Wednesday 23rd May
After an uneventful journey, everything on time. It was very cold in Johannesburg at 3degC in the morning, but quite warm when I arrived at Francistown airport in the afternoon. Must have been about 22-24degC in the sun. Many of the locals are wearing jumpers and heavy coats! I'm in short sleeves! The airport is the smallest I’ve ever seen. The main ‘terminal’ is a long wooden building – immigration and baggage reclaim share the same small room!
I'm staying at the Metcourt Lodge on Blue Jacket Street. The lodge is comfortable, everything works and about the same standard as one of our lodge type 'travel inns' -perhaps even better.
I met Klavs, Jan and Douglas, the other members of the team today. Douglas is Motswana and he took me to a local supermarket where we got a takeaway lunch. I said I would eat what he would eat so I got a maize meal 'porridge' (he did tell me the tswana name but I will need more time to remember words like that!). There was also some beef - very cheuch!, but in a good gravy. There was also some spinach and a squash mash. I couldn't finish it all for lunch it was too heavy for me, but otherwise good. Last night Klavs, the team leader, took me to a local restaurant where I had fillet steak. It was huge, very good, and cost a fiver!
Klavs took me to the immigation office today and we got my ‘certificate of exemption’ which allows me to stay in Botswana until end 2008. More importantly, it means I can open a bank account, buy a car and rent a house. I needed 2 photographs for the documentation, but no booths! A local entrepreneur sits outside the offices with his Polaroid camera and hey presto! 25 Pula £2.70, and the deed was done.
I viewed 2 houses available for rent late this afternoon. One was in town within easy walking distance of the town centre, the other a few kilometres out of town in one of the newer estates. Walls all round, and electric fences are the norm.
So far my impressions of Botswana are that it is a modern, developing country with ‘western’ style shopping malls, modern offices and good housing. There are stark contrasts though, with road-side stalls selling water melons, onions and a range of other produce as there are in other parts of Africa I’ve been.. There are obviously still many poor people, and I know that unemployment is high, but the government is trying to develop industries (diamond cutting!) that will bring more jobs. The people I’ve met so far have been pleasant and helpful.
Tomorrow is a public holiday, but the shops will be open in the morning. I’ll try to get a local sim card for my phone and explore a bit more of the town. May even try to find the golf course!
Thursday 24th May 6.30PM
Took a walk up Blue Jacket street this morning – the main street in the town. Lots of different malls, not unlike home. I think I expected something different. The pavements are good in parts, but when they are bad, its an obstacle course – careful of the holes and concrete lumps. Many of the side streets don’t have pavements, and when you get to the private houses there are none.
Found a small corner of the hotel with a PC and got access to the internet for free. I was told it was the best connection you can get, but it was dreadfully slow, but managed to get some messages away on my Yahoo account. My GMAIL account was just not connecting. Took me about 20 minutes to read 5 messages from June.
Did a good deed and was rewarded in return. I found a womens bracelet in my room, or rather the cleaners must have an left it on the desk. I handed it in at reception. Later in the afternoon the reception handed me my memory stick that I’d left in the hotel PC earlier.
Ventured out again in the afternoon to find Francistown Club – where the golf course is. Took some shortcuts and it took just 15minutes to get there from the hotel. Met a couple of friendly members Fritz and Ian both originally from SA, but have both lived in various parts of SA, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Ian is just back from a camping holiday on Zanzibar! They sponsored my membership application - £16 for the 3 months to the end of the year! The golf will cost around an extra £10 for the quarter year. Could it be any cheaper? The course is not wonderful. The fairways are velt? grass and the fairways some kind of mesh/browns. You can play off a synthetic mat on the fairways or use a tee. Another member, Graham, who is active in the golf section (they have tennis, rugby, bowls etc),invited me for a foursome on Sunday morning 7.30AM. I will try to make it! Quite fancy a go at the bowls as well, although the green undulates a tad! Ian was complaining that some trees in his garden had been frosted this week! You wouldn’t know it by the daytime temperatures which average around 25degC.
I asked about houses and cars for rent/sale. It seems to be a good place to get local knowledge. Fritz has just imported from SA some second hand Toyota landcruisers, but I think they are too big for my needs, and too expensive! Perhaps it would also be better to wait until I know more about Francistown rather than jump at the first house that comes along. It is likely to be cheaper also! -.rather than going through Knight Frank agents who showed me the 2 houses yesterday. I’m going to eat in the burger/steak joint which is part of the hotel tonight. It’s a MacDonalds clone judging by the menu, but its close!
Start work in earnest tomorrow – early start! – 7.30AM –4.30PM 1 hour lunch. Will get an early night.
PS 10.00PM
Going into the restaurant to-night another guy (about the same age), came in at the same time so I asked if he wanted to sit together. He did, albeit a bit tentatively. Anyhow it transpired he was South African (born in Zambia) with Scottish roots that he could trace back to the early 1800s. He was a bit serious at first, but when it became clear that I wasn’t after his body, we had long conversations about the meaning life, the universe and everything. He had been affected by a painful marriage break-up and we shared experiences and I became a kindred spirit. After about 2.5 hours we went our separate ways. Much better than eating alone in a busy restaurant. The sirloin steak was very good, but I’m going to have to venture further out, all the meat can’t be good for you!
