Setting up camp

    Modisa consists of a large compound of tents--perhaps around 15 for the volunteers and staff.  There is a communal cooking/dining/meeting open-air enclosure, and there are bathrooms, with toilets that flush (most of the time), sinks, and showers.  There is warm water when the sun has warmed the above-ground storage tank sufficiently.  There is no electricity at the campsite.
    It should be observed that the campsite that was in use when I was there (in March of 2014) was a temporary site, since the primary site was under inspection by the Botswanan authorities and not yet cleared for use.  The site that was pending approval DID have some power to run the freezers for the meat and to supply power to charge the oh-so-important electronic devices.  It seemed improbable that there would be WiFi access in a location so very remote as this, but there was (most of the time).
     I was assigned my very own tent, located at the edge of the communal campsite.  Sometimes it was shaded by an extraordinarily prickly acacia tree.  It was a very good tent with a huge array of zippers.  In fact, today, when I think of camp in Modisa, the sound I remember most vividly is the sound of zippers.   Zzzzzzzzzzzzzip!!!    Zzzzzzzzipppp! Zzipp!  Every time some one would enter or exit their tent, they'd have to zip and unzip multiple times--everyone was extremely vigilant about mosquitoes and other stuff that didn't bear thinking about.
    I had brought an array of solar powered lights.  I remembered all-too-vividly how very dark it could be in remote areas, so one of my first tasks was to get my lamps a-charging and to hang my clothes line on "my" acacia tree.  Here is "my" solar installation and "my" acacia tree.

 

My tent was furnished with a mat, a sheet, a coverlet, and a pillow.  Pretty basic accommodations, but I must say I was comfortable.  Not too hot at night, dry when it rained--and man! did it rain!--and no intruders to speak of.  By the time I completed my stay, it didn't even bother me to make the 100-yard walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night (most of the time).