Maude needs a modification

5-16-22 Border crossing

On to the next part of our experience! We made the trip all the way from our safari in Botswana to Mwandi orphanage and hospital in Zambia! That travel meant going on a tiny plane out of the delta where the safari was. On that plane, I did the shortest flight of my life, only five minutes! That was because our plane was basically a bus that stopped at different safari camps on the way to the final destination. After getting off the plane that was so small that you would have to crouch and squeeze your way through the tiny seats, it was time to start our drive out to Mwandi. The trip would have two legs of it because a driver could not pass between countries. The first leg, the Botswana side was with a lady named Maude. She was nice and got us all situated for the 30 minute drive to the border of Botswana and Zambia. Once we got relatively to the border, actually to a dog kennel area and health parking lot, Maude stopped the car. She informed us that she normally drops off her people there and waits for the other driver to pick them up. She was also used to people doing their other drive through a company, but Lawrence, our Zambian driver was a “friend”. We started coordinating with Lawrence through phone and the plan was for him to come through and get us, but he did not get through because you have to pay a small fee. Instead, Maud finally subsided to the idea of us paying to get on the other side and meet there. Maude really needs a big lesson on problem solving because while we were trying to problem solve, she just kept staring off into space while saying she could not do anything. Both of my parents got frustrated with her but did not show it. After that fiasco, of course my dad still tipped Maude and we made it to Lawrence and had to do the customs stuff on the other side which took so long. Outside of the building for customs, on a sign it showed that it was “one stop,” but I can tell you now it was not. There were about 15 different desks that we rotated through. We probably only went to 5 or so but still. One for all different parts that could be done at one spot all at once. On top of that, Asher was so fidgety. He started running around in circles in the middle of customs which he got a talking to about later. Then was the drive. Down a road almost as bad as Nepal with the biggest potholes I have ever seen. We stayed on that road for about 2 hours, then made it here! Here is like home. A big house with a kitchen, 5 bedrooms, a living room, patio, and a backyard! This has helped all of our sanities.