Heat

First chapter

The first thing Alex Leighton noticed was the heat. It blasted her face as she stepped out of the plane. She paused for a brief-moment before walking down the steps and deftly located her sunglasses in her handbag. She had known to expect heat, but not this much. As she walked away from the plane towards the terminal building Alex took in the sights of the small airport in the Northern Botswana town of Maun. The air was dry, and the sky was clear and intensely blue. The extreme heat was creating a water-like mirage at the far end of the airport runway and there was a forest of acacia trees and tall grass in the distance. She noticed some small planes parked to one side of the airport and guessed that she would soon be on one of them. She had had a long flight and she looked forward to arriving at the camp where she would have a nice cool shower and a rest.

 

As she walked into the arrivals area she saw a man holding up a placard with her name on it. That must be the pilot, she thought. There was another name on the placard, and Alex was glad that she wouldn’t have to travel alone. Alex walked up to the pilot who was wearing top to toe khaki- his shorts, shirt and socks- even his hiking boots. She couldn’t believe that people dress this way anymore. He was middle aged with a short beard and he introduced himself as Bill as they waited for the other passengers. Alex couldn’t help remarking on the heat. “Yes.” Bill replied, “We’re experiencing a heat wave at the moment, and it’s supposed to last for another week.” He mopped his brow. “Then we should get some rain after that.”

An elderly couple soon arrived, and Alex recognized them as fellow passengers from the Johannesburg leg of her trip. They introduced themselves as the Andersons, and she learnt that they were from Sweden.

 

Bill led them all out of the airport terminal and they followed him to a small six-seater Cessna airplane. They boarded the plane and Bill quickly loaded their luggage. As the plane sped down the run-way Alex felt a jolt of excitement as she thought of the two weeks ahead of her. She was glad of the opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of London and the confines of her small apartment. As a freelance photographer she usually worked in Asia and Europe, so this was a welcome change. A month ago, she had landed a job with a tourism company that was promoting travel to Africa and they needed photographs for brochures. The first area they had chosen to promote was the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Alex’s assignment was to take pictures of landscapes, wildlife and the local people and their culture.

 

The plane-ride was quite bumpy almost immediately after take-off, but there were plenty of sights below to keep them distracted as the pilot made sure to fly low enough for them to enjoy the landscape. The scenery below was of acacia tress, savannah, and wildlife.