We spent one night in Kasane, then one night in a chalet at Main Camp in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe, and two nights in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, with Tom and Donna. We then drove back into Botswana, made a lunch stop in Botswana's second city of Francistown and spent the night at Nata Lodge. The last night of the road trip before returning the Billesbachs to Maun for their flight out was spent at Planet Baobab. We went a bit more upscale than the bushman hut this time. What is described by the lodge staff as a "mud hut" is actually a rustic but glamorous round chalet with one beds built into the walls; the bed frames are made of the same material as the walls and floors. Unlike the bushman huts, the mud huts have lights, electrical outlets, and their own sinks, showers and toilets.

Tom and Donna flew back to the U.S. on May 19. Our next set of visitors from the States will be Jeff's brother Ron, wife Michele, and daughters Isabel and Sophia. They will arrive in Maun on July 4, and depart from Lusaka, Zambia on July 12; several hours after they leave, Jeff's cousin Carl Brown from St. Louis will fly into Lusaka to visit until August 4.

Many of our friends and family have now heard that we plan to return to the U.S. sometime in early September, instead of July 2008 as originally scheduled. We will pack our belongings while Carl is still with us, and after Jeff's last day of work on July 31 we'll drive Carl to the Botswana capital of Gaborone for his flight home. We then will sell our vehicle in Gaborone and travel by train or bus (and ferry) to Kampala, Uganda for a brief tour. We will fly home out of Kampala, or possibly Dar Es Salam, Tanzania. There will be updates on the blog as we finalize details. Cheers!