Wednesday 12th July

Got my first pictures of baby Andrew this morning – from Rebecca, Rachael and Thomas! Couldn’t download them, but the Yahoo thumbnails were big enough to see him. Looks like his Dad!

We are not due at Selibi Phikwe until 2.00PM, so left F’town at 11.00AM, again with Jan, in his Toyota Venture mini bus. Passed through the foot-and-mouth dip on the A1, then another on the A15 turn-off to Phikwe. They are erecting a huge length of game fencing along this road to contain the outbreak. They have to do it to protect their beef exports to the EU. They have a substantial quota, agreed when they became independent in 1966, which they cannot usually meet, but want to keep nevertheless. We got stopped for speeding. There are very frequent radar traps, Jan missed the speed limit sign - 94kph in a 80kph zone. Fine: P25 + P5 for every k above the limit, so P95 total. No penalty point system here. They can’t use cameras because they don’t have a proper vehicle registration system nor a postal address /delivery system that could reliably notify drivers.

As you near Selibi Phikwe you can see a few tall chimney stacks, belching smoke from the copper and nickel smelting that goes on there. The town is often covered in a very unhealthy sulphur smog. We stoppped for a sandwich is a pizza place on the main street. We were given a menu, and listed under the drinks section was a ‘blow job’ for P12. I had a coke.

Business done at the college, journey very worthwhile, we leave late to drive to Palapye – about 80K. We have to drive the last half hour in the dark - not to be recommended, although on the stretch of road we were on there was good visibility and road markings. The trouble was other motorists and animals. We travelled behind a truck without rear lights, and saw other cars with just one front/rear light. Few other drivers dipped their headlights to oncoming traffic. We saw the stray animal patrols, their job to try to do something about free grazing goats and donkeys by the roadside.

Safely at Palapye, no room at the Inn! Well, not the one where we wanted to stay. But, the very accommodating owner/manager of the Desert Sands Hotel, drove us round to to a couple of ‘lodges’ and we found a room for the night. Lodges are B&Bs without the second B - room only guesthouses. The first one we saw was very nice, but full, the second one, where we stayed, at least had a clean bed, but you woudn’t want to stay there a second night. But at P150 a room, its cheap. I took this photo of the notice in the room. Jan and I had a good laugh – leaving our used toilet paper for the next guest to enjoy as much as we had! It was a very cold night.

Thursday 13th July

Visited the college at Palapye in the morning, followed by visits to two ‘brigades’. Their catch phrase is ‘education through production’. They teach various trades, but have to earn some of their funding by doing real work for which they get paid by anyone in the community who will hire them. To get to the second Brigade at Shashe, we had to travel a kilometre or so along a sandy/rough road. We crossed a bridge over the river Shashe, and on a small knoll, above the river bank, was a beautifully situated house. Derelict! I said to Jan, I would buy it, knock it down and rebuild. Dream on.

Got a text from Klavs, the money has arrived! Will try to get the car tomorrow.

Home again, and everything very tidy. Avia puts everything away, I can’t find anything! BTC have been and my landline is installed. My number is 2414726. I’ll try to get a dial-up ISP tommorrow, before the long weekend holiday. It’s Prseidents day on Monday, and a bank holiday again on Tuseday next weeek.

Its been a tiring day, so I’ll get an early night, but not before being entertained by Norah Jones and Otis Redding. I remember seeing Otis Redding at the California Ballroom in Dunstable, probably 1967 – if you are watching Bob, do you remember?

Friday 14th July

Out early to visit 2 brigades this morning. One of them, we couldn’t find at first, but eventually got there. No signage. The coordinator told us that one of the problems of brigades have, is they don’t market themselves! Signs would be a start! (we kept that to ourselves though).

After quite a bit of running around in the afternoon, and hour in the bank with Klavs waiting for a bank cheque, off to Auto Lot Sales to get the car. Got a pleasnat surprise, the Pula is down against the £, and I get the car for about £4600 – it would have been £5200 when I first arrived. Phoned an insurance broker, and a fax of the invoice for the car is enough to get insurance. This is the fastest bit of administartion I’ve experienced since coming here! I have wheels for the holiday! (Monday and Tuesday are public holidays). I am now the proud owner of a Honda CRV, automatic, permanent 4x4. Nice silver colour. It’s a 1996 model, with 64K on the clock. New tyes all round.

