"Cheryl" > wrote in message
eb.com...
> On 9/26/2013 11:27 AM, Janet wrote:
>
>> In article om>,
>> says...
>>>
>>> On 9/25/2013 1:59 PM, Janet wrote:
>>>
>>>> We did. Like this
>>>>
>>>> http://tinyurl.com/p7fzex9
>>>
>>> Ah, to have a view like any of those when i wake up would be a dream for
>>> me.
>>
>> When we woke up on the first morning after arrival, there was an
>> elephant walking past the window.
>>
>> Janet.
>>
> How cool is that!!

If you think that is cool you should visit India They have elephants,
camels, dogs, monkeys, oxen pulling carts, cows roaming free doing what cows
do All sorts of things wondering about. I got used to it eventually (we
lived
there) but I never liked it much because they don't use <cough> bathrooms
yassee ... So that elephant might have delivered a huge gift as it
passed by ...
--
--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

On Thu, 26 Sep 2013 20:04:45 -0400, Cheryl >
wrote:

>On 9/26/2013 11:27 AM, Janet wrote:
>
>> In article om>,
>> says...
>>>
>>> On 9/25/2013 1:59 PM, Janet wrote:
>>>
>>>> We did. Like this
>>>>
>>>> http://tinyurl.com/p7fzex9
>>>
>>> Ah, to have a view like any of those when i wake up would be a dream for
>>> me.
>>
>> When we woke up on the first morning after arrival, there was an
>> elephant walking past the window.
>>
>> Janet.
>>
>How cool is that!!

When I was working in Botswana I lived in an outback town called
Francistown, but every now and again I got away for a weekend. Through
a booking mixup I ended up in a huge suite in this place
http://www.crestamowana.com/gallery.html

Every night hippos and elephants came through the grounds and gardens,
definitely no strolls through the garden at night!

One evening I went on a small boat along the Chobe river and got close
enough to the elephants for them to pluck my head off. Scary and
thrilling!

It was in Kasane near the Zimbabwe border so one day I paid the fee
(cough, bribe) to go into Zim and from there it was only an hour or so
to Victoria Falls. I even got cellphone coverage there so I could call
home to Australia and cry because I had no-one to share it with.

I had my passport stamped and walked across the bridge into Zambia. I
met a young man selling copper bracelets that his grandfather made. On
learning I was Australian he recited all the Australian Prime
Ministers from Federation on, If I been American I bet he could have
done the Presidents. He would have made a very charming and great tour
guide.

JB

"JBurns" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 26 Sep 2013 20:04:45 -0400, Cheryl >
> wrote:
>
>>On 9/26/2013 11:27 AM, Janet wrote:
>>
>>> In article om>,
>>> says...
>>>>
>>>> On 9/25/2013 1:59 PM, Janet wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> We did. Like this
>>>>>
>>>>> http://tinyurl.com/p7fzex9
>>>>
>>>> Ah, to have a view like any of those when i wake up would be a dream
>>>> for
>>>> me.
>>>
>>> When we woke up on the first morning after arrival, there was an
>>> elephant walking past the window.
>>>
>>> Janet.
>>>
>>How cool is that!!
>
> When I was working in Botswana I lived in an outback town called
> Francistown, but every now and again I got away for a weekend. Through
> a booking mixup I ended up in a huge suite in this place
> http://www.crestamowana.com/gallery.html
>
> Every night hippos and elephants came through the grounds and gardens,
> definitely no strolls through the garden at night!
>
> One evening I went on a small boat along the Chobe river and got close
> enough to the elephants for them to pluck my head off. Scary and
> thrilling!
>
> It was in Kasane near the Zimbabwe border so one day I paid the fee
> (cough, bribe) to go into Zim and from there it was only an hour or so
> to Victoria Falls. I even got cellphone coverage there so I could call
> home to Australia and cry because I had no-one to share it with.
>
> I had my passport stamped and walked across the bridge into Zambia. I
> met a young man selling copper bracelets that his grandfather made. On
> learning I was Australian he recited all the Australian Prime
> Ministers from Federation on, If I been American I bet he could have
> done the Presidents. He would have made a very charming and great tour
> guide.

Now THAT is cool and exciting))

--
--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

JBurns wrote:
>
> It was in Kasane near the Zimbabwe border so one day I paid the fee
> (cough, bribe) to go into Zim and from there it was only an hour or so
> to Victoria Falls. I even got cellphone coverage there so I could call
> home to Australia and cry because I had no-one to share it with.

You went and saw Victoria Falls? Awesome! I'm jealous. Any pics that
you could do on tinypic.com to let us see? If not, I can always
google pics of it again. A very *cool* trip though, imo. Seeing
pictures is one thing but standing there in real life is so much more.

G.

On 9/27/2013 5:11 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>
>
> "Cheryl" > wrote in message
> eb.com...
>> On 9/26/2013 11:27 AM, Janet wrote:
>>
>>> In article om>,
>>> says...
>>>>
>>>> On 9/25/2013 1:59 PM, Janet wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> We did. Like this
>>>>>
>>>>> http://tinyurl.com/p7fzex9
>>>>
>>>> Ah, to have a view like any of those when i wake up would be a dream
>>>> for
>>>> me.
>>>
>>> When we woke up on the first morning after arrival, there was an
>>> elephant walking past the window.
>>>
>>> Janet.
>>>
>> How cool is that!!
>
> If you think that is cool you should visit India They have elephants,
> camels, dogs, monkeys, oxen pulling carts, cows roaming free doing what
> cows
> do All sorts of things wondering about. I got used to it eventually
> (we lived
> there) but I never liked it much because they don't use <cough> bathrooms
> yassee ... So that elephant might have delivered a huge gift as it
> passed by ...

I saw some video from India when some of the execs from our company went
there to negotiate some deal or something. They sent back video from
their cells phones and the videos were posted on the company internal
site. Lots of monkeys!


--
CAPSLOCK–Preventing Login Since 1980.

On 9/27/2013 7:54 AM, Gary wrote:

> You went and saw Victoria Falls? Awesome! I'm jealous. Any pics that
> you could do on tinypic.com to let us see? If not, I can always
> google pics of it again. A very*cool* trip though, imo. Seeing
> pictures is one thing but standing there in real life is so much more.

This picture is amazing. Just a big crack in the planet.
http://www.africaboundadventures.com...-falls-special

--
CAPSLOCK–Preventing Login Since 1980.

On 9/25/2013 9:10 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Sep 2013 18:30:28 -0400, jmcquown >
> wrote:
>
>> On 9/25/2013 11:47 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>>> On Wed, 25 Sep 2013 13:55:57 +0100, Janet > wrote:
>>>
>>>> In article >,
>>>> says...
>>>>
>>>>> When I was living in Botswana lots of the houses had cement floors.
>>>>> They were sealed and polished to prevent cement dust. Very sensible
>>>>> solution for the climate and the terrain. They would work here in
>>>>> Western Australia too. We have no carpet at all, all tile floors.
>>>>
>>>> Lucky you. I make do with polished wooden floors and rugs :-)
>>>>
>>>> Polished concrete floors can be gorgeous. I first coveted them 20
>>>> years ago in posh modern hotels in the tropics but they are now becoming
>>>> fashionable here, in upmarket new builds (with underfloor heating ). If
>>>> we ever built from scratch, that would be my flooring of choice.
>>>>
>>>> Janet UK.
>>>
>>> You're missing the entire point of this thread; storage.
>> (snippage)
>>
>> You're the one who brought up basements and houses on slabs. Hence, the
>> thread drift to concrete floors.
>
> Concrete floors are radon banks... a great way to contract cancer.
>
So what do you have in your basement? Dirt floors? BTW, the only time
I've heard of radon detectors is in basements.

Jill

On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 20:44:24 -0400, jmcquown >
wrote:

>On 9/25/2013 9:10 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>> On Wed, 25 Sep 2013 18:30:28 -0400, jmcquown >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 9/25/2013 11:47 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>>>> On Wed, 25 Sep 2013 13:55:57 +0100, Janet > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> In article >,
>>>>> says...
>>>>>
>>>>>> When I was living in Botswana lots of the houses had cement floors.
>>>>>> They were sealed and polished to prevent cement dust. Very sensible
>>>>>> solution for the climate and the terrain. They would work here in
>>>>>> Western Australia too. We have no carpet at all, all tile floors.
>>>>>
>>>>> Lucky you. I make do with polished wooden floors and rugs :-)
>>>>>
>>>>> Polished concrete floors can be gorgeous. I first coveted them 20
>>>>> years ago in posh modern hotels in the tropics but they are now becoming
>>>>> fashionable here, in upmarket new builds (with underfloor heating ). If
>>>>> we ever built from scratch, that would be my flooring of choice.
>>>>>
>>>>> Janet UK.
>>>>
>>>> You're missing the entire point of this thread; storage.
>>> (snippage)
>>>
>>> You're the one who brought up basements and houses on slabs. Hence, the
>>> thread drift to concrete floors.
>>
>> Concrete floors are radon banks... a great way to contract cancer.
>>
>So what do you have in your basement? Dirt floors?

