Ramotswa

Today we headed south on the Lobatse road to Ramotswa. (I understand that there is a woman chief in Ramotswa; women have been more likely to be regents - holding a seat for a young chief.) According to my five year old Guide to Greater Gaborone there should have been a community-based pottery project, the Dinkgwana Traditional Village and Pottery, just before the turnoff to Ramotswa at Boatle Junction, but it appears not to be there anymore. So instead we turned right first, toward Boatle which took us along a very scenic country road, indeed a road that is better than the Lobatse Road. We passed the Metsemswaane which was full and beautiful. There were goats around and cattle being herded by young boys. After traveling some distance we turned back to the main Lobatse Road and crossed it in the direction of Ramotswa. We passed the small village of Taung before arriving some time later in Ramotswa. It is a good sized town with a few schools, a municipal office and post office, various shops and kiosks, some development projects and more. We had no particular goal in mind. We stopped at the Choppies, much bigger than ours in Village, got some snacks and drinks and then headed back to Gaborone. On the way back we saw the incredible bottle store/bar painted like a box of tea near the Ramotswa Railway Station. The painting and naming of such shops is common in southern Africa. In northern Namibia such places are often called cuca shops for the cuca beer that is sold from Angola; they will have names that you would never expect in the rural areas, usually reflecting world events. A smaller version of these shops are called 'tuck' shops in Botswana.