Monday is Presidents Day, in memory of Sereste Khama, the first President after independence and held in some reverence here. He has an interesting history; married a white woman, in the face of both colonial and tribal acrimony. However, he went on to lay the foundations of modern Botswana.

Got back home with the car, and Avia was still at the house, she was supposed to be going up to Matangwane, where her husband is, but the gates won’t open (automatic remote), and she couldn’t get out! I have the only key to the ‘pedestrian’ gate, until I can get copies. Ran her down to the bus station in the CRV. Got back, opened the gate manually, got the car in, and the gates started working again on the remote! No idea why.

Must be feeling nostalgic again, played the Beatles and John Lennon most of the night.

Saturday 15th July

“Lazin’ on a sunny afternoon…..”, well it’s the evening actually, but I’ve put The Kinks on, and that’s just how was to-day.

Got my hair cut for the first time since getting here. My barber, Thande, is a 40 year-old Zimbabwean, who is getting married again next month to a Motswana. He says he is now ready after eight years since his first wife died. He reveals that he is a little nervous though. Very genial, he is from Bulawayo. He has a house there, with a maid, and any time I would like to visit, I could stay at his house! He would even arrange a golf introduction for me with one of his friends - a member at a local club! He whispers quietly that Batswana are not a polite people – unlike the Zimbabweans!

Got petrol. P200 nearly fills the tank! Good to have the car. Drove around to parts of F’town I hadn’t been to before. Drove out to the college to see what progress there has been since my last visit a month ago. It must be all inside, there didn’t appear to be much outside!

Met up with Klavs and his son Sorien. We plan to go fishing on Monday, and they need to buy some gear. Neither of them have fished before. After that, back to Klavs house for lunch. Nice house. It was built by the Danish builder he rents it from. You can tell it wasn’t a local builder, good finish all round, and the first house I’ve seen with wooden windows. It’s a little bigger than our house, but the he pays a third more for it. Well established garden, complete with banana and lemon trees.

The days are relentlessly blue skies and warm sunshine. Sat on the veranda in the late afternoon, reading. Someone was having a barbecue – the smell made me hungry. A barbecue - in the middle of winter! I’ll have to try to get ours going when June arrives. Keep thinking about that now.

Sunday 16th July

Played in the monthly medal this morning, and if it wasn’t for a 10 at one hole, it would have been a respectable round. Still can’t putt, but my pitching around the browns is much improved. Local rules allow you to use a tee on the fairway, so, even if you are just a few feet from the brown, you can tee the ball. Only about 16 played, and I just missed out on the longest drive prize. Always next week.

Sad news, we won’t be able to fish tomorrow, you need a permit and it can only be got at the main water utilities office, which will be shut for the holidays. We could risk fishing without the permit, but my fellow golfing/fishing buddies said that they would confiscate our equipment if caught. But, we decide to go out to the dam anyway sightseeing.

Another quite afternoon on the veranda with a bottle of SA white wine. So far, the white wines are much better than the 2/3 reds I’ve tried. Watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of A. I had bought some frozen tiger prawns and had them for my tea, just fried in garlic and olive oil. OK, but you could tell they were frozen. But at P40 for a huge plateful, I couldn’t complain.

Monday 17th July

Set out at 8.00AM for Shashe Dam, along the A1 main road to Gabs. It’s about 30K, and we travel in convoy. Klavs also has a Honda CRV. The last 3/4K is off-road, and I get to use my Honda for what it was designed for, but the best was yet to come! We got to the dam and spent some time walking along the bank, bird spotting. Saw my first African pelican. We got to see some weaver bird nests close-up (sorry, forgot my camera!). There are different varieties, and one way of telling them apart is the design of their nests. I suggested to Klavs that we try a different way home. The map I had showed a road on the western side going north. The legend on the map was ‘seek local advice before using’, but I reasoned that would be in the rainy season. We were up for it.

Back to the main road and then into Shashe village itself, until the tar road ran out and we were travelling north along a wide gravel road. No signposts anywhere, but I was navigating by the sun and we were heading north. There were several forks in the road, but mostly obvious which one we should take, others – it was just guesswork and keeping the sun on my right. I had absolutely great fun! The road was good in places and quite poor in others, with deep rutting, bumps and boulders to negotiate, and the odd herd of cattle, goats, stray donkeys and locals in their donkey carts. We had to cross several dry (sandy) river beds, negotiating down steep river banks and up the other side. We passed several ‘cattle stations’ – no electricity here. It took over an hour to get back to tar road again, but I’m so glad I’ve bought a 4x4, it’ll be great using it in self-drive game parks and for travelling across the Kalahari and Makgadikgadi Pans. I felt just a little pleased with myself.

