Dumela from Botswana

Mokolodi Nature Reserve

2011-08-22T10:22:00.005+02:00

We don’t come to southern Africa to see animals, but since we did not get to visit the Nata Bird Sanctuary, go into the Okavango Delta or make it to our favorite Khama Rhino Sanctuary I thought maybe we should do a two hour game drive at nearby Mokolodi Nature Reserve on Sunday morning. We have been there on a couple of occasions in the past and have not been so impressed; indeed the Gaborone Game Reserve in your own car is often better. Anyway, the most pleasant surprise was that our guide was Vivian, who was our guide on our two visits to Khama Rhino Sanctuary in 2009. It was great to see her again! The hippos and rhinos eluded us but we did manage to see a whole lot of other animals and birds: impala, warthogs, wildebeest, guinea fowl, kudu, fish eagles, Egyptian geese, zebra, ostrich, giraffe and baboons. Wildlife photos courtesy of Kuno.

Two Kombis to Game City

2011-08-21T10:13:00.002+02:00

Mave realized recently that she had never ridden in a kombi – the ubiquitous white vans that efficiently and effectively provide most of the public transportation within Gaborone and also to some of the outlying areas (with large busses covering the more distant villages, towns and cities). So she proposed that late Saturday afternoon she would meet her friends Leoni and Mabedi at ‘their’ school, MAP, and they would take a kombi together to Game City Mall for an evening movie and dinner. We would then pick her up afterwards. Well, mission accomplished. It turns out, she said, that it takes two kombis to get to Game City – first one to the bus station and then another to the mall.

Thapong Visual Arts Centre

2011-08-19T14:55:00.004+02:00

I dragged Mave and Kuno to the Thapong Visual Arts Centre today to see the exhibit of Batswana artists that opened last Friday. The art center is more or less right across from where we used to live in Village. There is always lots of activity going on with artists on the premises doing pottery, linocuts and other art forms. We saw lots of oil and acrylic on canvas as well as sculptures and lots of multimedia. Now looking forward to a last long weekend in Gabs before heading back to USA on Monday afternoon/evening.

Ramotswa

2011-08-18T15:45:00.003+02:00

So this morning Leloba and I traveled to nearby Ramotswa, a village south of Gaborone on the Lobatse Road. Our destination was the kgotla and tribal office of the Balete where we met with Kgosi Mosadi Seboko, Botswana's first woman paramount chief. Her installation in late August 2003 was attended by royal representatives from neighboring countries as well as Botswana, the diplomatic community, members of parliament, current and past presidents and more. She is actually the one who gave me the idea for my current research project when I interviewed her two years ago. She is much admired by women and men chiefs and many others.

Thabantle

2011-08-15T15:26:00.003+02:00

Our friends have a weekend cottage at a place called Thabantle about 50 kms south of Gaborone on the road to Lobatse. It is near the Nnywane Dam; it used to be a farm and has now been carved up into about 40 four acre pieces. Slowly people are building small houses and the land is even being stocked with wildlife like kudu and zebra. Mave and Kuno were able to spend part of the weekend or the whole weekend there while I had to attend to some other business, though I at least got to join them for lunch. Speaking of which, some of the items for lunch were ditloo, very nice Setswana beans, kudu and snoek. I understand that once I left there was other game like impala and eland.

Palo Batho: 2011 Census

2011-08-13T15:12:00.002+02:00

Botswana truly is an amazing country. It is census time and so one can see census takers all over town smartly dressed in their census t shirts and hats (and black slacks it appears) and carrying large pale yellow cloth bags containing their census documents. They come into each house and sit down and enumerate the household. There are apparently 600 enumerators assigned to Gaborone’s many different neighborhoods. Each one has two weeks to reach an assigned set of households. And because we are living here at the moment, I, as head of our three person household, was interviewed as well. She thought she should skip over the questions about whether I had cattle or land but I wanted to hear them all. Censuses have led to conflict in Africa, especially the question about ethnicity (as it will reveal which group is larger, due more resources etc). This census asked what language is spoken at home, which is one way of getting at the ethnicity question. Also lots of questions about what the house is constructed of and access to electricity, toilets, and the internet. I hope the internet question will reveal the need for a major upgrade! The last population and household survey was in 2001.

School's Out!

2011-08-13T15:08:00.002+02:00

As noted, Mave and Kuno have been attending their respective schools for the last two weeks, Maru a Pula and Thornhill, when we were not away. They would go in a couple of hours late and then attend classes and hang out with their friends. Well, now it is school break and so next week Kuno will attend a camp at Northside, which he has attended before, and Mave will attend Setswana Week back at Maru a Pula. Perfect! The University of Botswana is on the same academic calendar, more or less, as universities in the USA, but the primary and secondary schools are on a southern African schedule, namely, three months on and one month off – that is the rotation for the whole year. Above, some of Kuno’s friends at Thornhill.

Puppies and Friends in Gabs

2011-08-11T10:21:00.004+02:00

As mentioned previously, we are staying in the ‘guest cottage’ (pictured above) in the garden/yard of a friend and colleague from UB. They have two daughters living at home a little younger than Mave and Kuno and the four of them get on famously. In addition, there are seven newly born puppies that provide amusement all afternoon. Kuno describes himself in this photo as the ‘puppy hotel.’

The first woman chief to have ever sat in the House of Chiefs, Kgosi Banika, is still Kgosi in Pandamatenga, in Chobe Region. She said it is not far from Gabs – a one hour plane ride to Kasane from Gabs and then a short car drive. I had decided that we would unfortunately not be able to travel there, and so I arranged a mobile phone interview with her which I conducted yesterday. Another impressive Kgosigadi!

Saturday was for Funerals

2011-08-11T10:19:00.002+02:00

I have been reading a heartrending and also hopeful book called Saturday is for Funerals by Motswana novelist and Judge Unity Dow in collaboration with Max Essex from Harvard. The book is about how Botswana, with one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world (in a region with the highest infection rates in the world), managed to turn its epidemic around. Indeed across Africa infection rates are down and access to treatment is up, with Botswana at the forefront. Testing became an ‘opt-out’ rather than ‘opt-in’ procedure, government clinics were established, doctors and nurses were trained and ARVs are now available to all who need them. As the end of the book notes, forward thinking leadership was one of the key ingredients. The worry now is that government may not be able to sustain the access to treatment for all; the expenditures have already been described as ‘unsustainable.’ Then what?

2500 kms

2011-08-09T10:38:00.003+02:00

By my calculations, we (I) drove about 2500 kms during our five days away. That is only about 500 kms per day and for the most part that is about what it was, but still this is driving that takes great concentration, as noted, given the narrow two lane roads, occasional potholes, frequent animals (with constant reminders of the danger in the form of skid marks and carcasses on the side of the road), huge trucks, high speeds, constant passing, many villages requiring slowing to 80 kms or else, and so on and so forth. We have a hired Toyota corolla (with a memorable number plate) that I thought might be too small for our travels, though it is a luxury vehicle compared to what I usually have. It has proved to be very hardy!

Still we saw many interesting things along the way: sadly, we never saw any elephants crossing, but on our way back from Maun to Nata we did watch as a ‘herd’ of 18 zebra crossed the road in front of us! During our early morning driving the birds were our stubborn companions. Hornbills in particular do not want to get out of the way of oncoming vehicles, but they are too big to be ignored. We also saw guinea fowl that can do great damage to windscreens and doves and other birds.

When not driving through the pans on the Francistown Maun route we saw an array of trees including mapani, marula, and the fattest baobabs I have ever seen. Once near the pans the soil – and the termite hills – all turned white.

Coming out of Maun on our return we saw lots of ipelegeng: people engaged in government sponsored low wage temporary work, including painting red and white curbs, cutting grass along the side of the road, mending fences, digging trenches, and collecting trash. Indeed, Botswana has to be one of the cleanest places; all the compounds that we passed were neat and tidy as well. We also saw one small settlement where people were collecting grass into bundles to sell for thatching roofs or had made it into brooms.

Francistown

2011-08-09T10:32:00.001+02:00

On Sunday night after our visits to Sebina and Mosojane we arrived back in Francistown, for the last of our nights away. We stayed in a hotel rather than an inn or lodge and Mave and Kuno were delighted to have internet and dstv! Once again we had not managed to avoid some nighttime driving so were relieved to arrive safely at our destination. Francistown is located at the confluence of the Tati and Inchwe Rivers and near the Shashe River; indeed it seemed we drove over a dry Shashe River many times in our nearby travels.

In the morning, we had a glance at Francistown, mainly a drive up and down Blue Jacket Street, a genteel street that forms the core of the city center. This road runs east of and parallel to the railway line and has formed the town center since Francistown was founded at the turn of the 19th century. (Today Francistown, like other Botswana towns and cities, is full of modern malls that are the more likely shopping destinations.) Francistown is Botswana’s second largest city and very close to the border with Zimbabwe (from where it has received a serious influx of immigrants in the last decade or so, though has abated). It was founded as a gold mining and railway center, and mines and the rail line are still important to the area. Francistown is also home to the Supa Ngwao Museum, but I could not convince anyone to make a visit.

Mosojane

2011-08-08T05:59:00.011+02:00

After our stopoff in Sebina we headed to Mosojane which was going to be a little bit more work. From Sebina we turned onto the road to Masunga which can barely accommodate the width of two cars; after Masunga we picked up a gravel road to Mosojane. Our destination was the home of Kgosi Fredah Mosojane, subchief and elected member of the House of Chiefs from 2004 to 2009. Mosojane relocated to Mosojane around 2002 when she became subchief. She rebuilt the home that had been her father's, who had been chief from 1945 to 1967. A very candid - and insightful - discussion. Although the area is so dry Mosojane has a garden full of kale, as well as other flowers and bushes.

Once on the gravel road one is traveling through the hills of the Dombo Shaba that house the ruins of the Kalanga Empire, somewhat like Great Zimbabwe in Zim. Indeed, there are massive boulders piled high all around. There is an annual festival that takes place around the beginning of October; we also passed a lodge and cultural village that facilitate outsiders' access. Once again, too bad we did not have more time.

Sebina

2011-08-08T05:50:00.006+02:00

We were up early again on Sunday to head back toward Francistown, stopping off in Sebina and Mosojane for more interviews. Sebina is just off the main road to Francistown, not too far from Masunga which is the administrative capital of the North East District. This area is home to the Bakalanga. Our goal was to interview Kgosi Shatani Kgakanyane who has been a headman of arbitration since 2001 and served as a specially elected member of the House of Chiefs from 2007-2009. Another enlightening interview for sure!

Dinner at the ORL

2011-08-06T21:48:00.003+02:00

On Saturday we were quite beat after our quick trip to Ghanzi and back, and so after another quick stop in town headed back to the Okavango River Lodge. Again, recognizing the clientele of an establishment such as this one, the place is very nice; the bungalows very comfortable, the kitchen good, and the outdoor seating very inviting. You can get some tiny feel for what it must be like to go out into the delta. For dinner we invited Godi’s daughter Koki, who had helped to arrange our stay here, and her and Leloba’s friend Bonty, both of whom live in Maun. Bonty is actually Bontumile Bontekanye who is, among other things, an accomplished author of children’s books which we will pick up at Botswanacraft.

We had a very enjoyable evening of bunny chow (beef curry from Durban) and drinks. It was a very nice way to end our short sojourn in Maun. We turned in early given that we had to rise early the next morning. At about 9 the music and dancing began. Mave lamented from our bungalow that they were playing all of her ‘favorite songs’ including, a speeded up Waka Waka.

Ghanzi

2011-08-06T14:03:00.006+02:00

This morning we were up and out early to head south to Ghanzi – and back – to interview Kgosi Tsaxlae Xao, a specially elected chief in the House of Chiefs and headman of record in Grootlagte. We were very lucky to find her in Ghanzi. It was a very moving interview; for her the challenges of life are as much about being a Mosarwa, or San, as they are about being a woman and a woman chief.

On our family trips to and from Gaborone and Windhoek we have always seen the turnoff to Ghanzi but never been there. It is a small town, the administrative capital of Ghanzi District and ‘capital’ of the Kalahari; Afrikaners arrived in 1870 and they seem to dominate still today.

Maun

2011-08-05T19:37:00.005+02:00

I was very happy to get off the road and finally reach Maun. Godi’s daughter Koki had recommended the Okavango River Lodge which is very reasonably priced. Many of the people staying here camp while the rest are in little bungalows. It is only tourists who stay here, mostly European and South African, but that would seem to represent Maun well in general. All over town we see the overland safari vans from one company or another. It is quite something! Our goal for the day was to interview Kgosi Kealetile Moremi and in that we were successful. We found her at her kogtla and had a lively discussion.

Maun is Botswana’s fifth largest town and the center of the Ngamiland District. It is clearly the headquarters for the tourist companies that serve the Okavango Delta; some of those people come overland but many fly right into the delta - indeed we saw many small planes overhead. There are dozens and dozens of camps and lodges in the delta. Maun was founded in 1915 as the capital of the Batawana people and that was what brought us to Maun – the (acting) paramount chief of the Batawana.

Nata

2011-08-05T18:47:00.002+02:00

Nata is a small village in the Central District that lies along the Nata River. It is home to the community run Nata Bird Sanctuary but mainly a refueling and stopover place for tourists headed to Maun or Kasane, or more likely the mammoth lorries headed into Zambia. Indeed at the filling station there was hardly a Botswana number plate to be seen. In Nata we overnighted at the Nata Guest Inn - rudimentary. We were only there to sleep before heading off for Maun at around 9 after vetkoekies and biltong from the filling station and shakes and smoothies from Wimpy’s. Our drive to Maun was fairly uneventful, a much easier three hour drive than the night before from Francistown to Nata. At one point the Nxai Pan National Park was on our right and the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park to our left. We encountered more donkeys than cattle. After Gweta we saw several pairs of ostriches and even a lonely zebra. Just as often we would see the ubiquitous red and white solar powered cell phone towers. We arrived in Maun around midday; had to rush to the Okavango River Lodge to change into clothes suitable to interview Kgosigadi Moremi.

Elephants Crossing

2011-08-04T19:22:00.002+02:00

On Thursday I had an appointment at the Department of Tribal Administration in the morning but we could not leave for Nata, en route to Maun, until around 2 pm when Leloba finished teaching. We knew that we were leaving late if the goal was to reach Nata by evening; indeed, the most optimistic scenario would put us into Nata around 8, four hours to Francistown and then two more to Nata, arriving in Francistown as it got dark and then driving in the dark to Nata.

Well, the drive on the A1 to Francistown was not bad; it is always a shame when already at Rasesa the four lanes become two and then all of the driving becomes about overtaking the mammoth lorries making their way from south to north (SA to Zambia or Zim) and slowing down to 80 km for each village along the way. Outside of the villages, the speed limit is 120 km per hour which is about what I was doing the whole way. Still I did manage to get a 500 pula speeding ticket in the way that everyone does in Botswana – by not slowing down fast enough when entering the next village. I was going 100 km in an 80 km zone. The police officer thought it was very funny that I am a professor.

Past Mahalapye and Palapye the traffic eased up a bit; the landscape changed – more sparsely populated and lots of Mopani trees – with lots of people selling the wood of the Mapani. We got to Francistown in the dark around 6:30 though it was well after that and a pit stop that we managed to get on the road to Nata.

At that point we might have been somewhat foolhardy. While we could have overnighted in Francistown we decided to push on to Nata. The road was the most narrow of two lane roads and seemed to drop off on either side. While there was not much traffic there was more than I would have liked, especially again the mammoth lorries. On the left where the road met the shoulder were inevitably deep potholes and on the right the trucks. And then of course the other nighttime driving worry: animals, in particular cattle. We found only one group in the road in front of us (black and grey to blend into the night) and for them we were given lots of warning from the drivers ahead of us. We found many groups grazing on the side of the road, enough to persuade me to slow down considerably. At Dukwi, home to a refugee camp and major truckstop, we were directed through a cattle dip; we had to wipe our shoes and then drive the car through. That was a first for me. Aside from some Kingfishers and Hornbills and hares (on the road to Francistown), we saw no other wildlife. We did, however, see an elephant crossing sign! There is apparently a herd around Nata, but that is more commonly encountered on the road out of Nata to Chobe.

Sparkling Pear Juice

2011-08-03T16:17:00.004+02:00

And then there was peartiser…..first appletiser and then red and white grapetiser and now peartiser. But it is not selling in Botswana yet, only in SA. And so a can costs about 15 pula, at least twice what an apple or grapetiser would cost! Kuno found them at Delis when we went to the Craft Market in Broadhurst in search of gifts for the dikgosigadi. We found handbags locally crafted from German print cloth, blue and brown of course. I hope that they will be liked. Will also impart a book and my women mps article.

In the Garden

2011-08-02T10:49:00.005+02:00

We have nice warm days though the evenings and early mornings are still quite chilly.

The garden where we are staying is lovely – full of cactus, in particular!

Mave and Kuno spend their mornings and sometimes afternoons at their respective schools, Maru a Pula and Thornhill, though they arrive only at the morning break, not at the start of the school day at 7. No one seems to mind in the slightest. I am then free (this week) to make appointments and arrangements for our first trip – to Maun and Ghanzi – to meet some of the women chiefs. Very excited!

Gaborone Roads Upgrade

2011-08-02T10:47:00.001+02:00

A major project has been underway for some time to expand some of the most heavily trafficked roads in Gaborone – upgrading from single lanes in each direction to four lane thoroughfares. At the moment the road from town to Tlokweng and the Samora Machel which leads to Game City and Lobatse are under reconstruction. As all of the work takes place, roads are closed and for some reason robots (traffic lights) are out at many intersections. Yet drivers seem remarkably patient, even kombi drivers, taking turns to let each vehicle pass. I understand that people are seeing the benefits of the upgrades.

Arriving in Gaborone

2011-07-31T16:25:00.003+02:00

We had a very funny booking that was the cheapest at the time (back in February), though was not very cheap: a United flight from Philadelphia to Dulles (made no sense) where we got our SAA flight to Johannesburg via Dakar and then on to Gaborone. We have not flown SAA for a while and we were, unfortunately, rather disappointed. We let some passengers off in Dakar and took on new ones but most of us stayed on the plane for more than an hour. (Question: what is that monument that overlooks Leopold Senghor International Airport?) Mave said she could see the outline of West Africa as we took off from Dakar in early morning – that was cool. Still, I think we agreed that an eight hour layover in Europe, when you can get out and walk around and get some decent food (and coffee!), is preferable to our quicker though more painful journey. We really did not eat anything for 24 hours and so were looking forward to the News Café at ORT International Airport in Johannesburg.

It took us a little more than 24 hours to get here and a little less than 24 hours to get settled in. At the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport – very much still under reconstruction - only two bags awaited us much to Mave’s dismay. But Avis was still open, waiting more than two hours to give us our hired Toyota Corolla. Our accommodations, a ‘cottage’ at Godi’s near Northside, are great. On Saturday we made five or six trips to Riverwalk Mall, to get our phones operating, get on the internet, do some shopping, have some food and drop off Mave for the evening teen scene extraordinaire and then of course back again to pick her up later! (And one trip to the airport where we retrieved the lost bag.) It is definitely winter time, most noticeable in the evening.

2011 Summer Research

2011-07-26T12:52:00.004+02:00

In a couple of days Mave', Kuno and I will head back to Botswana for a few weeks of research. I have a small project that stems from my 2009 sabbatical research on women MPs, or the lack thereof, in Botswana. At the time I happened to interview Kgosigadi Mosadi Seboko ("a chief called woman"), paramount chief of the Balete, who made me think that her decision to assert her right to become chief, and her people's willingness to go along, was a symbolic representation effect of more women in political positions in Botswana. Thus with this project I would like to 'test' this hypothesis. Further I would like to determine to what extent women chiefs, who have emerged in small numbers since about 2000, substantively represent women's interests. (In the past women in Botswana have served as regents but not as chiefs.) There is a House of Chiefs in Botswana and currently three women sit in the HoC; in about 2005 the HoC was expanded to now include 35 members who become members in different ways: elected, selected and more. I am aware of three other women who have been members in the past decade or so. My goal is to interview all of these women and others who have been or are involved in their election or selection. That will take us to such farflung places as Maun, Ghanzi and Francistown, about which I am very excited. We leave for Gaborone on Thursday, July 28 from Philly traveling via Washington, DC, Dakar and Johannesburg and depart from Gabs on Monday, August 22 for the same return trip. So it will be a very busy and fun few weeks!

Sala Sentle Gaborone!

2009-07-01T12:55:00.002+02:00

We are so sad to have left Gaborone and Botswana and all of our friends there. But, finally our six months came to an end and we had to return to Delaware. Mave and Kuno went to school Monday and even Tuesday, the very day we left in the late afternoon. July 1 was President’s Day in Botswana so Thornhill was off for the rest of the week. Somehow that made it a little bit easier. Still the tears flowed with the final good-byes at school. Everyone wants to know when we will be back; everyone has exchanged email addresses. Things had been quite hectic in the last few weeks as we sold our car, took care of our utility accounts, did our gift shopping and figured out what to take and what to leave behind (and I did my last interviews). Mary and Bruce, Leloba and Mora helped us get ourselves and our things to the airport and at the airport we had final visits from other friends. Our travel home took us to Johannesburg (as does all air travel out of Gaborone), then an overnight up the continent to London. Here we sit at London Heathrow with our first Starbucks in six months, waiting for the flight back to Washington Dulles. We know we will be back to Botswana soon.

Gaborone Cultural Walk

2009-06-27T14:27:00.012+02:00

What better way to spend one's last Saturday in Gaborone than a 20 km walk around the city to see the historical sites and raise money for a 'charity'? That is what I did this morning, meeting a group of other walkers at the Three Dikgosi Monument at 6:30. It was very cold for the first few hours; indeed it has been in the mid 30s the past few nights and there was frost all over the ground this morning! Most of the other walkers were from two companies, DTC Botswana and BSB. The idea is that their companies pay for them to participate (a hefty sponsorship fee) and in the process demonstrate corporate responsibility and provide their employees with a team building opportunity. We followed a loop and it was lots of fun though I have seen many of the sites already. From the Three Chiefs we went to see the grave of 'El Negro' in Broadhurst then to Village (where we live) to see the fort, the prison, the graveyard and the botanical gardens. From there we walked to the Notwane Suspension Bridge which was built in the BP days to allow Batlokwa to cross the Notwane River to visit the Village of Gaberones. From there it was into town where we took in the residence of the Prime Minister, that is of Seretse Khama who was PM for one year before becoming President at independence. From there on to the statue of Seretse Khama and to the Morula Tree both of which are featured in our blog. And then the long haul back to the Three Chiefs. Fortunately, we took a short cut along the railroad tracks and behind the Attorney General's Chambers and the Ministry of Health. No one seemed particularly phased by the long walk; I think people are more used to walking. It was a great way to spend the last Saturday in Gaborone.

And the rest of the family? Mave and Kuno were both busy nearly all day (and all night in Mave's case) with birthday parties; so they are together with friends. Moses will go with his friend Masters in the evening to a Herero celebration in a nearby village (there are Herero in Botswana too though mostly in other parts of the country).

2009 National Women's Expo

2009-06-26T12:16:00.004+02:00

The 10th annual National Women's Exposition is taking place this week at the Ditshupo Hall on the Fairgrounds in Gaborone. It is sponsored by the Women's Affairs Department and offers women entrepreneurs the opportunity to share and exchange experiences, ideas and skills related to their businesses. Nono, fashion designer and dressmaker and friend from Kanye, had her Herero dolls and some skirts on display. Also to be found were many gorgeous baskets, Thamaga and some other pottery, jewelry, leather goods, traditional foods, wedding cakes and other baked items, and more. It was well worth the visit when Sethunya and I went through this morning.

Birthday Party

2009-06-21T08:49:00.011+02:00

June 20 was a milestone birthday for me and I decided I must celebrate appropriately. First, we went to a Music Festival at Botswanacraft sponsored by the Alliance Francaise. It was wonderful: all kinds of music and dance from local bands: traditional, classical, hiphop, afropop, heavy metal (!), hard rock (!), blues, kwasa kwasa, afrojazz, rumba, and more. It was really fun; as the afternoon wore on it got cold of course (it is still winter here) and so bonfires were lit. Around 7 we moved to the Red Lantern Chinese restaurant in Broadhurst. I had invited several friends, mostly from UB, for dinner. (I also wanted to thank them for being so supportive of me and my research over the past six months.) We closed down the restaurant and had a very good time, including moving speeches. Another of my friends here noted that reaching this birthday is 'an achievement.' I am not sure people in the US see age-ing in the same way, but here, where life expectancy is falling but also where elders are honored, one would see such a milestone in this way.

Ntlo ya Dikgosi

2009-06-15T18:26:00.002+02:00

Botswana has a unicameral parliament consisting of the National Assembly, but there is also a House of Chiefs known since 2005 by its Setswana name Ntlo ya Dikgosi. It has very limited powers, acting almost entirely in an advisory capacity. Currently there are four women chiefs among the 35 members, and one of them lives in nearby Ramotswa, capital of the Bamalete. I had the privilege of interviewing her today which was quite fascinating. I liked her very much. We recognized the Chief's and other offices as being just like those in Serowe, and also adjacent to the police and kgotla.

Kgari Sechele I Museum

2009-06-14T15:24:00.000+02:00

Sadly [and we are all very sad about our imminent departure!], we took our last Sunday excursion out of Gabs today - at least for this stay in Botswana. We went to Molepolole, otherwise known as Moleps, onetime capital of the Bakwena. It is not far, past the bus station and Gaborone Hotel, then the Grand Palm, and Mogoditshane, the car sales capital of Botswana, and about another 40 km. Many people were out, probably enjoying a nice day after our several days of 'after the harvest' rains. It looks like the road is in the process of being widened which slowed things down a bit, but will make for a much nicer drive some day.

Our goal in Molepolole was the Kgari Sechele I Museum. Unfortunately it was closed even though all the information says it is open Sunday 1-5 pm. Molepololele seems a sizeable town. We also saw the LMS church and Scottish Livingstone Hospital, once closely related though the latter is now a government hospital. In any case, it turns out that these small museums that we have visited are considered 'regional' museums and there are five of them in Botswana (with the National Museum in Gaborone, which administers them all, a sixth museum). Early on in our stay, while on the UB Cultural Excursion, we visited to the Phutadikobo Museum in Mochudi and while in Serowe recently we visited the Khama III Museum. Two that we have not visited are the Nhabe Museum in Maun and the Supa-Ngwato Museum in Francistown. The Kgari Sechele I Museum is a fifth.

2009 General Election

2009-06-07T08:10:00.003+02:00

This is an election year in Botswana - and in several other countries in the region - perfect timing for my research. National Assembly and local government elections will be held some time in October though the exact date (we know it will be a Saturday) has not yet been set. The president is not directly elected in Botswana, much to many people's dismay. Basically whichever party dominates the National Assembly will select the president. In Botswana one party alone has dominated parliament since independence and that is the Botswana Democratic Party, or BDP, though its support has fallen markedly over the years. But the BDP is ever so much better resourced than the two main opposition parties, the Botswana National Front, or BNF, and the Botswana Congress Party, or BCP. That is evident in the billboards all over town and the fancy trucks adorned in BDP slogans and megaphones. By now I have interviewed women politicians from all three parties, leaders of the women's wings of all three parties and (male) leaders of all three parties, many of whom are also candidates for parliament or local council. At this point I am really keen for the election results to see who makes it through. (Dumelang Saleshando is currently the only BCP MP in parliament; he is 'our' MP given that we live in Gaborone Central constituency.)

Zebras 4 Life

2009-06-06T22:10:00.005+02:00

Moses, Mave and Kuno went to watch the Botswana senior national team, the Zebras, in an international friendly match against the New Zealand senior national team, the 'All Whites,' as they are apparently 'affectionately' called, at the University of Botswana football stadium this afternoon. The National Stadium, which is close by UB and the UB Stadium, is being upgraded at the moment and so the game was held at the UB Stadium. It almost wasn't held there either because that stadium is also being upgraded and it wasn't clear it was going to be ready in time. In the end it all worked out. The game was a 0-0 draw, the second 'loss' for the Kiwis who were beaten last week by the Tanzania national team in Dar es Salaam. They are in the region for this month's Confederation Cup in South Africa. Botswana, of course, is hoping to benefit in various ways from next year's World Cup in Cape Town.

Maitirelo Cultural Festival

2009-05-30T16:10:00.006+02:00

There was a fancy culture and arts festival at Botswanacraft today which I wanted to attend but the pricey tickets disappeared quickly. Besides, there was a sponsored walk to raise funds for Thornhill at school from 9-12 am and the kids definitely wanted to participate in that. (Kuno walked 20 km!) Instead, Sethunya and Moroka and Kuno and I went to another festival at Tsholofelo Park in Broadhurst this afternoon, the Maitirelo Cultural Festival. It was small but nice, featuring a few local artists as well as Wild Foods, based in nearby Gabane, which sells foods such as marula and mmilo sustainably harvested by rural communities. The marula juice was delicious; other treats included dried cucumber slices and dried melon slices. There was a program as well which included several informative lectures. But what drew the most attention and applause was the dance troupes. It was interesting that as soon as the dancing began the tent filled to capacity with people keen to watch. The biggest attraction was Ditholwana Cultural Ensemble which performed a selection of dances from different parts of the country. This group was the pioneer in the early 1990s in promoting ‘traditional’ dancing; since their early heyday many other such ensembles have emerged and thrive.

The ailing US dollar

2009-05-29T17:46:00.010+02:00

Over the course of our five month stay here the dollar has more or less steadily declined in value. When we arrived one US dollar was worth well more than eight Botswana pula. Now one dollar hovers right around seven pula or even dips below. Indeed, in the course of our stay the rent for our flat has increased about 50 dollars per month! At the same time, when I go to sell my car for pula in another month's time I will do better with the stronger pula. Many things, including food, are still much cheaper here than in the US, helping to make this sabbatical possible.

Pula, of course, means 'rain' in Setswana and is also a cheer that is used in celebration (rain being so precious in Botswana). Coins are called 'thebe.' On this 100 pula note one finds the three chiefs who are memorialized in the Three Dikgosi Monument in Gaborone, among other places.

LMS Church in Serowe

2009-05-24T05:53:00.004+02:00

On the way out of town on Saturday morning, Moses wanted to stop by the London Missionary Society church that sits atop another hill in Serowe. Indeed you can see it from Thathaganyane Hill, the Khama burial ground. The church was built in 1912 under the reign of Khama III, the society’s ‘most famous convert’. At the end of Khama III’s reign, Bangwato membership in the LMS reached 3,000, though declined thereafter as many left the LMS church and joined independent churches.

Serowe

2009-05-23T08:05:00.009+02:00

On Friday, the plan was to see Serowe, as we had not had a chance to do that last time we visited the KRS. Checkout time at the KRS is 10 am and, indeed, we were on the road by 10. First stop was the Khama III Memorial Museum, on the way back into Serowe from KRS (which is actually on the road to Orapa). The museum is like many of the delightful small museums in towns all over Botswana: three to five rooms that tell an important piece of the history of that place, usually going back 100 or 150 years. There is often an exhibit of old and newer photographs as well as artefacts and displays that depict aspects of life in the past. Serowe has been the capital for the Bangwato, the largest and most prominent of the Batswana ‘tribes,’ since 1902 – before that Palapye and before that Shoshong (abandoned because of wood, grass and water depletion). The Khamas, of course, are the Ngwato royal family. Also at the museum, one will find the Bessie Head papers and a room that replicates the small house in which she lived and wrote for many years in Serowe. That room is full of photographs that chronicle her life, especially her years in Serowe and Botswana.

After a couple of hours there we headed into town to find some lunch. There is a pedestrian mall that begins with a blue clock tower that somehow resembles other clock towers we have seen in Botswana. Eventually we found a Chicken Licken’ and sated our hunger there. From town we set off for the Serowe kgotla. This is a pretty famous kgotla – the one at which on numerous occasions the Bangwato appealed to keep Seretse and Ruth Khama from being sent into exile, or appealed to have him back, and from where Seretse made the same unsuccessful bids. Our goal was to find a police escort up the hill to the Khama burial grounds that overlook Serowe. Indeed, that is the only way that one is allowed up the hill. But when we got to the kgotla and spoke with the police, they informed us that we needed the kgosi’s (chief’s) permission first. So we crossed the road and went to seek permission from the chief which he duly granted us. With our police escort we then climbed the hill, past the fat dassies or rock rabbits, sunning themselves on the rocks. The burial grounds is very cozy and intimate up there on the hill, containing the resting places of Khama chiefs and regents (and their wives) including Khama III, Tshekedi Khama and Seretse Khama. From there one also has a view of the vast village of Serowe.

After that visit we passed by a not very well taken care of and not very well done statue of Seretse Khama. From there we found the Serowe Hotel, where we stayed the night. The hotel does not look like much from the road, but is quite nice in the back where the rooms look out on a nice grounds, swimming pools, bar and tables. We were told that the Serowe Hotel has the best restaurant in town and, indeed, Moses was happy to finally enjoy some seswaa and pap.

KRS Again

2009-05-22T08:05:00.012+02:00

Thursday was Ascension Day and another religious holiday in Botswana! So the kids had Thursday and Friday off from school. We decided to return to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, so that Moses could experience it, and so that we could spend some time in Serowe which we had not done last time. So we left Gabs at about 8 in the morning and followed the same route, arriving at the KRS around noon. This time we found a number of BDF soldiers with horses about to go on a routine patrol (we were told) of the sanctuary. Indeed, I recently met with a visiting scholar from UT Austin, looking at civil military relations in Botswana (and other countries), who told me a couple of interesting things: that Botswana has the best military in Africa (at least in terms of training and resources) but that they spend most of their time controlling poachers (so as to protect the lucrative tourism industry) - and also on peacekeeping forces around the world. In any event, as we approached Serowe it became cloudy and overcast and we could see that people were very warmly dressed. Fortunately, we had packed accordingly.

After registering and hanging out for a bit in and around our Chalet F, we went on game drive. We were delighted to see that our guide was again Vivian. Well, this turned out to be quite a drive! Kuno very diligently took pictures, while Moses made a video. But the most remarkable moments of the drive were at the end. Just as it seemed the drive was winding down, we were driving around a bend in the road and there in front of us was an ENORMOUS white rhino! As Kuno quickly observed, this was the ‘experience of a lifetime.” Of course he quickly moved out of the way and into the bush but we still got some great views of him. We also could see quite clearly his tracks along one side of the sandy road (as well as his and his herd’s droppings). Well, we thought we had really seen something – and of course we had – and then we happened upon a mother rhino and her three week old baby rhino! The baby was about the size and shape of a warthog and was being very well looked after by its mother; sadly, by then it was really too dark to get any good pictures. The afternoon game drives start at about 4 pm and after about an hour and a half we watched as the sun set quickly on the horizon. Indeed, by the second hour of the drive we were very cold, despite our layers and fleeces. Fortunately, there were some blankets that Vivian pulled out to keep us warm for the final exciting moments of the game drive. As always in the southern African winter the best way to get warm is to go outside and find some sun – that is, until it sets.

The black rhinos eluded us this time, just as last. Oh well!

Soccer in Molepolole

2009-05-17T13:13:00.004+02:00

Yesterday Moses and Kuno ventured to Molepolole for a soccer game held at 3:30 in the afternoon. Molepolole is about 50 km northwest of Gaborone on the Molepolole Road. The two 'sides' were Notwane and Tafic; they are part of the Be Mobile Premier League sponsored by the Botswana Football Association. Moses and Kuno don't know who won because they left the game early. Botswana boasts several very nice soccer stadiums and Molepolole is one of them - with an entrance fee of only 20 pula each. Kuno is thrilled that now, during term 2 at Thornhill, he will at last be playing soccer!

Back to Gaborone

2009-05-12T11:51:00.004+02:00

All good things must come to an end and so we had to return to Gaborone, to school and to work. We were leaving right from the farm and were a bit worried about getting stuck in the sand on the dirt road on the way out and so Otniel had very kindly agreed to drive with us in his red truck which also meant we would have to leave quite early so he could get to work Monday morning. And so by the bright light of the moon we sadly departed the farm and the cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents, hoping that we might return soon. There had been a big rain storm the night before, strangely as the rainy season is supposed to be over (has happened recently in Gaborone as well). Once off the dirt road, a couple of hours on the gravel road and then turn left on the tarred road and it is straight, practically to our front door. The farm is in far eastern Namibia very close to the Botswana border, and within 30 km we were at the border. Then, the same, fortunately completely uneventful, trip back to Gaborone. By 5 pm we were unpacking, gathering piles of laundry and getting ready for the first day of term 2 at Thornhill.

Last Day on the Farm

2009-05-10T16:54:00.002+02:00

The routine on the farm goes something like this: at about 4:30 in the morning the first roosters crow. Grandma and Auntie Justina get up around 6, I think, and start the fire burning for breakfast tea. We have been getting up around 6:30 and by that time there is already a crowd around the fire. Breakfast consists of a sweet tea and bread of some kind, when there is any; when there isn’t, just tea. There is usually a large pot of pap cooking as well, as tea alone would obviously not sustain those who are working so hard on the farm. After breakfast the older girls do the dishes. Then the men and boys spend the morning tending to the cattle and goats and sheep and whatever other work needs to be done around the farm. The women might do some washing and cleaning and tending the various birds on the farm. All morning the kids will be playing – the boys usually with the soccer balls and the girls cards or something along those lines. Quietly, alone or in groups, people head into the bush to do their morning business. By 8 the sun is high in the sky though we have been lucky to have a breeze that has kept things pretty cool. Maybe around 11 or 12 preparations for lunch will begin and it will be ready around 2. When there is meat lunch will consist of meat, probably boiled in some way, and pap or rice, often with a sauce that contains potatoes. Preparing any meal is a huge task with so many people on the farm; we are probably 30 in all. After lunch and cleanup after lunch there is some time to rest. That might be a time for cleaning the small houses in which each family lives, doing washing, or just sitting in the shade of a tree. Around 4 or 5 the fires get going again and the preparations for evening tea begin. Again, if there is bread, there will be bread with the tea, if not then there will be only tea. On one of the fires water for bathing will be heating up and the girls in one house and boys in another will bathe pretty much communally from a large tub of water. Once people are clean and warmly dressed they gather back around the fire to talk the night away. Often the older boys and younger men will be at one fire and everyone else at the other. Last night all of the kids were with the older boys and Kuno was regaling them with jokes.

