alright, how is everyone?!?! lets leap in... another very early start today. we had to cross the botswana border and catch our airplane... so breakfast opened at 6.30 and we all had to be there at that time all packed and loaded onto the truck so we could grab and exceedingly rapid breakfast. we mamged remarkably to be on the road by 6.45!!! we reached the border on the namibia side mid-morning and handed in our forms and $350 and getting our passports stanoked, same old same old!... the again (- the $350) was repeated at the botswana side and then VOILA!!! we lost that extra hour we had in namibia so are now back on s.af time so 1 hour ahead of you guys. having finished the excitement of the border crossing ;o) we just had a relatively long drive to maun where the aurport was. we drived and i swear the "airport" was smaller than our house lol. was so cute!!! botswana is apparently the flattest country; i think the highest point is 13 metres of something. oh yeh i forgot... guess what we had for lunch ;o) yup thats right, pasta!!! :oD woooooo!!! (it was a really good pasta salad and i felt like going up for more and more and more but somehow i managed to restrain). the plane was only big enough for the pilot and 5 other people so seeing as there were 8 of us it made sense for four to go in each plane...: (gray and ferdi were driving round to meet us the other side of the delta so it was jus patrick accompanying us there). there was a tiny compartment underneath for our luggage on which there was a very strict 10kg limit probably due to the size of the plane!!! i was sat in teh very back row but really didnt mind cos i had a pretty good view anyway. we had areally puny safety talk (cos there wasnt much to say) from out pilot micheal. then seatbelts on and away we went... the plane was one of these tiny propellor planes which make a lot of noise and dont go very far and are probably smaller than our 7 seater car with a spin span of probably only 4 metres (smaller than some birds). it was quite interesting being able to see all the different pilot controls and how he used them, although it was a bit too confusing and i was too wrapped up in what was going on below... we were flying at only 500ft so that we could see down really clearly and see a ;pt pf detail. i didnt think i'd be able to see nearly as much as i did: i saw very recogniseably 1 elephant, a giraffer, 2 hippo's :o) nd some antelope. it was really beautiful and intriguing seeing how the delta progressed as it grew from tiny, what looked like cracks in a road, streams to big clear winding rivers amongst all this greenery making them seem very sunken in and mysterious. it was weird for me to see how green it was as i was expecting, maybe naively, to see a large laake type thing which it really wasnt at all!!! we arrived having done a rather sharp / bumpy turn which made me and andrew feel a little queezy - that was the one disadvantage of flying so low: great view but your right in the wind making it a rocky ride. we were met by these 2 lovely ladies who work at the lodge we're staying at for the next 2 nights. one thing i've noticed; everyone is SO friendly and open unlike tight-lipped distant londoners e.g. they will always introduce themselves and when your driving along anywhere kids/workers will wave and shout etc and just general behaviour like that! the lodge is very sweet. it is completely deserted basically with little shallets dotted around. these can sleep 5, have a decent toilet and an outdoor shower with can you believe it a rose bush in it. 1 problem - it is so secluded that everything is powered by solar panels so lights have a habit of randomly switching off and showers have a habit of turning/being EXCEEDINGLY cold!! it was all part of the experience and we have these HUGE green mozzie nets under which we feel like princesses ;o)! i'm sharing no.4 with mai and trond. dinner was at 7 and was a lovely chicken cassarole with rice butternet and carrot salad. again it is very nice the way that they lay the food out on a separate table, come out, itroduce themselves and the food and then say thank you please help yourselves... so a lovely supper later and guess what was on tv: england vs sweden... me andrew and these two other english guys who work there stayed up to watch. i wont do a game analysis for you but anyone who watched it: what was with the english defence at the end!?!?!; i mean come on - that swede goal... what was that!!!!! anyway both teams were already through anyway and the score was 2-2 so no real harm done or anything lol - except to owen... yeh anyhow bed time now. its very cold and i can hear scuttling and hippo noises but hey i can sleep through anything.../ c ya soon! m xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx