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Google Earth image of the
Okavango Delta in Botswana.

 

Google Earth image of Maun and the
Thamalakane River in Botswana.

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Maun is built along both the banks of the Thamalakane River and is considered the gateway to the Okavango Delta.  It is more a village than a town and is similar to the frontier towns described in the western movies!  The people who live here are characters unto themselves and there are always stories going around about what someone or the other did the night/day before!  There is basically nothing entertaining to do here, except party - and party we do - a lot!

Most of the businesses in Maun are safari companies (both photographic and hunting) and the others are businesses which supply/support the safari companies.  In the old days we had sand roads throughout the village and one could not get around without a 4x4 vehicle. Then we got 1 tar road of about a kilometre long and we thought we were really getting civilized! Back then, we also had 1 garage; 1 hotel; 3 shops and a few government organizations like post office; water affairs; wildlife; police department etc. Over the years the village slowly grew and turned more into a town.  Our population increased rapidly due to the amount of people lured by the glamour of working in the bush and also creating their own companies. During the past decade it turned into a boom-town with businesses and buildings springing up all over the place. We now have 2 Spars; a Checkers Shoprite; Score; Woolworths; Furniture Shops and various others.  There are also quite a few restaurants and hotels with the result that we have more variety in our choice of watering-hole! There are no casinos, movie theatres, book or CD shops - if you buy a computer here you have to drive 495km to the nearnest town to buy computer games etc.

The Thamalakane River, which runs through Maun, gets its water from the Okavango Delta which, in turn, gets its water from Angola. The rains during the rainy season also help fill the Delta.  When I first arrived in Maun in 1962, Botswana was suffering from a drought. Then, in the late 70's we had several years of heavy rains which resulted in severe flooding.

For over a decade now we have been suffering from drought again. The pictures to the left, above and below,  are taken from exactly the same place at our home and show the extremes we have in our weather patterns. This year (2006) we are experiencing heavy rain again and expecting a huge flood from Angola, so it seems our drought is breaking and we could be in for another season of rain and flood.  This cycle seems to happen  every 25 - 30 years. 

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