This morning Kuno was given a female goat, to begin his own herd! Later in the morning another delicacy of the goat from a few days ago was cooked and served – the stomach and the ears. Moses and Kuno very much enjoyed that, though Mave was less impressed.

Trip to Talismanus

2009-05-09T16:53:00.001+02:00

There is so much work to do on the farm, and now that there are older kids they can at least help out. There is a borehole nearby but there have always been problems with it and now someone, usually Uncle Otniel, has to go to Talismanus every weekend to get water and bring it back to the farm. This is especially critical when there are so many people on the farm at once. So we went along in our car to Talismanus. In the three years since we were last in Talismanus it seems to have grown some with a new restaurant, shop and takeaway. I especially like going to Talismanus in order to buy what they call ‘Herero bread.’ It is a dense homemade raisin bread and just delicious with the sweet tea that they serve on the farm. The water is fetched from Uncle Emmanuel’s place, so we spent quite a bit of time there visiting with him too.

On the Farm

2009-05-08T15:45:00.003+02:00

On Thursday we headed to the farm to see the grandparents. It is also the school holiday, though just started, in Namibia and so there are many kids – around 15 – on the farm. That is what they do during the three school holidays per year as there is nothing for them to do home alone and in the city. We left Windhoek around 10 and headed for Gobabis, where we would pick up the Transkalahari if we were heading back to Gaborone. There we stopped by Jet Mart to say hello to Auntie Albertina and then met Uncle Otniel and his red truck at Shop Rite where we would be doing the shopping for the farm, things like sugar, oil, rice, milk, bread, potatoes and lots of other provisions to add to what is already there (and goes very fast with so many people). About half an hour beyond Gobabis we turned off the tarred road onto the dirt road to Rietfontein headed for Talismanus, the town, or really village, nearest to the farm. The road was not bad for us to drive on in our Toyota Verso. After Talismanus, a couple of hours later, we turned off onto a dirt road which was much more difficult for us to drive on as we were riding a little low. By the time we arrived at the farm it was quite dark and we found everyone gathered around the fire where Shikuu was serving tea. The kids were thrilled to unpack all of the provisions, especially the bread that would serve as the evening fare along with the tea. Auntie Justina had made a special treat in honor of Mave, vetkoekies – which we were delighted to eat with our tea. It quickly became very cool though the fire kept us warm. Kuno fell asleep early and the rest of us turned in a bit later.

This morning we all awoke around 6 am, and crawled out of our small house around 6:30. Many people were already up and tea was being brewed. We had a leisurely breakfast and then the kids started on some serious playing. There were races, including relay races, dodge ball, horseback riding, cards, hunting, sling shots and, of course, soccer. About mid morning it was time to think about the mid day meal and so a goat was found and ‘prepared.’ That did not take long and before we knew it we were enjoying the first delicacies of the goat - liver and kidney. Lunch of meat and rice followed. In the meantime we also watched as a horse was being trained; a few horses are kept on hand in the event that it becomes necessary to go out and find a stray cow or two. We also watched as Shikuu and Auntie Justina prepared the ‘Herero fat’ or butter, by shaking up a huge calabash of milk that had stood overnight. At some point the fat would be scraped off the top and the butter, which everyone loves, prepared.

Katutura Single Quarters

2009-05-06T19:55:00.007+02:00

This morning Nawa said that she needed to check up on some Herero dresses she was having made in Katutura and I thought that would be a great opportunity for the kids to see a bit of Katutura. This would be the one time ‘black township’ for Windhoek, just as Khomasdal served as the ‘Coloured township.’ Both essentially continue in those capacities – and are a distance from the CBD and the ‘white suburbs,’ which are no longer only white. In all of these areas too tremendous building and growth has taken place. I could probably hardly find my way around Katutura today and I used to know it like the back of my hand. Nawa drove the white bakkie and Ndahafa went with. Mave and Kuno were thrilled to finally be riding in the back of a bakkie, even if with a cover. We stopped first at the market in the Single Quarters which was once a place you would want to stay away from and was just a haphazard open market. Today there is a roof overhead and lots of stalls for hair salons, dressmakers and tailors, television and computer repair, food stuffs and a long outer row of braaivleis – roasting meat. We stopped there and enjoyed $N10 worth of roasted meat. On our way out we noticed a tour bus and group of Europeans touring the market. From there we passed by the Herero Market and then on to Soweto Market, not nearly as interesting somehow.

After we got home we headed back into town - we thought for some cake, which Mave had requested from yesterday. Instead we had a so-so lunch at News Café Central. This was our third stop; it seemed hard to find a place with only light meals. As we were returning to the car we encountered two stunning Himba women crossing Independence Avenue. They were ochred all over and their hair was beautifully done. They strutted proudly up the street, one of them only half clad, with a smart leather bag in her hand. I said I had never seen Himba women like that in Windhoek and Nawa said it has become very popular now for them to come to Windoek to shop.

Once home, for the second night in a row, we had lots of visits from family members living in Windhoek. Among others, Harari, who looked after Kuno when we were on sabbatical in Namibia in 2002, came by. Of course, she could not believe how big Kuno is now!

Windhoek: 'Obama for Africa'

2009-05-05T18:00:00.004+02:00

Today we went into ‘town,’ taking cousin Megan along, so the kids could see it. Mave had a memory of Windhoek, but Kuno did not. Windhoek has grown quite a bit since independence and now boasts a huge Supreme Court that overlooks the central car park, where a hotel and casino are in the process of being built. There are new shops and even new small malls, new government buildings, a new National Archives and so on. The kids wanted to go to the pedestrian mall at Wernhill and that is what we did. There have always been large spreads of African wares, mostly geared to tourists, at this spot, and we were not disappointed. From there we decided we needed some lunch and they all went KFC which they had been hankering after and I went off to the Craft Centre for some gift shopping and perhaps lunch. At least at the Craft Centre most of the items are Namibian made. From there one can pick up tours of Windhoek and surrounding areas. From there we headed back to Jakes’ nicely and newly renovated house in Dorado Park and pretty much hung out for the rest of the day.

As we got out of the car, a young man walked by wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Obama on it. On the back it said quite simply: ‘Obama for Africa.’ Everyone here in Africa does believe that he is theirs; indeed, they believe that Obama is a gift – to the world.

Transkalahari Highway to Namibia

2009-05-04T21:37:00.009+02:00

Today began our trip to Namibia to see Moses’ family and friends. We had decided that we could not take the Tazz because it is too small to be comfortable, to be safe and to carry all of our things. So we rented a Toyota Verso which is very nice; we also managed to get ourselves a good deal that included unlimited mileage. On the road we also realized another reason not to take the Tazz and that is that it is too small to go 160 km/hr comfortably, if at all! That of course was really too fast to be driving and we will drive more slowly on the way back.

We left Gaborone around 7 am, having aimed for 6 since it is a long trip – 1112 km to be exact. As always the road to Kanye was quite busy, at least to Thamaga. Around Kanye we noticed something very strange – brown and black clouds and then very dense fog. We passed through without incident and picked up the Transkalahari Highway. Then we were on to Jwaneng where we made our first pit stop and passed the Cezar Hotel where we stayed when we did this same trip almost three years ago. Outside of Jwaneng we saw our first road kill being feasted upon by a flock of huge vultures. First we saw a cow and much later a donkey, both of which had presumably been hit by vehicles. Within another hour we were in Sekoma and the sun was starting to beat down intensely and the animals were starting to seek refuge under the trees.

Beyond Sekoma one enters the Kgalagadi, otherwise known as the Kalahari. What we saw was mostly savannah, tall yellow grass waving in the breeze. By 11:15, 425 km from Gaborone, we were at the Kang Ultra Stop, one of the few places to get food and fuel along the Transkalahari. We spent too long eating lunch at the Kang Ultra Stop and were off by about 12:30. Three hours later we were finally on the border with Namibia. As we got closer to the border we appeared to pass through several San communities that looked quite poor by Botswana standards, though there were villages with small houses. I think this is evidence of the ‘remote area development’ that has been targeted at the San in Botswana. The two border posts took a while, especially the Namibian one where we had to pay a fee – in Namibian dollars or South African rands only – for bringing in our car. Also, the Otjiherero speaking soldier at the border post wanted to have a lengthy conversation with Moses. On our way through we picked up a passenger for Gobabis, 110 km away.

Once in Namibia I was surprised to see roads with no shoulders and no bus stops on the side of the ride for ‘hikers’ and others to pick up a ride. There was, however, lots of grass at the side of the road that had not been slashed. On either side of the road, as well, were very fine fences demarcating vast privately owned commercial farms. Welcome to Namibia! At THE Shell Service Station in Gobabis we met many Haimbodi family members who had been together on the farm and were waiting for our arrival. Also at the Shell Station we saw our first street children pleading for money or food; this is something one does not see in Botswana. By then it was getting quite late and it was time to finish the final leg of the journey to Windhoek. We had panoramic views on either side of us, such as I have not seen in Botswana. We watched a spectacular sunset that lit the sky with reds and blues, purples and pinks, yellows and blues. Finally, in the dark of night we arrived in Windhoek.

The National Museum

2009-04-30T17:35:00.000+02:00

This was week three of the school holiday, the week that the kids had nothing to do but wait for Moses to arrive and celebrate Mave’s birthday. We did the latter by taking a couple of friends to Riverwalk to Wimpy’s for lunch and an afternoon showing of the new Hahnhnah Mohntahnah movie. It wasn’t bad….on Tuesday and Wednesday they were lucky to be taken to Notwane on the Lobatse Road to do a two day pottery workshop. In addition, we managed a visit to the National Museum, which also wasn’t bad. We had been there our first (and last) time in Botswana and found it to be as interesting this time around as last. It is a very small museum but tells the story of Botswana’s past, going way back, and some of the present. It is definitely worth a visit.

Gaborone's Malls

2009-04-26T10:06:00.012+02:00

One of the Botswana travel guides asserts that today Gaborone has 'more retail shopping space per person than almost any other city in the world.' That is quite a claim! But there are indeed many malls from which the avid shopper may choose. We frequently mention Riverwalk Mall which is about one km from our flat and a very popular spot for all of Gaborone. That is where we do our grocery shopping and often pick up any clothes or household items that we need. There is also a very good bookstore, a movie theater and several restaurants and cafes, all of which are located around the perimeter and so have pleasant indoor/outdoor seating. Riverwalk Mall is only about five or six years old; same for Game City which is on the other side of town and abuts the older, more intimate Kgale Hill shopping center. Game City has all of the big South African department stores as well as a couple of grocery stores, a bookstore and movie theater. The eating establishments are inside in a kind of food court and not very inviting. Game City is far for us on heavily trafficked roads and not nearly as nice as Riverwalk; we seldom go there.

Much older are the Main Mall and the African Mall 'in town.' Gaborone was more or less built around the Main Mall and Government Enclave. The Main Mall is just east of Government Enclave, across Khama Crescent. It is a large open pedestrian mall and a place where Batswana sell their locally produced goods. There is also much foodstuff for sale as well as essentials such as airtime and sweets. There are large office buildings on either side of the mall, including the President's Hotel. Today the Main Mall appears somewhat rundown but it is a very lively place during weekdays as government and office workers create a steady flow of foot traffic. My favorite, though, is the African Mall, just up Independence Avenue from the Main Mall. The shops and restaurants of the African Mall form a square around a central car park (where one can have one's car hand washed while shopping for 25 pula). At the African Mall one will find a great Indian restaurant, great Thai restaurant and great Portuguese restaurant as well as Timba Trading for German Print fabrics. There is also the Just Confectionary and Just Bread Bakery where one can buy cakey bread and warm vetkoekies. There are all kinds of other shops and services from which to choose as well. We have come to realize that Gaborone is really a huge city and there are many other smaller malls and markets in every part of town, not to mention the industrial areas and commerce parks!

The Weather

2009-04-23T05:35:00.002+02:00

For months now we have noted how hot it is here in Botswana. I have seen something here I have seen nowhere else in Africa - and that is people carrying umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun. That is quite common here. And of course we had a very rainy rainy season, with many torrential downpours and terrific thunderstorms. Well, now, if you have seen the pictures of long lines of South Africans queuing to vote in the election yesterday, you will have noticed how warmly dressed they were. Here in Botswana also, winter seems to have arrived! Indeed, we have been told that since there was so much rain and it rained late into March we are in for a long, cold winter. As soon as the sun goes down it gets quite cool with nights being downright chilly. The past couple of days have also been windy and overcast. Yesterday, it seemed that all Batswana had hauled out their winter coats and scarves!