Back in F’town, we go to ‘The Marang’ for lunch, my first time there. The Marang is the local equivalent of Balbirnie House. Traditional thatched guest lodges and main restaurant, on the banks of the Tati river. I’ll take June here, even although the food did not match Balbirnie standards.

Another late sunny afternoon on the veranada.

To Monday 10th July

Thursday 6th July

Big Day!!! I’m a grandad. Rebecca gave birth to Andrew Colin Gascoigne, at 1.00PM. June phoned me from Glasgow where she was at Vicky’s graduation. I could hardly make out what she was saying – she was screetching so loud! We are both very pleased and happy for Rebecca and Barry – that’s the next 20 years mapped out for them! I had been forewarned, and opened the small bottle of sparkling wine I bought on the way home. Raised a glass (or two..) and said a toast to my new grandson. OK, it is before I’m 60, but I forgive you! Barry, hope you enjoy the cigar June sent you!

Congratulations to both Andrew and Vicky who both graduated today. Well done! Heard from Thomas also, he has his law degree and with Distinction. So, a real day of celebration. Since I’ve been here, I haven’t really wished to be back home, I’ve been busy with work, and still excited by everything around me. But today, I felt far away and wished I could have been closer to share it with June. I know she feels the same. Roll on December! I should be home sometime in the middle of the month.

Friday 7th July

Avia arrived this morning with her bags. I only had a few minutes and left her to get on with things. When I got back home, everything was very tidy, she had done my washing, cleaned the kitchen, and had even organised my clothes in the wardrobe! Blimey, this only costs £50 a month! She is now in the ‘maids quarters’. She isn’t too talkative, it’s a bit of a struggle, but I’m sure she will open out once we get to know each other. I did establish that her husband had been a guide at the Victoria Falls, but most tourists now go to the Zambian side (Livingstone), avoiding Zimbabwe, and he lost his job. Their daughter is eleven and is doing well at school.

Got the bed delivered, pillow, and a really thick blanket and downie cover which Avia seemed pleased with. She made a list of things I need to get…mop, bucket, rake, fabric softener, - she’ll get on with June.

At work, we prosposed earlier in the week to visit a couple of other colleges next Tuesday/Wednesday - at Selibi Phikwe and Palapye and its been approved, so will get to see more of the coutryside. It means staying one night away in Palapye.

Still no news of the car. I’ll have to go and see them again tomorrow.

Saturday 8th July

A windy start to the morning. Because it’s so dry, it’s dusty; I can imagine what it will be like in a few weeks when it blows more frequently. Avia did the ironing before leaving to spend the weekend with her husband in Matangwane. She’ll be back Monday.

Went to Auto Lot sales again, and met Zaine (not Sanni a I previously wrote), and the car is not yet fixed. He said they had been trying to contact me. They could have done a quick fix, but he wanted to do it properly (its track rod ends). I believe him, but then I would. Everyone is honest until proven otherwise. But! We agreed that, if the money is through next week, I could take the car and then bring it back when the parts arrive. Deal done for P49500 – the price on the windscreen is P51500, so another small saving on the road to being a master haggler! Hopefully, one way or another, I have the car for when June is here, which will not now be until a week Wednesday.

Met up with Alison to take her to the club. She wants to join; her husband is a golfer. The Bistro was open, so we had a late lunch there. It was very good - extensive menu. I had Impala to start, and then a lamb shank. We met Barbara, the eponymous owner of the Bistro (all these years reading the Scotsman). She is German, but lived in F’town for the last 23 years. Very up front lady - knew a lot about F’town (surprise surprise!). We had a sherry on the house! She lives in one of the oldest colonial houses in F’town - it has teak parquet flooring! Beats my vinyl tiles. She scared Alison away from a district where she had viewed a house this morning. Barbara’s story is very familiar - got here, and was bitten by the African lifestyle – she would never go home except to visit. She says Germans complain too much, here if you complained about everything that was wrong, you would go crazy she said! Alison is the same, and although she lives in Namibia, has worked in Rwanda on-and-off for the last 5 years. She has also worked in Botswana, and Zambia.

