asked if we were going to Kasane. We said yes! And he offered us a lift. So we climbed into the back of his car which looked like a couch, complete with seat covers and throw pillows, and had a very lovely drive up. He was an excellent driver and we were quite thankful to have that ‘cushy’ ride compared to the bus! Sooo overall, we had an excellent trip! So glad I got to see another part of the country, now I’ve seen the Delta, the pans, and Chobe! Thanks Carrie for being my travel buddy!

     I had the pleasure of coming back to an ant-infested house. As we head back into dry season they are desperate for water and an entire ant colony seemed to think my shower would be a good place to set up camp! Let’s just say they are all now in a place with plenty of water…. down the drain!

 Unfortunately the pictures aren't loading on to this blog post... will try to post some pix onto facebook instead - got some really great ones!