Botswana Society Lecture

2009-04-22T06:48:00.005+02:00

The Botswana Society is another gemstone here in Botswana. It is a membership organization formed shortly after independence that encourages research and scholarship on Botswana. They publish an annual journal, Botswana Notes and Records, and an occasional paper series and sponsor public lectures and larger symposia and workshops. They have an office out at Kgale Siding where I have been able to peruse all of their past publications.

Last night Mary, Leloba and I went to a Botswana Society lecture held at the National Museum with the intriguing title: 'Lady Ruth Khama, Barack Obama and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?' delivered by Neil Parsons, longtime history professor at the University of Botswana. Two decades ago, when researching the Seretse Khama biography, Parsons was apparently told by Lady Ruth that the above named film was based on her story with Seretse Khama. During a recent sabbatical leave he followed up on this tip and the lecture last night presented his findings. Indeed, he learned that the author of the filmscript did know the Khamas in London as well as Peggy and Joe Appiah another British/African (Ghana) pair. To make a long story short, Parsons found some credence to Lady Ruth's assertion though the four main characters were based on slightly different individuals, with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy based on Peggy Appiah's aristocratic parents and Sidney Poitier's character based on a Sierra Leonean diplomat and parent of one of the private school friends of the author's daughter. Parsons played some clips of the film including the prophetic one in which the young man is asked about the couple's children. He replies that she thinks they will one day be President of the United States while he sets his sights slightly lower at Secretary of State. In 1991 a film called 'A Marriage of Inconvenience' - definitely the Khamas' story - was released.

Sitting in front of me at the lecture was Muriel Sanderson, sister of Lady Ruth Khama. For many years she lived and worked in Zambia, then eventually relocated to Botswana where she has lived ever since. She told us about her parents' reactions to Seretse and Ruth's marriage - that her father never accepted it (let alone the children), though her mother, from much the same background as her father, was able to embrace the marriage and family. She also told us that one evening, long before the film, she, Seretse, Ruth and Sidney (who had taken an interest in the Seretse-Ruth story and wanted to meet them) had a delightful evening together in London.

Fashion Design in Kanye

2009-04-19T06:28:00.004+02:00

A couple of weeks ago at Family Day at the Thapong Art Centre we met Nono, fashion designer and maker of Herero dolls. Well, I had been looking for someone who could make me some German Print skirts and it turns out that Nono could do that for a very good price. So I went to Timba Trading in the African Mall and purchased some fabric, one brown and one blue, and met Nono one day at Kalahari Quilts at the Craft Market in Broadhurst where she sells some of her merchandise. Nono lives in Kanye and I thought it would be fun to go there and pick up the skirts when they were finished. Then I was talking to Sethunya who needs a German Print skirt for a wedding and whose aunt Anna lives in Kanye. So on Saturday we and Sethunya and Motswedi and Moroka headed for Kanye. It is only about 80 km away but took well over an hour with traffic and the usual driving conditions. It was a familiar road, the one we had taken recently to Gabane and longer ago to Thamaga. Once at the junction to Kanye, when we saw the huge sign for Jwaneng and Windhoek, we realized that we had passed that way before a few years ago on our way to Namibia. In the end, we did not see that much of the very large town of Kanye, rather spent most of our time at Nono's house or Anna's house or climbing the tree that grows out of a concrete block. Mave had been a little concerned that we were traveling to yet another village - given that they all 'look alike.' But Kanye is much bigger than that. We didn't leave till about 5:30 and it was nearly dark within half an hour. That is a lovely time to be traveling with the sun setting, the cows heading home, the children running home, the fires burning and everyone thinking about settling in for the evening. Once back in Gaborone the usual heavy traffic and city life!

O tsogile jang?

2009-04-18T10:21:00.007+02:00

I am very excited to be taking a Setswana class. I had heard of a course earlier in our stay but just did not know how I would manage it on top everything else, especially as it is offered on Fridays at 5 pm! I am in a Beginning class for the next several weeks and may even have time to join an Intermediate class before we leave. I feel much better knowing that I will soon be able to say more than 'dumela mma' and 'dumela rra' and 'tankie.' The classes are held at the Alliance Francaise, a very short distance from our flat. I have seen them all over English speaking Africa (and of course the US). They often bring the arts and culture from Francophone West Africa to Anglophone counterparts. They always offer French classes and local language classes. There are five of us in the class with Phemelo, our teacher: a Mostwana who appears to have grown up in the US and returned home recently, an Australian, German, Tanzanian, Zimbabwean and myself. The kids have conversational Setswana at school once a week and Kuno has long had a notebook where he keeps a growing list of all of the Setswana words that he has learned.

Postscript: the image above is from our night out at News Cafe after our last class!

King's Camp

2009-04-16T18:11:00.008+02:00

The primary and secondary school year in southern Africa is much different than in the USA. As we have noted, the school year is the calendar year and basically the kids are in school for three months, out for a month, in for three months, out for a month, in for three months and out for a month. So, around Easter, Mave and Kuno began a four week school holiday! Lucky for us there is a camp for them to attend. It is called King's Camp and is run by a local foundation; indeed, the two week camp raises most of the money that they use during the rest of the year. The camp is held during the first two weeks of the break, daily from 8-1. It is held this year at Northside School, one of the other private primary schools. Fortunately, the kids love it! They are in two different groups, determined by age. They swim every day, do other sports, art and music. The counselors are extremely enthusiastic! We are not sure what we will do for the third week and by the fourth Moses will be here and we will be off to Namibia. When we return from Namibia the kids will be back in school for term two - and be there right up until we leave at the end of June. Interestingly, we have seen several other schools in Gaborone by now and after visiting each one we reconfirm that we definitely like Thornhill best of them all. It seems almost everyone I interview has sent their children or is sending their grandchildren to Thornhill School!

Visit to Gabane

2009-04-12T05:27:00.013+02:00

On Saturday we were very busy. We left early in the morning for Gabane, a nearby village, where I had two interviews to conduct with two sisters, one an officeholder with the Botswana Caucus for Women in Politics and former Gaborone city councillor (turned hi tech tomato farmer) and the other a candidate for parliament. Some weeks ago I had been invited to attend a BCWP workshop for members from all political parties and to give a presentation, which I did. The workshop was sponsored by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and held at the President's Hotel on the Main Mall. There were several presenters and I found it all to be highly interesting, although much of it was in Setswana. At the workshop I had made these contacts, among many others. The kids went along and played outside for hours while we conversed inside. Of course, we did not leave without having a nice lunch of roasted meat, salads, rice and potatos. From there we returned to Gaborone and passed through to Tlokweng to visit Imelda with whom I had also scheduled an interview. She was the facilitator of the workshop and most recently has held a leading position with Emang Basadi, the women's organization. There Kuno was delighted to play soccer in the street with the grandchildren. We ended the day with homemade pizza and chocolate Easter eggs at Mary and Bruce's house.

Easter in Botswana

2009-04-11T08:41:00.003+02:00

Easter seems to be a big holiday in Botswana. The government, the University, many businesses and shops are closed on Friday and Monday or, in the case of the latter, at least have limited hours. It is not clear to me how pervasive organized religion is in the country. There are certainly several large churches and many smaller ones in town, as well as a large mosque just across the traffic circle from UB. I am told that in Botswana people have succesfully blended imported religions with indigenous practices. Interestingly, in Botswana the chiefs were among the earliest and most successful converts to Christianity.

Over the Easter holiday, many Batswana go to 'the village' to see their families. Thursday the streets and town were very busy as people were preparing to leave. On Friday things were much more quiet. We did our grocery shopping in the morning before the shops closed since we were going to be away all of Saturday. As usual we went first to Pick n Pay for the majority of our groceries and then to Woolworths for our Trader-Joes-in-Botswana shopping experience. For weeks we had seen lots of Easter candy - aimed at the expatriates - but by the time we got there on Friday it was all gone! So no jelly beans and chocolate Easter bunnies for us this year.

Our Lemon Tree

2009-04-06T05:30:00.001+02:00

As we noted earlier in the year, we have a lemon tree in the backyard and it seems to be the fruit bearing season just now. Our friend and neighbor, Mary, also has a lemon tree and she has been making lemon poppy seed cakes for us of late. She inspired Mave and Kuno to collect lemons from our tree and they have been making fresh lemonade daily. Many people seem to have fruit trees in their gardens. When we went to Jose and Leps' house in January we admired their many fruit trees: avocados, oranges and limes, mangos, figs, pomegranates, and more. Leloba has given us guavas from her garden. We are being spoiled by all of the fresh and flavorful produce, even from the grocery store.

National Botanical Garden

2009-04-05T16:25:00.005+02:00

Right here in our neighborhood you will also find the National Botanical Garden, behind the Gym Activ complex, run by the National Museum. We had heard about it and then last weekend set out to find it, right off of Maratadiba Rd heading out of town and toward Tlokweng. Today we decided to stroll over and have a look. Truthfully, there is not much there. It was apparently upgraded about five years ago but does not appear to receive many visitors. It has nice walkways and lots of granite rock to climb on, as well as many well marked cacti and trees. There is a small museum, in the building that once housed the original Gaborone Hotel. There are wide benches and it was very peaceful!

Family Art Day at Thapong

2009-04-04T16:02:00.009+02:00

The Maitisong Festival is coming to an end this weekend and one of the last events was a free Family Art Day at Thapong Art Center - Botswana's only art center - located right on our corner. Very sadly, hardly anyone showed up and I cannot really figure out why. At many of the other events, I suppose, at least the family and friends of the performers were there. But at this event the audience were to be the performers. Kuno drew a color pencil self-portrait and was interviewed and photographed by the government newspaper, the Daily News. We bought a Botswana-style Herero doll (they are much larger here than in Namibia) and made arrangements with the maker of the dolls for the sewing of some German Print skirts. We admired the clay pots being made and we took a tour around the current exhibit at Thapong. Kuno is hoping to do some art classes at Thapong during the third week of the upcoming school break.

Txtng w the wmn mps

2009-04-03T05:20:00.002+02:00

So you would like to interview someone in Gaborone? All you need is a mobile phone, an eight digit number and some airtime (and of course your respondents' phone numbers; that is where some research or connections may come in). When I first met some of the women MPs they advised me that I would best be able to reach them by texting, not calling. The implication was that their constituents call and I would be better able to get through by texting. And so I have. And it does not matter where they are. I have texted back and forth with them while they were in the US, Nigeria and South Africa. A typical 'conversation':

GB: Dear hon xxxxxx may i interview u for study on women mps in bots have already spoken w 4 others regards gretchen xxxxxx
BT: M IN S A WL BE HME ON FRDY
GB: [very keen to seize upon an immediate reply and apparent willingness] Perhaps we can meet one morning next wk thanks gretchen
BT: OKAY DEAR

I have not noticed many 'blueberries' and think that mobiles definitely predominate. I read recently in a newspaper that mobile coverage in Botswana has now reached a 'saturation point.' I do email with colleagues at UB, those in the donor community, NGOs, the regional and international organizations, and some people in government. (I am liable to text or call them too.) With the one male MP I have so far interviewed I made a phone call, facilitated first by someone else.

Maitisong Festival

2009-04-02T05:10:00.004+02:00

Every March-April in Gaborone (since 1987) a performing arts festival, called the Maitisong Festival, takes place. This year the festival started in mid-March and runs into early April. It seems to rely heavily on national talent, though some regional and international acts may be brought in as well. The office and many of the shows are at Maru a Pula School, one of the secondary schools in Gaborone, where a hall was built for Maitisong more than two decades ago. Other performances are at other schools, the National Museum, Alliance Francaise, Gaborone Sun and various other venues. So far, we have enjoyed three of the shows. The first, Circus of Dreams, was produced by the Drama Department at Maru a Pula. It was a somewhat abstract show with a slightly morbid overtone, but many different acts that the kids and the audience really enjoyed, including song and dance, juggling, unicycling, and an amazing 'magic trick.' On Tuesday we ventured out on a school night to see a performance of the World Dance Academy, based here in Gaborone, and a tribute to Michael Jackson, again produced by the Maru a Pula students, that was quite stunning - both at Maitisong Hall at Maru a Pula. Last night we attended a Choir Festival, as part of Maitisong, at Thornhill. This show brought together choirs from several of the primary schools - and a very nice guest adult choir - Maikano Serenaders - for a very enjoyable evening. Mave and her friends were pressed into being ushers to help seat the hundreds of family members who came out for the festival.

