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.
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.
posted by George Herd at 1:33 PM
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