Breaking point

     Drama drama drama. Of course, I mean we’re in Botswana right?!

With Mankwe burning down – things had to be shifted around a lot, and of course that included my group. We were first based at Mankwe – slightly awkward for me since I didn’t know the area, and it added so much driving time to our already long transects. We were originally only to stay for about a week until the new tents arrived from South Africa which were to act as temporary dining and lounge areas at Mankwe. The week flew by (because 20km long transects are just so much fun) and we were finally able to move back “home”. Here naïve me thinks we are back at Tuskers for good, only to come back from the island to hear that our bags were packed by the staff and moved back to Mankwe because guests arrived that night at Tuskers. So. Much. Joy. First I have to deal with a French lady getting all hyper with me, I ask her to please wait for me to finish my sentence and find out what’s happening because as usual I’m also in the dark; then I have the wacky Bulgarian who thinks she’s the next elephant whisperer demanding I get hold of Martin so that she can be flown back home. I naturally retreated back to my tent for a sob from frustration – I totally understand everyone being mad about having someone else pack their bags and the disorganised manner of the project – I would be too. Three of the ladies came into the tent to come see if I was ok – really nice woman, felt like their daughter half of the time. So eventually we waste another hour driving back to Mankwe (we could have saved 2 hours of driving time if they only told us in time to have our bags packed for them to transfer before we left for the damn island) Damn manager who just assumed I knew about it – he’s at Tuskers to take over the management – why should I check when we should move out – he should know his booking roster and tell me when to move! A-hole. He didn’t even have the courage to come explain the situation to the group, I had to be the sucker to deliver the bad news. So of course the next day meant having to deal with all the admin of contacting Martin and explaining everything to them.

One up side of this whole ordeal was when we were taking in the kitchen back at Mankwe – (oh wait side note – we arrive at Mankwe only to hear that they weren’t expecting us and didn’t prepare any food. For pete’s sake. Luckily lovely Jenny wiped up something good – too spicy for my taste buds but the others loved it) – the cheeky honey badger came waltzing in. When Monti the FOH made a noise to scare him off, he first checked behind him as if to see if she wasn’t perhaps shouting at someone else, before he slathered off. It was pretty adorable.

      Our GM came out to Mankwe to cook for the group as well as try salvage what’s left of their stay. The food was amazing, we all complained about eating too much of course. He apologised about the whole disaster, everyone got to say something about it (all every civilised because I kindly asked them all to be since our GM isn’t really responsible for the project), everyone very supportive of me and pointing out that I need more support etc.

Only thing I didn’t like was him being an extremely smooth talker – a few saw threw that but still appreciated him coming out and offering a trip to Moremi and Khwai as a way to “make-up”, and the fact that he fibbed about giving the order to have our bags moved – he sent me a whatsapp (even though I told him my phone was dead) informing me that he told the manager at Tuskers to pack our bags. He clearly forgot that a) my phone was dead and b) there is no reception in the park so I would never have gotten in on time. No one even tried contacting our guide to tell him so that we could have come back to camp earlier to pack ourselves. So annoying, most are so short sighted out here.

Anyways, we’ve moved back to Tuskers (again) but apparently it’s the last time and we’re here for good. Three are leaving tomorrow with one already having left yesterday. It’s actually nicer to have fewer people, a group of 7 is too big for the amount of work that needs to be done.

I sent my loooong message to my boss about everything, he was supposed to phone these last two days but nothing so far, so we’ll see if anything happens. My vehicle was supposed to arrive today – it hasn’t of course, but no surprise there. I’ve learnt to take everything promised with a pinch of salt. Sad actually. A few of the ladies in this group insist I start looking for another job and not sell myself short. It definitely has crossed my mind as I didn’t sign up to deal with all this crap, but then I think that it could be such a great project and it’s going to be amazing at camp once the rains come and the ellies return. But things aren’t going to get better anytime soon, not with there still being so much political drama with the company and my boss not being allowed in the country. The consultant we’re working with (and paying might I add) is just useless – how am I supposed to do anything if he doesn’t help me. I told my boss I don’t know enough to run this on my own, I mean I can run it if someone tells me what to do, but not otherwise. I really want to work under someone and learn from them as much as possible. This consultant is just not that guy. Just listening to him puts one to sleep he’s so boring. But I wouldn’t know where to start looking for a replacement. And then there’s the issue about my permit. Mine expires end of this year and I’m supposed to go on the consultants, but if we don’t end up working with him in the future, that won’t be happening.

Everything has just escalated to this point - guess life can't always be smooth sailing, that would be too easy. Just need to stick it out. Or start looking for something else? Who knows. Don't really want to walk away as I just started with this project but I'm not prepared to be the scape goat for all the problems and I'm not gaining the experience I imagined. 

#wildatheart