Most people don't live in their basement.

On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 07:54:12 -0400, Gary > wrote:

>JBurns wrote:
>>
>> It was in Kasane near the Zimbabwe border so one day I paid the fee
>> (cough, bribe) to go into Zim and from there it was only an hour or so
>> to Victoria Falls. I even got cellphone coverage there so I could call
>> home to Australia and cry because I had no-one to share it with.
>
>You went and saw Victoria Falls? Awesome! I'm jealous. Any pics that
>you could do on tinypic.com to let us see? If not, I can always
>google pics of it again. A very *cool* trip though, imo. Seeing
>pictures is one thing but standing there in real life is so much more.
>
>G.

I have lots of pics, none in digital format though.

I walked the length of the falls (about 1.7km) on the Zim side, walked
down (read, slipped and slid) into Devil's Cataract (this is at the
closed end of the canyon) and went over to Livingston Island and swam
in the Devil's Pool at the top of the falls. This is a good youtube
video about Devil's Pool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVFsiJBSQps

On the Zim side you are opposite the main falls so this is the best
view IMO, and you can walk right up to the edge of the cliffs if you
want. No safety fences or regulations. I went when there was plenty of
water but not at the height of the wet. If you visit during the
wettest times the view is not so good as it is almost completely
obscured by spray. At any time of year you need a raincoat as there is
plenty of spray.

The falls sit smack dab in the middle of huge dry flatlands, but
around the falls there is a mini rainforest.

Topped off my stay with a night at the Victoria Falls Hotel which is a
beautiful old colonial hotel.

Things were pretty grim in Zimbabwe at the time, there was no fuel
available. I carried extra in jerry cans. I changed $50 into local
currency so I could go to the market and got millions in return, the
currency was so devalued that a cabbage cost about a million. At least
in this part of Zimbabwe there wasn't the violence and car jackings
that were rife in Harare and Bulawayo but nevertheless I didn't feel
completely safe until I was back in Botswana.

Botswana is very safe and corruption is almost non-existent, I
traveled by myself all over the place. It is a great place to see what
sub-Saharan Africa has to offer. Places to see:

Chobe National Park (Kasane has an international airport) has a
permanent water supply via the Chobe River. You can do a day trip to
Vic Falls. The park is accessible by car which is a bonus. Lots of
wildlife. Accommodation is expensive but there are a couple of cheaper
alternatives.

Okavango Delta is fantastic, expensive accommodation, well worth it
though. Lots of wildlife.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park sits over Botswana and South Africa.
There are sand dunes, salt pans and the Kalahari. You need a 4x4 and
camping gear. I don't think there is any accommodation offerings on
the Botswana side.

Tsodilo Hills for tons of ancient bushmen rock paintings.

Drotsky's Caves. Need a 4x4 with long range fuel tans and camping
gear. Huge stalacmites and stalactites. Seldom visited because of its
remoteness.

The Tuli Block is fabulous for wildlife.

The Mokolodi Game Reserve is a small reserve not far outside the
capital Gabarone.There you can walk with and pet orphaned, hand raised
cheetahs. Very special. They purr, very loudly. Can also see rhino and
hand raised elephant up close and personal.

A trip into the central Kalahari is fantastic and remote. There are
still some traditional bushmen living there.

Water skiing on the Gabarone Dam is a nail biting experience as it is
full of crocodiles.

Having made friends with the owners, I spent many weekends at Grundy's
Game Lodge in North Tuli, not too far from Francistown. They offered
very civilized accommodation, great meals, a fabulous wine cellar, a
wide variety of game and also bow hunting on foot if you were so
inclined. I'd rather shoot with a camera. They had several flag poles
and always flew the Botswana flag as well as the flags of the
countries that their current crop of guests was from. They joked that
they were going to have to leave the Australian flag up permanently,
Sadly the marriage broke up and I now cannot find a website for them.

Bird life is great everywhere.


