Halfway – 11 days to go!!! How time flies when you are having fun!!! Had a slow start to the day and enjoyed our morning coffee on the jetty-watching sunrise. Michaela and I decided a shower was essential. Despite lovely ablution facilities and hot water, the temperature control did not work at all and I jumped in and out of the shower while it went from hot to cold. Glenn and the rest of the group wisely decided to wait until our next destination. Once camp was packed up we headed to Choppies the local supermarket to buy supplies for the rest of our trip. We bought excess water, basic supplies and fresh meat for day 13, we will be braaing again. There were only 4 sirloin steaks and we bought them all plus a couple of sosaties to be able to have enough for the 6 of us. Ice was interesting, instead of bags of ice they had frozen bottles of still water, efficient indeed. We were dying for a fresh salad and our only option was some rather sad looking lettuce and slightly green tomatoes. Hopefully the lettuce survives until tomorrow and the tomatoes ripen, we shall see. Next stop the bottle store for Windhoek beer – wine and bubbly already purchased, we planned that well to be sure we got the good stuff. We hit the road for Etsha 13, now the more serious driving begins. A two-lane road full of potholes and rocks. At the turnoff to Etsha 13 we waited at the local village for our escort to navigate the thick sand and river crossing. Now the fun begins… As always in Africa, the wait took some time, we were waiting for two guests who were arriving from Maun by bus! I whiled away the hour by capturing some of the local flavor. Eventually our escort sent us with a tour guide who was returning from hospital and heading back to Guma Lagoon Lodge. In Africa they always “make a plan”. It was not too bad though without an escort we would never have found the track to the lodge. It was 13km’s of sand and water with a few exciting moments, one when Fritz (the driver/tour guide) got out to investigate the best route across the water. The good news is we all made it and settled in to a beautiful lodge though quite remote. The lodge sits on Guma lagoon and our campsite is nestled amongst the trees, another perfect “home” for two nights. Yet again we have a challenging shower – no chance of a long shower as you will be scalded or freeze to death, a novel way of water management. The day was concluded with sundowners on the deck followed by dinner in the lodge. Of course any interest in getting online was out – no ability to access the Internet and the mobile network not that stable either. Does help you enjoy the moment, get close to nature and relax. Dinner was lovely – roast chicken followed by apple crumble. Finished the evening off with a whiskey at the bar served by the owners’ mother. She reminded me of my Mom, all she was missing was her fob watch! Was fun chatting to the locals and the NZ pilot, the resident pilot in the delta. Of course after a whiskey the helicopter ride sounded good and was booked!!!