Easter holiday horsing around

Spent one and a bit hours on horseback with the family this morning.

Once again we joined Jenny from African Animal Adventures who took us along the banks of the Thamalakane River in Maun.  This was the fourth time for the children, and they enjoy it more each time.

We were 8, excluding Jenny, 2 adults and 6 children.  Jenny does a good job of matching rider to horse, based on experience and so on.

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Since none of us are experienced riders Jenny doesn’t include anything too adventurous in our rides, although the water crossings are great fun!  When my sisters visited last year they went for a longer ride with gallops and full-on swimming.

Jenny also has a base on the edge of the Makgadikgadi Pans near Gweta, and uses Gweta Lodge’s camp ground on the pan for overnight camps.  Pictures from our trip their last year: coming soon.

So, if you have a couple of hours to spare in Maun give her a call and go for a ride.

Edit: since writing this post Jenny has moved to Island Safari Lodge.
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Crispy Roast Potatoes

We like our potatoes roasted:  parboil them with the skins on, then drain, transfer to an oven tray and baste with oil.

The problem was that we couldn’t get them really crispy.  Then in a conversation with my brother all became clear.

The best potatoes for roasting are floury ones (floury potatoes tend to turn to mush faster when overcooked), but the potatoes available locally are not particularly floury.  The solution: after draining put some flour in the pan and tumble the potatoes in it.  Then deposit the floury potatoes in the oven tray, baste with oil and nuke them at a high temperature.