Home about 4.00 and phoned Rebecca who is now home with son Andrew. Good to hear all is well, and good to hear her voice again. The wind has gone and it’s a balmy warm afternoon. Lots of leaves in the pool, so spent a while getting them out. I’ll have to get familiar with chlorine and other chemicals to make sure it’s hygienic, and at the right Ph values for the summer. I can now operate the filter, back flushing and rinsing! I have the barracuda working – a device that skims the bottom of the pool sucking up sand, dust and leaves that settle there. Who needs a pool boy?

I’m entered for the monthly stableford at the golf club tomorrow, so I’ll just watch a DVD on the laptop and be in bed by 9.00. Teeing off at 7.30. I bought some new powered speakers for the laptop; the ones I brought with me aren’t loud enough. The new ones have a sub-woofer and although still not as powerful as the ones at home, much better than before. Jame Blunt is belting out at the moment.

Sunday 9th July

25 points in the stableford. Not great, but my best so far. Still not got the browns worked out. Played with a Motswana, called Colin. Proudly told him I had a grandson called Colin! I wore a jumper until the 3rd hole, then in short sleeves thereafter. A beautiful, sunny, crisp morning; pleasantly warm. Absolutely great golf weather. Colin wore a fleece-lined anorak, that wouldn’t have been out of place on top of Ben Nevis, in the height of a Scottish winter! And, he had the hood up! He did take it off about 11.00AM, to reveal a thick woolly jumper underneath! It didn’t seem to hamper his game, he played good golf.

I hear lots of stories and anecdotes at the golf. Two this morning were:

1. Playing in SA on a course adjacent to Kruger national park (which is game fenced), the players (one was telling the story) were hurriedly ushered off the course – a pride of lions had been spotted ambling down one of the fairways! A case of roar stopped play?
2. A lady golfer playing in Kasane, in northern Botswana stepped up to the tee, which had an overhanging tree. She had a blood spot fall on her – a leopard was in the tree with its latest kill! The guy telling the story was really miffed – he had only ever seen a leopard in a pen, and had been on lots of game drives.

Golf, Africa style. It seems that leopards and wild dogs are at the top of most people’s list of ‘must-sees’, on game drives. Wild dogs are rare and are considered the cleverest hunters of prey in Africa. They work as a team and appear to be telepathic! I would have liked to go up to Kasane next weekend - there is a competition at the grass 9-hole course there. You have to chase the warthogs off the tees, and if you loose a ball in a water hazard then its goodbye, the hippos have the rights on lake balls!! One guy had played there when a buffalo lay dead on the course. Apparently, it had been raging about the course for a couple of days and was becoming a danger - had to be shot. (Golfers only: landing near a dead buffalo - lift and a drop without penalty – not an integral part of the course!). Can’t wait to play there! My personal experience this morning was to disturb a rabbit from the rough. OK, not exciting, but my first African rabbit!

While waiting to tee-off this morning, there was some commotion on the course. A group of about 20 people, mostly young, some just children, were running up the fairway; groups coming in different directions. Apparently, they were after a Zimbabwean, we know not for, but he was apprehended. The police took him away. His disguise had not worked – he was wearing an anorak, with Botswana emblazoned on the back and, in national colours!

I’ve also caught more of the sun to-day. There was a cool breeze later in the morning and I didn’t wear a hat. My face is bright red again - it had been a light tan. One last thought for the day – this is definitely a healthy climate (so far!). No cold aches or pains, and apart from my ankle, I feel really good and healthy most of the time. I might stay up to watch the Final tonight. Andrea Bocelli is performing for me while I wait

Monday 10th July

I did stay up to watch the final, and the extra time. I thought about phoning Thomas to find out how calm Lucia was, or not as was probably the case, but I assumed they would be out on the streets celebrating.

Took a test drive in the Honda today. CRVs are automatic, and I haven’t driven an automatic since we were in Florida years ago. If the money arrives this week, should get it Friday or Saturday.

Had a chat session arranged with June, but couldn’t get logged onto Gmail, or to the blog. Yahoo works OK (well most times, although a couple of emails to June have ‘disappeared’ into the ether-net (techie joke).

Fridge arrived. Cool.

