Botyburps

Finally, some time to update you with a burp! It has been full on for almost a week now and this is the first time I have been able to sit down at my keyboard and let you know what has been happening. Just a general comment first – it has been cold! Frost this morning and we were underprepared. Had to go and buy an extra jacket. Locals say that this has been a very unusual autumn with lots of rain still when it typically stops in March. But it is now lovely cloudless days and I am typing this to the sound of goat bells; herds of goats everywhere roaming freely but owned and monitored.

We had a comfortable journey to get here- Joy is now a convert to business class, with a couple of long waits at airports, and were met by Graeme our tour host. Graeme thought it would be a good idea to pick up our rental car a day early to save having to come back to the airport the next day. As our SUV wasn’t ready we were given a pick up and asked to come back after the weekend to swap it over. This led to much confusion with the rental people as there were new staff on the desk when we returned. As a consequence our booking was cancelled and a new one made and now we don’t have the SUV originally requested. We have a Toyota hatchback which we are hoping will be adequate for our future needs!

So, we met the guests doing the farm tour with Graeme and Gillian that we were to accompany for the weekend before setting off on our own. Three retired farmers and two teachers. We had dinner at the hotel Friday night then set off to the local farmers market for a coffee and soak up the ambience of the Setswan culture.

After that we drove into the countryside to see the site of the original David Livingstone mission and homestead with a comprehensive explanation of his life and times. This was followed by lunch prepared by a local woman over an open fire by her small round thatched hut. Her name was Loice and she is a Zimbabwean refugee who had some interesting stories of the different countries. She tries to grow her own vegetables but they get stolen by the monkeys and a python lives under the rocks nearby. Graeme supplied the vegetables for lunch from the farmers market. We had chicken and beef liver.

After lunch we visited a local pottery and saw the entire process from gathering and refining the clay to the finished and decorated bowls etc. Saturday evening we drove to the Mokolodi Nature reserve. This time I was grateful to have a 4wd pick up as the track was very rough. We stayed in a thatched cottage with bands of roaming baboons, impala, giraffes outside. Sunday morning saw us on a 3.5 hr guided tour of Gaborone- very comprehensive covering all aspects of the development of the city which is only 50 years old. Everyone seems to be very supportive of everything the government has done; it is a democratic republic, but it has large bronze statues of 3 of their leaders reminiscent of North Korea. We were not allowed to take photographs but it was a Sunday and the security guards were asleep. We were told how egalitarian the culture is and how there are no ghettos all the while we’re being driven through a very poverty stricken settlement! The argument goes that the city fathers had provided water and power to these area so they were not slums (I guess relative to other parts of Africa this may be true).

In the afternoon we learned a lot about the Anglo/Boer conflict and visited some battlefield sites. Joy’s maternal grandfather served here and she has found some ways to research his experiences for follow up later.

That evening we went to the Crocodile Pools for a sunset cruise to see the birdlife and basking crocodiles on the river bank.

Monday morning saw us saying goodbye to the rest of the tour party then taking a drive around the rest of the Mokolodi nature reserve to see some more wildlife. However, all we did was get lost in the bush and saw only a squirrel- the wildlife was inside the car. Then we had to sort the debacle of the rental car and finally drive to our first night on our own at Firethorn Cottage at Lobatse on the STH African border. Typically we had no address for this BnB – other than main roads few streets have names. Most Botswanans understand English and some can speak a little. Fortunately when we arrived we had a phone number and were able to get directions. It is a lovely thatched cottage but set in a very English garden location with chickens and beautiful local children playing outside. I now have a few moments to write my blog before we go into Lobatse. As it is just across the border, many apartheid refugees fled here including Nelson Mandela so I suspect we will see some of this history.

I will try to post a few photos.