Rundflug and the next party

Flight over the Okavango Delta

Surprisingly, everyone is on time today and we arrive at the airport much too early. The excitement and anticipation must have driven us all to get up early. Our small flight over the Okavango Delta starts at 8:00 am. It's a dream come true for me, I've always wanted to see the Okavango Delta. Nessi immediately reserves the best seat and sits next to the pilot. The rest of us spread out by the windows in the airplane, there are seven of us in total. The delta is incredibly beautiful and we see a lot of elephants, giraffes, hippos, zebras, and buffalos. We would all have liked to spend more time in the airplane over the delta. But a few relaxed hours at the pool are also nice.

Departure to the party in Gweta

We set off to the next checkpoint with a half-hour delay. However, we still have to go shopping. Let's see if we stick to our habit and be the last ones again. Of course, shopping took longer than planned and we have to hurry. As expected, we come across a road checkpoint. In Botswana, there is foot-and-mouth disease, so we all have to get out and walk through the disinfection basin with our shoes, including the spare shoes. And of course, we just bought meat for grilling for the first time, ground beef and steak, which we are not allowed to take home raw. We could grill or cook it right here, then we could take it with us. But we don't have time for that, so we leave it behind. Luckily, we also bought chicken wings. And behold, our favorite team Bumble B appears behind us, we are not in last place, but definitely right after the checkpoints, because these guys are extremely fast. And just like that, Bembel B overtakes us and easily leaves us behind. Oh well? So we continue driving. Unbelievably, we actually arrive at the entrance to Gweta in daylight, the city where the party is supposed to take place. We discover a small sign with the Put Foot Rally symbol on a post, which tells us to continue straight ahead with an arrow. So we do that, but after 10 minutes, there is still no second sign in sight and it's getting dark. And then Team Black Betty comes towards us. Out of panic, we decide to turn around and ask in Gweta where we are supposed to go. But just as we turn around, Team Bembel B passes us. If the guys are driving in the opposite direction, we should do the same because they always know the way. Even though we don't know exactly where they came from because we didn't overtake them in between. And indeed, another 10 minutes after we turned around again, we see the next sign. This one points to a dirt road leading to nowhere, so off we go, into the bush at dusk. If the organizers hadn't set up a sign every 5 km, we would probably have turned around again because there is no sign of human life out here. After what feels like an hour of driving on the dirt road in pitch darkness, we see light and are happy to have made it. When we reach the light, we realize that it's the headlamp of another Put Footer who got stuck out here in the bush. We inquire if we can help in any way; help is already on the way, and we can already see the car coming to assist. We receive the advice to engage all-wheel drive when entering the Salt Pans where we will be staying tonight and drive around the deep tracks left by the others, as six other teams had to be pulled out already. We make it without getting stuck. Today, for the first time, we actually arrive at the registration before it closes. Not surprisingly, we are truly the last ones here and have to park all the way in the back. The location is impressive. A salt pan (a dried-up salt lake) in the middle of nowhere. There is nothing here except what the organizers and the Put Foot teams have brought. For dinner, we have super delicious African food that the ladies from the village of Gweta, who were specially brought here, have cooked outdoors. Tonight's party has a pajama theme and the music stops at 10 pm and everyone sits around the campfire that has been set up. We are told to enjoy the spirit and connect with nature. It's a rather quiet evening for our group. Other Put Footers had more of an urge to feel in harmony with nature... Suddenly, they undress and run naked into the darkness. Shortly afterwards, others run naked around the fire and jump over it. A young lady from Perth returns from the darkness with a bloody face, dry salt can be mean!