I had bought some rice and chicken for tea and showed Avia how to use the microwave. Stressed the bit about no metal, and not good for drying cats. I’m going to get a small electric cooker tomorrow, I’ve asked Avia to do some Zimbabwean dishes. Her husband, Dominic, had come to pay a visit. He helped me unpack the fridge. He is going to bring some beetroot from the farm, next time he visits. He will probably come once a week. He would like to go to America, although he actually would go anywhere, even Scotland he said. But, you know, he knows, and he knows you know, that the chances are nil. He told me he had enjoyed his job as a guide at Vic Falls and would like to go back to it when things are better. It wasn’t just at the falls, he took tourists on game drives. He recommened a hotel to stay in.

Nasa came round to get some money to finish the curtains. I said I would like to get the up before June arrives, but she said it would be a good idea to wait, and she can talk to June about colours etc. OK by me. She gave me some info on the street. Apparently there are two lawyers opposite, and a further one down the street. Directly across the road is a car dealer. But, most impressive of all, is that a Kgosi lives on the street. Now that’s royalty here. Kgosi is the Setswana name for chief. Nasa was impressed that she didn’t have to tell me what it meant. I’ve been doing my homework! In Setswana, g is generally sound as h, but when I tried to say khosi, Nasa laughed. Still got a long way to go, Setswana is a very difficult language.

An interesting headline in a local newspaper: “Man raped by menstruating woman” – best not go there. The report said the police had no clues as to the identity of the woman but they hoped to apprehend the ‘suspect’ soon. I kid you not.

An advert I saw in a free advertising sheet: “2 herd boys wanted, with wife”. I kid you not again. There are always adverts for “herd boys”, but never seen any for girls. It would be tough for Rachael and Rebecca here.

Katie Melua playing. No TV, forgot to pay the bill!

To Wednesday 5th July

Sunday 2nd July

Quiet day. Had intended to go to the museum, but did some work in the morning, then spent 3 hours in the internet café – I had some more work – work to do. Took this picture of the President Hotel Terrace – you can see that there is some upgrading work going on. (sorry this one will have o wait!) Wouldn’t like to stay there just now, it gets very noisey at times. It is Rachael’s birthday tomorrow, and I’ll not likely get online, so Happy 30th Birthday Rachael!
Monday 3rd July

It’s a public holiday in Botswana, everything is very quiet. Started back to F’town at 10.00AM. We had other passengers. Jan was taking his sister-in-law back to Francistown, where she had parked her car to get the bus to Gabs to visit her sister for the weekend. Ashati is a biology teacher in a senior secondary school in a village near to the Zim border (about 1.5 hours by car). The other passenger whose name I can’t remember was a carpenter. Jan was taking him up to F’town to build a kitchen in the new house he will move into. Theer is foot-and-mouth deisease in some parts of Botswana and along the road there a two permanent disinfecting stations. We passed through quite quickly, but sometimes it can take up to an hour if you get stuck behind buses – everyone must get off and disinfect their shoes, while the vehicles pass through a disinfectant bath.

We picked up even more passengers on the way. At a police road block (they are frequent), a policeman ‘politely’ asked is we could take more passengers, the bus to F’town had been full. A woman and her baby got in. By coincidence, we dropped her off at her house which I pass most days while walking to/from work. Ashati’s brother lives just a few doors along.

Update on bogadi - the bride price. Ashati had recently been at a family meeting with the fiance of her other sister, who works as a nurse in London. They have a young child. In Botswana, this counts as lumo, or ‘damages’. The fiance has to pay an additional amount on top of the bogadi to repair the damage done! Some young girls apparently ensure thay get pregnant before they are married, so that it increases the bogadi their family will get! Anyw ay, Ashati’s sister will get 9 cows, 1 of which is lumo.

Back in F’town around 3.00PM. Did some shopping, tired, had an early night.

Tuesday 4th

The last member of our team arrived to-day. Alison is English, but has lived in Namibia for the past 10 years. She and her husband will move to F’town in August, they hope. Coincidentally, she goes to Jaimaica in November to deliver a paper at a conference! June is just back from there doing the same!

Avia, the new maid also arrived, then quickly departed! She needed to go back to Zim to pay her child’s school fees. She will be back on Friday and work the weekend to make up for the days lost (her suggestion, not mine).

On the way home, met Nasa from next door with her mother, Elizabeth. Welcome to the neighbourhood! she exclaimed. Seemed the exuberant type - I’m sure we’ll get on. She was called after Queen Elizabeth, had she been a boy, she would have been called Charles!