Maru a Pula seems to be the Cab Calloway of Gaborone (in terms of arts, anyway), though it is not officially an arts school. It was founded in 1972 to serve as a model of non-racial education in southern Africa and today has about 600 day and boarding students. It has a progressive and holistic approach to education and a rich tradition of caring for the community. Unfortunately, Mave missed going there by one year as it begins with Form One (grade seven). It is reputed to be one of the premier academic institutions in Africa; indeed, my understanding is that it consistently has the best test scores among secondary schools in all of southern Africa! It seems like an incredible school.....

A Visit from Namibia

2009-03-29T10:16:00.011+02:00

We were very lucky this weekend to have a visit from family in Namibia: Jakes, Nawa, Mirjam, Daniel, Ndahafa, Megan, Avehee, Edison, and Tjiripo. It is such a long trip from Windhoek to Gaborone - 1090 kms to be exact! And one that we will be making soon in the opposite direction. They arrived about 2 am on Friday morning and left around 8 am this morning. So a very quick visit, but the only one possible with everyone's busy schedules. Mave and Kuno were especially happy to be able to play with their cousins; Kuno was very eager to know how to say this and how to say that in Otjiherero. We showed them as much of Gaborone as we were able to, including all of our malls - Riverwalk, Main Mall, African Mall, Borakanelo Market, Game City - and then some of the more historical sites like Government Enclave and the Three Dikgosi Monument, and our neighborhood, Thornhill School, Kgale Hill, University of Botswana and more. On Friday night some of the adults went to Ashoka Palace for dinner which was very nice. Early Saturday morning we did a game drive through the Gaborone Game Reserve where the attendant on duty was a Herero-speaking Mostwana, very anxious to talk about Namibia from where (of course) his family hails. We spent a lot of time trying to find just the right German Print fabric for a Herero dress, though in the end were not successful. In general, it was great just to visit and catch up on news!

Internet Cafes

2009-03-23T16:47:00.003+02:00

Kuno thought that we should write about internet cafes. In some parts of town there is an internet cafe on almost every block, or so it seems. During our first month here, before we got wireless at home, we spent a few to several hours a week at our neighborhood internet cafe, Village Internet Cafe. It is a very busy place with about 10 computers, often all occupied; it also provides typing, printing, photocopying and other such services. It is also well stocked with school supplies and we have made emergency trips for those on several occasions. The staff are very friendly and we are always happy to see them again. These days, however, about the only time we go to an internet cafe is when Mave has ballet. Out there in Broadhurst Industrial Area internet cafes also abound; there is a small one just across the street and that is where Kuno and I go to pass the time. Kuno gets some game time and I just read. That one, with only four computers in a very small room, is usually pretty empty and I cannot figure how anyone is making any money. The going rate everywhere is about 10 pula (about $1.10) for an hour of internet/computer time.

Mave's Sleepovers

2009-03-22T12:42:00.000+02:00

It seems like Mave has a sleepover every other weekend. Last weekend, following the disco at Thornhill, we even had a sleepover in our small flat! Here is Mave with some friends from Thornhill after a birthday sleepover at a friend's house. Not all the friends from the party are even in the picture......

Ditshwanelo Human Rights Film Festival

2009-03-21T05:27:00.013+02:00

The Ditshwanelo Centre for Human Rights in Gaborone has been advocating on behalf of Batswana and others in the region for more than 15 years. It is directed by Alice Mogwe, a gender and human rights activist. For the past several years they have organized an annual human rights film festival. Last night Sethunya and I attended a Zimbabwe themed evening of films at the festival. The first, 'Shame of Musina,' exposed the disgraceful conditions at the Musina refugee camp in South Africa, just over the border from Zimbabwe. The South Africans, determined not to 'encourage' Zimbabweans to enter their country, refused to erect tents of any kind and barely provided water or sanitation facilities to the thousands in the camps. The conditions were unspeakable and in early March this year they shut down the camp - leaving the occupants stranded. The second and third films: 'Democray - Missing - Presumed Dead' and 'Death of a Nation' documented the beatings and killings of men, women and children in Zimbabwe, the burning of whole villages that had supported the MDC in the election, often times led by ZANU PF Members of Parliament, and the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy, infrastructure, living standards. People in the rural areas forced to eat berries and hacha, no clean water or medical supplies available and hence a cholera epidemic for a disease that can normally be prevented and treated. The last was a film version of a play that was staged in Gaborone last year: 'The People's Voice,' which addressed the plight of Zimbabweans in Botswana. The play pokes fun at the Botswana response to the influx of Zimbabweans with many more serious barbs. Here Zimbabweans have not been confined to camps but are dispersed throughout the country, with large concentrations in Francistown and Gaborone. They certainly face discrimination and fear being picked up and deported by the police.

One of the big points of the play was: Where is SADC? Where are Zimbabwe's neighbors to speak out on behalf of the battered people of Zimbabwe? This lack of response too has been maddening. Ian Khama has actually been more forthright on this issue than any other leader in the region. Remarkably, within 12 hours of the installation of Andry Rajoelina in Madagascar this week, SADC issued a statement condemning the action and threatening sanctions against the country. And yet the same leaders have not been able to respond to a much more urgent situation in a country that has seen the worst human rights abuses in years in the region.

One of the recent campaigns organized by Ditshwanelo was the Fight Cholera Campaign at Xmas time. At bus and train stations in Botswana, where Zimbabweans would be boarding to head home for the Xmas holiday, they made available 10 sachets per person containing tablets for cleaning water. One sachet cost 50 thebe (about five cents) and would purify 10 litres of water with the hope being that those returning home (and later back to Botswana) would have clean water available to them while there.

The National Archives

2009-03-19T17:45:00.000+02:00

One of my favorite colleagues in the Department of Sociology is Sethunya. I heard that she was taking her research methods class to the National Archives for a tour, so I invited myself along. The National Archives, also in Government Enclave, operates under the motto: 'Preserving Our Past, Securing Our Future.' The emphasis from our guide was definitely on the more distant past. Indeed, there is a '20 year' rule which means that some more recent materials will not be available. All of the archivists whom we met were very welcoming and clearly dedicated to maintaining a record of Botswana's past and present. The students seemed very interested in the history of Botswana contained within the Archives walls. I look forward to working there in the weeks and months ahead.

Kuno on GABZ FM

2009-03-16T07:10:00.006+02:00

Every morning on our 12 minute drive to school we listen to GABZ FM - to "the best breakfast show south of the Sahara" with Lebo and Gabriel. Every morning at that time the presenters ask a question, clearly aimed at young kids on their way to school. Well, this morning Kuno decided to call in to answer the question: Why is blue cheese blue? First, they gave a few wrong answers that had been sent in by SMS and then they played the conversation with Kuno, called in by mobile phone from the car. It was fun! Other questions that we have heard include: how many US states? What is the largest mountain range in Africa? What imaginary line runs through Botswana? Who built the Botswana rail line? The 'answer' to that question was Cecil John Rhodes though, as the presenters were quickly corrected in a text message, the real answer is: "The natives built the rail line!"

Postscript: It turns out - from all the friends at school who were also listening to GABZ FM in the morning - that it is totally uncool to call in with an answer to the question. It is hard being the new kids in town.....

Thamaga Pottery

2009-03-15T15:43:00.022+02:00

We headed to Thamaga this Sunday, to visit Thamaga Pottery. Thamaga is about 40 km west of Gaborone on the road to Kanye. From Kanye one can pick up the Transkalahari Highway and head to Namibia, which we will do in May. Unfortunately, my least favorite though very common southern African driving conditions prevailed: a wet two lane road with a 120 km/hr speed limit which most drivers exceed, except for the 80 and 60 km speed limits when passing (frequently) through villages, an abundance of goats, cattle and stubborn donkeys on the side of the road as well as men on bicycles and other pedestrians, often women carrying loads on their heads or boys carrying firewood on their heads or in wheelbarrows, the occasional donkey cart (ok, the donkey cart was in Thamaga), heavily laden small, old white bakkie traveling 40 km/hr or huge lorry or bus traveling 130 km/hr, high grass along the roadside making visibility poor and hiding animals, and the odd cattle grille or pothole. Other than all of that, no problem.

We passed through a few villages on our way to Thamaga - Mogaditshane while still close to Gabs, then Kumakwane and Gabane. We had actually been out this way on the weekend of our Cultural Excursion and today saw the turnoff to the Livingstone Memorial in Kolobeng (which we have not visited) and the Baharutshe Cultural Village. To get to Thamaga Pottery one takes the first turnoff to Thamaga and then the first turnoff to Molepolole and it is about one km up on the right. In Thamaga people were streaming out of their churches, though in the one next to Thamaga Pottery the singing was still going strong. Thamaga Pottery has been in existence for nearly 40 years now. It employs about 20 villagers and is supervised by a village committee. A distinctive 'Thamaga' pottery style has developed and is known throughout Botswana and even other parts of the world. The shop is open daily 8 to 5 though the potters do not work on the weekends. We think the bowls, especially, will make lovely gifts!

The Morula Tree

2009-03-14T16:31:00.012+02:00

One of the things I have just loved about my sabbatical is all of the reading I have been able to do, in particular Botswana history and politics. It has been fascinating to learn so much about another country in southern Africa, having spent so much time in the past on one, Namibia. I have been surprised, though should not have been, at how very different Botswana politics and history are. One of my special interests has been the formation and emergence of political parties in Botswana, as it is clear that they are a big part of the answer to my research question. I have been scouring books and articles looking for any references to women having been involved in this process. And (as I suspected), with one exception, I cannot find any. Parties emerged much later in Botswana than in the rest of Africa, including neighboring countries. Indeed there was not really much of the nationalist mobilization in Bechuanaland that there was in other territories. Certainly there were no liberation movements that resorted to armed struggle as in almost every one of Botswana's settler colony neighbors. [This would create enormous challenges for desperately poor and isolated Botswana at independence. With the later discovery of diamonds and the slow march to freedom in neighboring countries the situation would change, albeit haltingly.]

So what does that have to do with a morula tree? Well, the first significant political party to emerge in Botswana was the Bechuanaland [Botswana] People's Party in 1960 which attracted an early following especially along the 'line of rail' from Lobatse to Francistown. The BPP had a lot of external African support and southern African influence, having been started largely by miners and other workers returned from South Africa. It won three seats in the first parliament though eventually suffered the consequences of debilitating splits. The next significant party to emerge was the Bechuanaland [Botswana] Democratic Party in 1962 founded by, among others, Seretse Khama and Quett Masire, the northerner and southerner, 'chief' and 'commoner,' who would be Botswana's first president and vice president (and second president). The BDP had extensive rural support, important in the early years in Botswana, and won 28 of 31 seats in the first parliament. Indeed, it has been the 'ruling party' ever since, though with diminishing support in recent elections. The BDP held its first public meeting under this morula tree in Gaborone, nearby present day Government Enclave. The meeting was meant to be held in Mochudi but permission was denied by the chief. This is another striking difference between Botswana and neighboring countries: the continuing power and legitimacy of chiefs in Bechuanaland during the protectorate period. One of the goals of the BDP was to remove some of the chiefs' powers, preferably without them realizing it.

We know morula trees from Namibia, where they are common in the North. They also appear to be quite common in Botswana. There is a large one outside Kuno's classroom at Thornhill and he tells me that he regularly eats the still raw green fruits. They are routinely sold on the roadside and in the markets when they are much riper and yellow. The increasingly popular Amarula is made from morula fruits. So today, while Mave was working on her French project at a friend's house (she is a much more reluctant explorer), Kuno and I set out to find The Morula Tree. It is situated off of a busy road, between the high walls of the US Embassy and Debswana's Orapa House - would not be a good meeting place today! A sign in Setswana indicates that the morula tree is a national monument. The bus and train stations are just over the pedestrian bridge nearby so we took the opportunity to visit those as well. The stations provide the venue for a vast market where the usual foodstuffs and wares are sold and taxis and kombis to all destinations can be hired. Kuno and I tried the roasted maize that I have been eyeing for some time. This was one of my favorites on River Road in Nairobi as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya. Also in abundance - sweet reed, a lighter thinner sugar cane, that is available on the roadside all over town these days.

U9 Cricket Festival

2009-03-08T08:48:00.004+02:00

Yesterday morning Kuno spent four hours in the hot sun at Westwood International School for an Under Nine Cricket Festival. His team played three others from Baobab, Acacia, and Broadhust. As I have mentioned, Kuno was disappointed that there was no soccer at Thornhill this term but decided to go ahead and try cricket. He is looking forward to soccer next term. On the sidelines the parents discussed current events - the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan and the death of Susan Tsvangarai in a car accident south of Harare. As one mom, Tidimalo, put it: "I smell a fish." Apparently the rumors are flying in Zimbabwe, and certainly here on GABZ FM they don't believe it was an 'accident.' The offending vehicle was an 'aid' lorry of some sort. Meanwhile, Morgan Tsvangarai, slightly injured, has come to Botswana to recover and come to terms.