After an uneventful journey, everything on time. It was very cold in Johannesburg at 3degC in the morning, but quite warm when I arrived at Francistown airport in the afternoon. Must have been about 22-24degC in the sun. Many of the locals are wearing jumpers and heavy coats! I'm in short sleeves! The airport is the smallest I’ve ever seen. The main ‘terminal’ is a long wooden building – immigration and baggage reclaim share the same small room!
I'm staying at the Metcourt Lodge on Blue Jacket Street. The lodge is comfortable, everything works and about the same standard as one of our lodge type 'travel inns' -perhaps even better.
I met Klavs, Jan and Douglas, the other members of the team today. Douglas is Motswana and he took me to a local supermarket where we got a takeaway lunch. I said I would eat what he would eat so I got a maize meal 'porridge' (he did tell me the tswana name but I will need more time to remember words like that!). There was also some beef - very cheuch!, but in a good gravy. There was also some spinach and a squash mash. I couldn't finish it all for lunch it was too heavy for me, but otherwise good. Last night Klavs, the team leader, took me to a local restaurant where I had fillet steak. It was huge, very good, and cost a fiver!
Klavs took me to the immigation office today and we got my ‘certificate of exemption’ which allows me to stay in Botswana until end 2008. More importantly, it means I can open a bank account, buy a car and rent a house. I needed 2 photographs for the documentation, but no booths! A local entrepreneur sits outside the offices with his Polaroid camera and hey presto! 25 Pula £2.70, and the deed was done.
I viewed 2 houses available for rent late this afternoon. One was in town within easy walking distance of the town centre, the other a few kilometres out of town in one of the newer estates. Walls all round, and electric fences are the norm.
So far my impressions of Botswana are that it is a modern, developing country with ‘western’ style shopping malls, modern offices and good housing. There are stark contrasts though, with road-side stalls selling water melons, onions and a range of other produce as there are in other parts of Africa I’ve been.. There are obviously still many poor people, and I know that unemployment is high, but the government is trying to develop industries (diamond cutting!) that will bring more jobs. The people I’ve met so far have been pleasant and helpful.
Tomorrow is a public holiday, but the shops will be open in the morning. I’ll try to get a local sim card for my phone and explore a bit more of the town. May even try to find the golf course!
Thursday 24th May 6.30PM
Took a walk up Blue Jacket street this morning – the main street in the town. Lots of different malls, not unlike home. I think I expected something different. The pavements are good in parts, but when they are bad, its an obstacle course – careful of the holes and concrete lumps. Many of the side streets don’t have pavements, and when you get to the private houses there are none.
Found a small corner of the hotel with a PC and got access to the internet for free. I was told it was the best connection you can get, but it was dreadfully slow, but managed to get some messages away on my Yahoo account. My GMAIL account was just not connecting. Took me about 20 minutes to read 5 messages from June.
Did a good deed and was rewarded in return. I found a womens bracelet in my room, or rather the cleaners must have an left it on the desk. I handed it in at reception. Later in the afternoon the reception handed me my memory stick that I’d left in the hotel PC earlier.
Ventured out again in the afternoon to find Francistown Club – where the golf course is. Took some shortcuts and it took just 15minutes to get there from the hotel. Met a couple of friendly members Fritz and Ian both originally from SA, but have both lived in various parts of SA, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Ian is just back from a camping holiday on Zanzibar! They sponsored my membership application - £16 for the 3 months to the end of the year! The golf will cost around an extra £10 for the quarter year. Could it be any cheaper? The course is not wonderful. The fairways are velt? grass and the fairways some kind of mesh/browns. You can play off a synthetic mat on the fairways or use a tee. Another member, Graham, who is active in the golf section (they have tennis, rugby, bowls etc),invited me for a foursome on Sunday morning 7.30AM. I will try to make it! Quite fancy a go at the bowls as well, although the green undulates a tad! Ian was complaining that some trees in his garden had been frosted this week! You wouldn’t know it by the daytime temperatures which average around 25degC.
I asked about houses and cars for rent/sale. It seems to be a good place to get local knowledge. Fritz has just imported from SA some second hand Toyota landcruisers, but I think they are too big for my needs, and too expensive! Perhaps it would also be better to wait until I know more about Francistown rather than jump at the first house that comes along. It is likely to be cheaper also! -.rather than going through Knight Frank agents who showed me the 2 houses yesterday. I’m going to eat in the burger/steak joint which is part of the hotel tonight. It’s a MacDonalds clone judging by the menu, but its close!
Start work in earnest tomorrow – early start! – 7.30AM –4.30PM 1 hour lunch. Will get an early night.
PS 10.00PM
Going into the restaurant to-night another guy (about the same age), came in at the same time so I asked if he wanted to sit together. He did, albeit a bit tentatively. Anyhow it transpired he was South African (born in Zambia) with Scottish roots that he could trace back to the early 1800s. He was a bit serious at first, but when it became clear that I wasn’t after his body, we had long conversations about the meaning life, the universe and everything. He had been affected by a painful marriage break-up and we shared experiences and I became a kindred spirit. After about 2.5 hours we went our separate ways. Much better than eating alone in a busy restaurant. The sirloin steak was very good, but I’m going to have to venture further out, all the meat can’t be good for you!
posted by George Herd at 5:38 PM
0 comments