Felt very tired when I got home – they have the heating on a work! Everyone is complaining about the cold weather. Honestly its 22-24°C during the day and short sleeves are necessary. It is cold at night, especially in the early morning, but its not a bitter cold, there is no wind (yet). In bed by 7.00PM! I’ll just get the Italy v Germany highlights tomorrow. I’m supporting Italy Lucia!!

Wednesday 5th July

Still no news of Rebecca. June phoned to say she may be induced soon. Lets hope it comes by itself before then. Went to a large cash-and-carry wharehouse to-day, looking for a fridge and a bed for the maid. Easy to get a card.

Went to Game also looking for a fridge. I had been looking for a small one, but people tell me I should buy a big one. In the summer you have to keep everything in it! So, there was a tall Bosch stainless steel one, that I definitely didn’t want to spend P4400 on, but my negotiating skills are getting better, and we had a deal at P2800. I felt pleased with myself, even though I could have probably bargained for one of the white ones for less. It’s a better fridge than we have at home! Next challenge a cooker!

Sunday 25th June

My first whole day in Gaborone. Up at 8.00AM for breakfast in the lodge – fried egg and ‘Russian’ sausage (smoked). Took a walk up to the ‘Main Mall’ the first mall in Francistown and now a bit run-down and needing upgrading. There are several new out-of-town malls that most people now go to. Walked past the Presidents Hotel – where Mma Ramotswe (is that her name?), likes to have tea/coffee on the terrace, while pondering over her private investigations. It’s a larger version of the Acorn hotel in Glenrothes, so not an architectural icon of Gaborone, but I’ll wait until June arrives and we can ‘do’ the President. It won’t be the same as drinking a ‘sling’ in Rafflles?, Singapore, but we will be able to say, been there, done that! Apparently Walter McCall Smith is in Botswana at the moment helping with some fund raising for an ‘arts’ project of some kind. I’ll also visit Tlokweng next week, as I remember that’s where Mma Ramotswe’s husband is from, or at least has his garage?

Wandering again, found a sign to the ’African Mall’ but when I got there I still have no idea why they called it that, just like several other small malls I’ve seen. But the internet café I found was the fastest so far in Botswana.

We have a busy week ahead of us visiting the MoE, Uni Botswana and a range of other institutions. So back by early afternoon with a sore ankle, and spent the rest of the day in my room just resting.

Wednesday 28th June

Cold morning, +1C showing on a display on some building. It began to cloud over in the afternoon and with a coolness in the air I said to Jan that it would rain, we know about these things in Scotland. He did not agree, it does not rain at this time of the year he said. By 5.00 it was raining, and lasted for 3 hours! The effects of climate change he said! There are currently drought measures in place in Gaborone, although they have had a good ‘wet’ summer. A new dam built 3 years ago, has not yet filled up and a north-south water pipeline is not performing as well as it should – more water leaks from it than actually gets to Gaborone. Apparently it’s a bit of a scandal – how the specification of the pipeline was ‘amended’ to allow a Botswana company to construct it.

June phoned late, she is back from Jamaica. She enjoyed it; except for the hassle she got sometimes form the locals when they saw she was a single woman. Nothing like that occurs here, I walk around, feel safe and the people are always very helpful. Mind you, I don’t where a dress.

Thursday 29th June

Klavs was down from Francistown for a meeting tomorrow, so we met up and went to local Portuguese restaurant; it was a converted ‘house’, in a residential row. It was good, the first seafood I’d seen on a menu. Douglas also joined us. Told them I was celebrating - Andrew and Vicky got their degrees, Andrew has done very well, being nominated for the Young Software Engineer of the year. Proud Dad. Bought my first bottle of White wine and it was very good, ‘Five Heirs’. It was the most expensive meal I’ve paid for since being here. Douglas was a bit aghast, don’t think he normally spends that amount of money – enough to feed someone for a month in a rural village.

No news of Thomas and his law degree, but hopefully another excuse to celebrate next week!