JB

"Cheryl" > wrote in message
b.com...
> On 9/27/2013 5:11 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>>
>>
>> "Cheryl" > wrote in message
>> eb.com...
>>> On 9/26/2013 11:27 AM, Janet wrote:
>>>
>>>> In article om>,
>>>> says...
>>>>>
>>>>> On 9/25/2013 1:59 PM, Janet wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> We did. Like this
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://tinyurl.com/p7fzex9
>>>>>
>>>>> Ah, to have a view like any of those when i wake up would be a dream
>>>>> for
>>>>> me.
>>>>
>>>> When we woke up on the first morning after arrival, there was an
>>>> elephant walking past the window.
>>>>
>>>> Janet.
>>>>
>>> How cool is that!!
>>
>> If you think that is cool you should visit India They have elephants,
>> camels, dogs, monkeys, oxen pulling carts, cows roaming free doing what
>> cows
>> do All sorts of things wondering about. I got used to it eventually
>> (we lived
>> there) but I never liked it much because they don't use <cough> bathrooms
>> yassee ... So that elephant might have delivered a huge gift as it
>> passed by ...
>
> I saw some video from India when some of the execs from our company went
> there to negotiate some deal or something. They sent back video from
> their cells phones and the videos were posted on the company internal
> site. Lots of monkeys!

lol a lot of everything running around and .... they ain't wearing nappies!
--
--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

"Cheryl" > wrote in message
b.com...
> On 9/27/2013 7:54 AM, Gary wrote:
>
>> You went and saw Victoria Falls? Awesome! I'm jealous. Any pics that
>> you could do on tinypic.com to let us see? If not, I can always
>> google pics of it again. A very*cool* trip though, imo. Seeing
>> pictures is one thing but standing there in real life is so much more.
>
> This picture is amazing. Just a big crack in the planet.
> http://www.africaboundadventures.com...-falls-special

Just beautiful and amazing. I've never been lucky enough to see it irl and
I am sure I shan't now
--
--
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/shop/

JBurns wrote:
>

<snip>
Thank you very much for all that info. I only armchair travel via the
Travel Channel. Nice to hear a personal report. :-D

G.

In article >, says...
>
> JBurns wrote:
> >
>
> <snip>
> Thank you very much for all that info. I only armchair travel via the
> Travel Channel. Nice to hear a personal report. :-D

Botswana is on my bucket list... after reading the Number 1 Ladies
Detective Agency series then seeing the film.

Janet UK

On 9/27/2013 9:19 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> On Fri, 27 Sep 2013 20:44:24 -0400, jmcquown >
> wrote:
>
>> On 9/25/2013 9:10 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>>> On Wed, 25 Sep 2013 18:30:28 -0400, jmcquown >
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 9/25/2013 11:47 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
>>>>> On Wed, 25 Sep 2013 13:55:57 +0100, Janet > wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> In article >,
>>>>>> says...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> When I was living in Botswana lots of the houses had cement floors.
>>>>>>> They were sealed and polished to prevent cement dust. Very sensible
>>>>>>> solution for the climate and the terrain. They would work here in
>>>>>>> Western Australia too. We have no carpet at all, all tile floors.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Lucky you. I make do with polished wooden floors and rugs :-)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Polished concrete floors can be gorgeous. I first coveted them 20
>>>>>> years ago in posh modern hotels in the tropics but they are now becoming
>>>>>> fashionable here, in upmarket new builds (with underfloor heating ). If
>>>>>> we ever built from scratch, that would be my flooring of choice.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Janet UK.
>>>>>
>>>>> You're missing the entire point of this thread; storage.
>>>> (snippage)
>>>>
>>>> You're the one who brought up basements and houses on slabs. Hence, the
>>>> thread drift to concrete floors.
>>>
>>> Concrete floors are radon banks... a great way to contract cancer.
>>>
>> So what do you have in your basement? Dirt floors?
>
I don't have a basement. In my adult life, I've never had a basement.
Nor an attic I could stand upright in. Just crawlspaces.

> Most people don't live in their basement.
>
You mention the litter boxes in the basement. When I lived "up north"
the houses had at least partially finished basements. These homes may
have had concrete floors but there was other flooring on top of the slab.

Jill

On 9/24/2013 12:23 PM, sf wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Sep 2013 05:19:25 -0700, "Julie Bove"
> > wrote:
>
>> Do you have a problem with stuff falling off the back? I seem to have less
>> problems with my pot and pan pullouts
>> Lots of that stuff would drop off the back.

> Have you thought about putting something at the back of your pull out
> shelf to act as a wall that would prevent it from happening? You
> could start with a piece of cardboard and see how it goes.
>

My pullouts are wire baskets. Work great. Everything stays put.