We spend the day settling in and unpacking all the crap we carry around with us for some reason. I had every intention of not bringing two previous lives worth of Stuff to Moremi but it seems I have failed dismally. We have an alarming amount of bags and boxes, and living in a tent, very little space to put it all. I have hauled out about one quarter of what is there and the rest will remain in the boxes to be covered with colourful kikois and used as furniture until we forget about the things inside or it gets eaten by termites, which ever happens first.
Part of the Greater Plan is to move towards a less consumerist existence here. The first step would be to convince Rio that he doesn't need 16 power rangers and the whole collection of ninja turtles. So far he isn't convinced. It has been quite a change for the kiddies. Keet is fine, apart from looking like a wild bush child (sores, mozzie bites and massive injuries on her face from a fall), but Rio is a little depressed and high maintenance. He bursts into tears every now and then and lies around humming which breaks my heart, but soon he should forget that he used to play and laugh with friends and get on with playing all by himself within the 17 square metres we have allocated to him. It includes an anthill so he shouldn't really have anything to complain about.
We spend the entire day attending to making camp comfortable for us and the kids. Brad has made a very valiant attempt to do this so far but has underestimated the extent of our needs. He has a long to do list, which to his credit he tackles with much energy and enthusiasm, immediately launching into the building of a lamu bed for day sleeps and a smoothed-out, shade-clothed central area where the kids can hang out.
In the late afternoon Brad takes us to the crossing where we can all swim. The kids love it and for the first time in many days have radiant smiles on their little faces. Rio, uncharacteristically, dives right in and plays crocodile.
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