Friday 30th June

Left Gaborone for Mochudi, about 40Km away, to visit a media centre there. It was a short visit so we came back and went to Game City for a cup of coffee. Game City is the largest out-of-town shopping mall in Gaborone. It had the usual array of shops, and just like home, go to most malls and they have all the same chains of shops. There is a Woolworths here (its sells clothes and some food), and it’s the most expensive place in town! A bit like an upmarket Marks and Sparks! Apparently, the president’s wife shops there. There is also one in Francistown which I’ve been in. The clothes were of good quality. Game are a supermarket chain, based in SA I think. They don’t sell food, but just about everything else, and is usually the cheapest place to go for lots of things. We were back for a return visit to Gaborone Technical College in the afternoon and had finished just after 4.00PM.

On the way back Jan’s wife phoned, she was out looking at cars, so I tagged along when Jan went to meet her – a chance to see if the deal on the Honda in Francistown is a good one. The district of Mogiditshane is just one big car lot. Recently, Japanese/Malaysian second hand imports were legalised (its still illegal in SA to protect the local car manufacturing industry), and the dealers lots were just full of them. The Francistown deal is OK, demand in Gaborone can sustain higher prices. By coincidence, coming out of one dealer lot, bumped into the Indian guy Sanni, that I’m buying the Honda from in Francistown! Told him he only had week left to get it ready, or I would be back here and he would loose a deal! Strange meeting someone that I knew in Gaborone!

Its been a tiring week, running about visiting different education institutions and agencies – and stressful. Meeting lots of new people, most of whom I have trouble even saying their names, never mind remembering them, you feel so inadequate.

Saturday 1st July

Decided that and I would try my luck and venture out of the city to a local nature reserve. Got a taxi, it is about 15Km away, so not far. My taxi driver was Jacob, he was driving his brothers car - saving to get married. There is a tradition in Botswana that men pay the bride’s family a ‘bride price’ a dowry. There is a local name for this, I think its bogadi. There is a campaign to try to do away with it; apparently it sometimes leads to some women being abused – they were bought as ‘slaves’. Also, women feel they can’t leave an abusive husband for fear that their families would not be able to repay the bride price. There was an article about it in the Botswana Guardian last week. Jacob is from Mochudi, the village that I visited yesterday!

I took the winter special – a 2-hour game drive for 100Pula - £10. I’ll post a few photos. Most of the animals in the reserve are not afraid of humans. In fact, the only animals that ran away when our truck arrived were the monkeys! I thought that was odd. The cheetahs were in a pen and hand fed – they could not be released into the wild. A couple of tourists had paid for a ‘cheetah tour’, and they were in the pen standing just feet away from them. The hippos and crocodile (yes, they have one croc) were hiding from the sun, but I did see tame elephants, impala, giraffe, wildebeest, warthog, African sea eagle, and oryx. They also have rhino, but I guess that wasn’t included in the ‘special’. We were told that the elephants were just teenagers, and had to be kept in a reserve because their elders had been killed in a cull. This happens not infrequently in SA and Zimbabwe when the herds get too big. Also, they usually cull a whole herd, if they leave any then, if they are older they remember and become really mean when humans are around. Or, if they are younger, they don’t learn from the older ones how to behave, migrate and so on and often become nuisances around farms. The rest of my fellow adventurers on the trip were from SA – Cape Town. They didn’t seem very tanned, so I wonder what the weather is like in Cape Town. One learned soul was dealt with very tactfully by the guide when enquiring about the big cats in the reserve – including if they had tigers? Here are some pictures:









Jacob picked me up when I’d finished and then dropped me off at Game City. Thought I’d look around a bit more. Found a Fish’n’Chip shop! It’s a big shopping centre with the obligatory Irish Pub! - Draught Boddingtons. I’ve been drinking a lot less beer here, than at home - an occasional lager. There are local brands; the one I drink most is ‘Castle’. Tasty enough. Found a good book shop at last, and bought some books about the fauna and wildlife to help identify them, also a book on archaeology in Botswana, and the Shell Guide for tourists, which is considered to be the definitive guide of its type. It is more for self-drive safaris, with lots of GPS references and places for camping on-route. Need a GPS handheld.

Had arranged a chat with June at 5.00PM, so back in time for that. Managed about 15minutes, then a power cut put an end to it. I’ve suffered 2/3 power cuts since I’ve been here, its not always the mains power, sometimes its just the building. Electrics are generally of low standard.

Watched England’s exit from the world cup. No celebrations, I had hoped they would go through, but I suppose most neutral observers would say that their best players did not deliver on the day, or indeed, in the competition. My allegiance now moves to France!

Keep wondering when Rebecca will have her baby. It’s the first thing I check for now when I’m online.