No. 1 Ladies Opera House

2009-03-05T13:08:00.021+02:00

Well, it seems like we cannot have been here for more than two months without making some reference to the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency! The books are in all the bookshops, including the latest one - The Miracle at Speedy Motors - just out in paperback. (Kuno has also found the latest in his favorite series by Alexander McCall Smith - Akimbo and the Baboons.) We were delighted to see, soon after we arrived, a sign for the No. 1 Ladies Opera House, a cafe and restaurant out by Kgale Siding. We were anxious to go there and enjoy a steaming mug of redbush (rooibos) tea, only to learn that it has recently closed! Not enough business, I was told by Rapelang at the nearby Botswana Society office. It is in an out of the way spot; I am sure if it were on the Main Mall or one of the other malls, it would have been a different story.

We have many connections to the books to report. For example, when she was assessed at Thornhill, Mave was reminded that Mma Ramotswe's foster daughter, Motholeli, 'goes' to Thornhill and indeed when they were making the TV series (or is it movie?) they did some filming at Thornhill! We have heard that an HBO series begins on March 29th (though, unfortunately, not here). Tlokweng Road is just around the corner from us; we cross it every time we go to Riverwalk. Mave is keen to drive down it and look for Speedy Motors. In fact, we have driven down Tlokweng Road to get to our security company offices and I think if we drove just a little bit farther we would find it! (I would have thought that Speedy Motors would be on Kubu Road in the Broadhurst Industrial Area, but I guess not.) The museum that we visited in Mochudi once housed a school, the one that Mma Ramotswe 'attended;' it is certainly true that the view from the nearby rocks overlooking the village is a peaceful one. I have been for tea at the President's Hotel in town; as refreshing as Precious describes it - and a great vantage point from which to observe all kinds of activity on the Main Mall below. We too admire the view of Kgale Hill on an almost daily basis and we have savored the ubiquitous pumpkin and butternut squash. We have located Zebra Drive near the Gaborone Sun and drive past it often. We would have no trouble agreeing with Mma Ramotswe that Botswana is certainly among the best countries in Africa in which to live! We see her and Mma Makutsi (and especially her shoes) many times over every time we venture out our door. (That said, we also see many much more 'hip' Batswana, who occupy themselves with somewhat weightier issues than those of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.) Still, the books are lots and lots of fun, even more so now that we are here and have experienced Botswana for some time!

Postscript: we have now watched 'the movie' which was shown on BBC about a year ago and which we believe to be the first installment in the series currently being shown in the US. While it is lots of fun to watch - and we have watched it a few times - we hope that no one thinks that this is life in Gaborone! There is a shopping center at Kgale Hill and much of the film seems to take place in 'Kgale' which is much more like a village outside of Gaborone, even those just a mile or so from our place. One friend Tshepo - who is an extra in the funeral scene - expressed disappointment that so few Batswana actors were used, instead South Africans and Nigerians etc; indeed she said even the food on the set was provided by South African companies. In her view, and we would concur, the characters also do not come across as Batswana that we know. Never mind that there are no rhinos in Mochudi and that the road from Mochudi to Gaborone has long been paved!!!!! But it is still fun for us to be reminded of Botswana. (We have none of the problems that others seem to have had - that the series does not portray all the problems of darkest Africa. That is what many people don't understand. That life goes on here as everywhere else. And that many places in Africa do not conform to all of those stereotypes.)

Khama Rhino Sanctuary

2009-03-02T14:38:00.015+02:00

Again, because the kids had a four day weekend we decided to do some serious traveling this weekend - to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary just north of Serowe - up Sunday and back Monday. It is about a 360 km trip one way on mostly good roads (though only two lanes, one in each direction). I was a little anxious about making the trip alone with the kids in our relatively small car. But it went very well and I now feel ready to travel anywhere in Botswana. One drives straight north from Gaborone on the A1 to Francistown, through Mahalapye, to Palapye. Once in Palapye, one turns left onto the A14 to Serowe. Once through Serowe there is a right turn that leads to Paje (and on to Orapa) and the Rhino Sanctuary. It is completely unmarked until you actually get there. It is a more than 4,300 hectacre sanctuary begun in 1992 in order to provide a safe environment - from poachers - for the few remaining white and black rhinos in Botswana at the time (mostly in Chobe). So, initially a few white rhinos were translocated to the sanctuary and today the population of white rhinos is up to more than 40. There are also three black rhinos and the goal is to rebuild Botswana's black rhino population as well. The sanctuary is located in an area of Kalahari sandveld that is a former cattle post; it is centered around Serowe Pan, a large grass covered depression with several natural water holes. It is an ideal location for white rhinos and other grazing animals. (It is also located next to a large Botswana Defence Force base which provides protection to the sanctuary.)

We left home around 7 am and arrived around noon, including a couple of stops. [We did not stop, though should have, at the sign that said we were crossing the Tropic of Capricorn.] Once there, we settled into our very comfortable Chalet G and walked to the restaurant for lunch. At 3:30 we went back to the reception area for a 4 o'clock game drive with Vivian, our driver and guide. We had our best game drive yet, even though it got quite cool, overcast, windy and wet while we were out; luckily we had jackets along with us. The white rhinos are quite stunning; we saw many of them grazing in the pan area. We also saw some that we thought were black rhinos but they were just white ones that had rolled in the mud. In addition to the rhinos we saw zebras, red hartebeest, wildebeest, ostriches, warthogs, impala, kudus, brilliant gemsbok and a jackal. We saw lots of incredible birds including yellow billed hornbills and secretary birds. (Eland continue to elude us; they are the largest antelope followed by kudu and gemsbok, both of which we have seen.) This is definitely a place to which we would like to return!

We did not explore Serowe, home of the Ngwato royal family (Khamas), at all. I felt like I could see vestiges of the homesteads of the past, encircled by hedges, that gave a distinctive feel to what has been called Africa's largest village - with a population today of 90,000. On our next trip we will want to see the rest of Serowe including the Khama III Memorial Museum that also houses the Bessie Head papers and the summit of Thathaganyane Hill where Seretse Khama and other Khama family members are buried. Serowe is where Bessie Head eventually made her home. She wrote about it most notably in Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind.

Ndiyo, tunaweza!

2009-02-28T15:42:00.005+02:00

I think we have mentioned the Kenyan vendors at Riverwalk who sell tables of Africa-abilia, most of it from Kenya. By contrast, I am sure that most of the vendors on the Main Mall in town are Batswana selling indigenous goods - baskets, walking sticks, bowls, earrings, prepared food, mopani worms, morula fruits, grains, cooked maize on the cob, sweets, 'air time' for mobile phones, handmade sandals, old CDs and so on. At Riverwalk today we noticed that one of the Kenyan women was selling Tanzanian khangas - the pieces of cloth that Kenyan and Tanzanian women wear wrapped around their skirts. They always have a 'saying' on them in Kiswahili, as well as a picture or just a pattern. We had many of them as Peace Corps Volunteers in Kenya. Anyway, we found and bought one that said: 'Ndiyo, tunaweza' - 'Yes, we can.' And guess whose picture was on it? I was told that the Batswana and the 'whites' (later clarified as Americans) are snapping them up.

Three Dikgosi and Government Enclave

2009-02-27T13:12:00.023+02:00

On Tuesday this week I interviewed my first woman Member of Parliament. I arranged this through my contact at the FEF. I met her at her office in the Parliamentary Annex, which took me to Government Enclave. This is where Parliament is, the Office of the President, the National Archives, the Independent Electoral Commission and the headquarters for many ministries. So I anticipate that I will be spending much more time there. Government Enclave is ringed round by Khama Crescent and is adjacent to one end of the the Main Mall. On Wednesday I was back to be introduced to three more women Members of Parliament, one of whom I will interview next Tuesday. There are currently seven women MPs altogether, all from the ruling BDP party. Four were directly elected and three specially elected.

My foray to Government Enclave made me realize that I needed to take Mave and Kuno there. Since they have a four day weekend today was a good day to go. But we started our excursion, with Mary, at another fabulous site, namely the 'Three Dikgosi [chiefs] Monument' in a part of town intended to be developed as a central business district. This monument celebrates three extraordinary chiefs, Khama III, Bathoen I and Sebele I, who in 1895 traveled to England to appeal directly to Queen Victoria to prevent Cecil Rhodes from bringing Bechuanaland under British South Africa Company rule. They were not immediately successful, though they impressed everyone they encountered. Shortly after their return another event, the Jameson Raid, prevented the incorporation into the BSAC. But this would remain an, if not the, overriding preoccupation during the Protectorate days, namely the fear of 'transfer' to white ruled, apartheid South Africa. It was largely the continued insistence by Batswana chiefs that prevented this from happening. The monument is magnificent.

From there we went to Government Enclave where we saw Parliament (though not allowed to photograph it since Parliament was in session). Nearby there is also a statue of Seretse Khama, first president of Botswana, which we visited. Seretse Khama has his own remarkable story, having been stripped of his own chieftancy and exiled to the UK - all for marrying a white woman, Ruth Williams (later Lady Khama), while a student in England. According to the British, these actions were taken out of concern for the 'transfer' issues mentioned above. The Khamas were allowed to return in 1956 and Seretse Khama played a significant role in the lead up to independence. He was president from independence in 1966 until he died in 1980, followed by Quett Masire, 1980-1998, Festus Mogae, 1998-2008, and then Seretse's son Ian, from the Botswana Defence Force, who became president in 2008. At the end of Masire's term a two term limit was adopted for all future presidents. The statue of Seretse Khama was dedicated in 1986 by Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.

Postscript: While poring through past issues of Mmegi I learned that last year the statue of Seretse Khama was cleaned AND turned around to face Parliament. For the previous 20 plus years it had been facing away from Parliament and toward the Main Mall (the center of town). Apparently this change was the source of some controversy as facing the Main Mall meant facing 'the people.' But, as was noted, trees in the intervening years have obscured the view and now Seretse Khama faces Parliament as do, apparently, statues of leaders in other countries.

Ramotswa

2009-02-22T20:21:00.008+02:00

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.

A Blog and a Car Wash

2009-02-21T18:22:00.004+02:00

I finally decided that it was time to explore a blog - rather than sending long email 'missives' home. Besides I was not being very successful in sending any pictures anywhere. So I retrospectively entered much of what I had already sent to family and friends, adding some pictures. It is simple, and the entries are a little on the long side, but we hope that everyone enjoys it! Our images aren't the greatest for various reasons, though some of the best have been captured by Mave. One limitation, as I have been admonished a few times by Mave, is that with camera in hand we appear as tourists; another is a concern for people's privacy.

Our trusted Toyota Tazz had become absolutely filthy from all the dirt and dust and leaves and bird droppings. And since it has not rained for a while it was greatly in need of a washing. There are the more formal car washes at the petrol stations and then you will find much more informal ones. We chose one at our neighborhood shopping center. And for all of 35 pula (a little over four dollars) our car was handwashed inside and outside, with paint brushes used to clean the hubcaps! It took about an hour; we just left the car (and keys) with them, walked home and then back again.

Odi Weavers

2009-02-15T17:51:00.008+02:00

It seems we have developed a Sunday routine where we try to spend a couple of hours outside of Gabs seeing some of the surrounding area. I will admit that the kids are not entirely enthusiastic though I don't know why! I think that when Moses gets here they might enjoy these trips more. Today we went to Odi to visit the Lentswe-la-Oodi Weavers, a cooperative of women weavers begun in the early 1970s. Over the years they and their tapestries have become quite well known. They will do things for custom order and they make a range of items that they sell in a small shop next to the workshop. As it was Sunday no women were weaving but we were able to see their enormous looms and works in progress. The weavings, as nice as they are, are also quite expensive. We have one at home that our friends the Kreike Martins bought for us several years ago when they were living in Botswana. We just bought some small woven coasters, a couple of them in the pattern of the Botswana flag. Odi is north of Gaborone, on the road to Francistown, not at all far from Phakalane, Gaborone's main northern suburb. The kids enjoyed the tricks played by the gleaming sun on the road, the very convincing mirages - of water - ahead of us and behind us.

Cows will lead the herd into a precipice!

2009-02-13T09:42:00.008+02:00

So, in a very small nutshell my research is about why there are so few women (and becoming fewer ) in Parliament in Botswana – when there are so many in neighboring states. The parliamentary election is in October, so a good time to be here. There is much more to it than that simple question but I will leave it at that for now. I have read all or most of about eight or nine books since I got here and taken notes on seven of them (one was a novel by Motswana novelist, activist and first female High Court Judge Unity Dow). I have bought lots of books since we arrived! Most are Botswana history and politics, most written by longtime Batswana academics at UB, some of whom I have already talked with, others of whom I will. The UB library is great and has a terrific Botswana Documentation and Special Collection where I am spending lots of time including skimming all the back issues of Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies. Today I was at the Botswana Society all morning, perusing their books and journal, Botswana Notes and Records. Once I feel I have all the background I need I will start formal interviews. I am embarking upon a whole new country and people and there is a lot to learn (was not able to do much before I left). I feel quite constrained at the thought of being here for only six months. I feel like I need to lower my expectations.

In any case, I was at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation last week speaking with a Programme Officer because I had read in the paper that they are doing work with the Botswana Caucus for Women in Politics. I had done a lot of work with FEF in Namibia on trade unions and thought I would see what they are doing here with women in politics. A cultural argument about patriarchal Tswana society is often advanced as one part of the answer to my research question, but I always ask whether Tswana society is that much more patriarchal than other African societies, or any other societies for that matter. Well, this programme officer told me that they have a ‘saying’ in Setswana that ‘women cannot be political leaders.’ I said ok. She said there are lots of sayings in Setswana about what you can and cannot do. Ok. I asked if ‘women cannot be political leaders’ was the direct translation from Setswana and she insisted that it was (I asked a few times). At the end of our meeting I asked her to please write down the Setswana words and she did. I then took them to Leloba who said that what she had written was part of a longer phrase, namely: ‘If they (cattle, the herd) are led by cows they will fall down a precipice.’ There is a shorter version: they are never led by cows! I am familiar with this cattle imagery from Namibia, though not in such stark terms. I am fascinated. I also have the title for my (first) paper/article that will come out of this sabbatical…..

Images above: a 'statue' in front of the UB library and the front of the UB library. I understand that that particular artwork graces the entrance to the library because that is how the building of the University was funded. According to Seretse Khama's biography, Seretse Khama, 1921-1980, a 'One Man, One Beast' campaign was launched whereby Batswana were called upon to contribute cattle, with the proceeds of their sale going to the construction of UB in the mid 1970s. As the book further notes: "In southern African English, 'beast' rather than 'cow' is the singular form of 'cattle.' Inscribed above the library entrance, 'thutho ke thebe' means 'education is a shield.' Thebe is also the name of the 'cents' in Botswana.

Manyelanong Vulture Colony at Otse

2009-02-10T21:34:00.002+02:00

On Sunday exploring Gaborone’s environs took us to Otse, about 50 km south toward Lobatse and South Africa. There is a very nice place there called Camphill, a center for 'handicapped' children where they learn and make various arts and crafts which they then sell. There is also a lovely nursery with house and garden plants and vegetables as well as a café for lunch. We had lunch there and then headed into Oste village in search of the Manyelanong Game Reserve where Botswana’s largest vulture colony makes its home – a colony that has been dwindling in recent years. Most of the trip in to see the vultures is a gravel road, that becomes quite sandy the farther in one drives. I was a little worried whether we would make it with our small Toyota Tazz. Leloba was along with us and she saved the day as we were nearly stuck in the sand but she drove us out. We did see the vultures soaring high overhead as well as the caves in the side of the hills where they live and the guano covered cliffs everywhere. All along the way from Gaborone to Otse and back whenever we passed through a village there were lots of boys and young men out playing soccer in what looked to be municipal playing fields. It seemed to be quite organized with each side having its own shirts and so on. Oh, and in case you are wondering, Manyelanong means 'where vultures defecate' in Setswana - a reference to the white covered cliffs.

The rains seem to have abated for the moment - I am not sure whether they might actually be over – and hot is back. Over the weekend crews were out all over town repairing the roads, which desperately need it! With all the rain the grass is also impossibly high and again on the weekend there were crews out cutting the grass by hand. They don’t use machetes, rather a long instrument called a grass slasher. I realized that we have three of these at home in one of the closets and as soon as we got home Kuno grabbed one to go out and slash the grass in the backyard. It is really important for driving that the grass on the side of the road be slashed – otherwise you cannot see what is coming far ahead or what animals might be there ready to dart across the road.

Borakanelo Market

2009-02-07T14:40:00.002+02:00

Today the kids were delighted to join me as we explored some of Gaborone. In my reading I have learned that Gaborone is only about 40 years old. In the protectorate days (Bechuanaland being a British protectorate rather than colony), there was never even an administrative center in Bechuanaland, rather it was over the border in Mafeking in South Africa! So as independence loomed they realized they needed a capital city and the small village of Gaberones was chosen. Indeed, that is where the name of our neighborhood – Village – comes from as it is the site of the original village of Gaberones. The Thapong Art Center, on our corner, housed an assistant resident magistrate. Anyway, in a couple of years they transformed Gaberones into Gaborone; where it had around 6,000 inhabitants at independence in 1966, it now has more than 200,000! But much of the remarkable growth in Gaborone has been even more recent than that. Lots of investment after the transition in South Africa in 1994 and even more in the 2000s. The two ‘modern’ malls – Riverwalk and Game City – which are packed all day and night, especially on the weekends, are both only about five years old. Anyway, I had read that at one of the older shopping centers – Broadhurst – there is a Saturday ‘flea market’ – called the Borakanelo Market, so we decided to have a look. It was very lively and there was lots of trading going on. Kuno observed that what made it a true African market was the smell of roasting meat and (delightful) loud African music blaring from the table of the vendor selling used (and treasured) old CDs. How quickly he has caught on! There were lots of beautiful brightly colored dresses and fabrics, but also, interestingly, a few tables of used clothing. I had been wondering about this. This is a curse all over Africa – the dumping of our used clothing into local markets, thereby displacing any local textile industry. It had seemed to me that Batswana, as wealthy as they are, do not wear second hand clothing. I had not recognized any used t shirts, even on kids. But there they were, shirts, trousers, and more, so perhaps that market is making inroads here too. Too bad!

Student Strike at UB

2009-02-04T14:30:00.004+02:00

As I asked in an email home: are we in Botswana or Nigeria? The UB students – or at least some of them – have been on a rampaging strike for nearly a week now. The University is still open though classes are definitely being disrupted and there have been some incidents. The issue is their government allowances – which they get on top of attending UB for free, free hostel accommodation and food at the refectories. Apparently the last big strike was two years ago and I am told that the students only ever strike over this issue – their allowances. There seem to be two issues, one has to do with the extent to which they continue to get their allowances when they are retaking classes. Indeed, some students, quite comfortable with their university life, may have an incentive to hang on. The other issue has to do with living in the hostels or not. You get more allowance if you live off campus but you are only supposed to do that if you have a good reason. So…..I was on campus on Monday at the book store and saw hundreds of students marching by, many with sticks (branches from trees) on their way to the Parliament building where the Finance Minister was making the annual presentation of the national budget and they were going to lodge their complaints. Needless to say they were stopped by the riot police (sounds a little scarier than they appear to be; we saw them later blocking off a road). Unfortunately, this has impacted the 30 or so international (US and other) students at UB. One was apparently ‘attacked’ twice, once with stones while the students were crisscrossing campus and another time when he was eating in the refectory. He was one of four students from UNC Greensboro and now they have all been ordered back. I think it is quite a shame and quite a waste; all that preparation and acclimation time and such a great experience. I am sure UB must not be too happy about the situation.

News flash: they have closed the University as of 1:30 this afternoon and are bringing in the police to try to restore order. I am relieved since I was to go in to attend a seminar by the Sociology head of department, Godi, at 3 and was feeling a bit nervous; two people very kindly called to tell me! It surprises me that it has taken this long to get things under control. But the university security has no weapons – with sticks and stones the students are better armed than they are and so it is only apparently when they finally make a decision to call in the police that the situation can be brought under control. The whole thing is very surprising to me, I must say. At 7:30 this morning Leloba (southern African women writers scholar) and I went for an hourlong walk all around campus. But as Leloba would say: the ‘revolutionaries’ are not up at that early hour.

Postscript: they ended up shutting down the University until February 16 – and skipping spring break and adding a week at the end to make up for the lost time. Two student ringleaders have been expelled and others suspended. There are broken windows in buildings all over campus which is really a shame; apparently they also damaged some cars. Again, there is not a drop of sympathy anywhere for the students who led the strike (and attempted to coerce others to come along). It is just a shame that it took so long for there to be a response. It was really the Ministry of Education that should have responded sooner as they are the ones who make the policies regarding the allowances. Perhaps the administration should have acted sooner to close the University though that too may have been a Ministry decision.

Food in Botswana

2009-02-03T09:37:00.005+02:00

In some respects, food here is not too different from Namibia. The staple is the same pap – from maize or sorghum (more likely millet in Namibia) - eaten for dinner with meat, a sauce and some greens, or for breakfast with curdled milk (yogurt) and sugar. Seswaa, the shredded beef, seems to be a Botswana specialty. Otherwise, rice and noodles and coleslaw are popular here for meals as in Namibia. Butternut squash and pumpkin are very popular here and to be found everywhere. I have not really seen potato salad which is more popular in Namibia. Beef is very cheap, as you might expect in a country in which there are as many cattle as there are people, about two million of each. Dinners are easy as they have great sauces at the grocery store, for example from Nandos, one of the local chain restaurants. So one can simply make rice or pasta, beef or chicken and add some sauce. They also have frozen somosas and frozen spring rolls which the kids like. All the same vegetables are here; we have had baby zucchinis which are quite nice, yellow and red peppers, green beans. One can make nice salads. The fruit (and juice) selections are much nicer here than at home: lots of mangos, apples, oranges, papayas, litchis, granadilla, pomegranate, bananas, you name it. For snacks all kinds of chips and not such a wide range of really sweet and decadent cookies. Dried fruit is big and we have been eating a lot of that, especially dried mango, peach and apricot. Bread is baked fresh daily even at the grocery store as are rolls and all kinds of other baked goods. In most stores they sell the loaves whole and you run them through the slicing machine as you leave the store.

For breakfast Kuno eats the same thing as at home: peanut butter and nutella sandwich, nutella being something that we had discovered on our 2002 sabbatical in Namibia. Mave will have a muffin with yogurt, or some cereal or toast with salami. I like to have a rusk, another southern African treat, with my second cup of coffee. The kids both pack a snack for the 10:30 break at school: juice boxes, apples, chips, dried fruit, yogurt, something along those lines. Three days a week when they have activities they buy lunch at school. On Thursday they like to buy a sausage or ‘wurst’ from a woman who has a stand (and gas heated grill) in the Choppies parking lot. It is on a roll with whatever sauces they choose, for all of a dollar (7.5 pula) each. On Saturday Kuno bought a mango, also from the parking lot. Mangos, watermelons, corn, tomatoes and more are all sold from large piles (on tables) on the side of the road. The mangos did look very inviting. And the vendor had a large (coke) bottle full of water with a small hole in the top which she used to wash individual mangos as people bought them so that they could be eaten in typical fashion – and as Kuno did. That is, biting into the whole mango, and eating the flesh straight from the mango, pulling off bits of skin as needed. Kuno declared it the best mango he had ever had. It is a bit messy, but I think with practice, one can overcome that.

Cakes are also big here, as in Namibia. The kids like to end the week at a place like Equatorial Coffee at Riverwalk where we get a pot of tea and some cake: orange, carrot, chocolate, whatever. There are many little coffee shops and tea houses to try. As for restaurants, there is also a range. We like Chatters since it serves seswaa; early on while Moses was still here we went with a group to a great Indian restaurant called Moghul. There are many Chinese restaurants, just as there are Chinese shops. There is lots of fast food – Bimbo's, Wimpy’s. There is Nandos for great chicken and chips which we know from Namibia as well as. Pizza places abound with Debonairs being quite popular. I have heard of some other good places, we just have not tried them yet. Our biggest challenge has been finding low fat milk. The only place to find fresh low fat milk is at Woolworths (clearly this is not the Woolworths of the USA), but Kuno did not like it. In the end we are drinking the low fat longlife milk which is just fine so long as it is pretty cold. We are very lucky to be able to drink the tap water in Gaborone; it is very tasty, again especially when cold. They are very closely monitoring it for any signs of cholera creeping over from Zimbabwe.

Rain and More Rain

2009-01-31T09:31:00.002+02:00

Yesterday we marked four weeks here by celebrating the end of the month with everyone else. The end of the month is pay day for most people and you can see that on the road and in the shops and restaurants and cafes. We decided we would go out to dinner and chose Linga Longa at Riverwalk. I am not sure how to describe the menu but it wasn’t very good. They serve breakfast all day and I have a feeling that their breakfast menu is probably much better. We were sitting outside and also barraged by yellow jackets. But it was fun to watch everyone coming and going. From the restaurant we could also see Tlokweng Road, one of the roads that leads (in a very short distance) to South Africa. The road was very full – though there is not a whole lot on that road - and I could only conclude that people were traveling to South Africa to load up on goods to bring back to consume or sell. I will have to check into whether that is correct.

We are delighted to have gotten wireless at home. I had been a little wary that I had given someone – who had come to my house with an application (because I did not know where their offices were, though could have found them) – a wad of cash and gotten no receipt. There were problems scheduling the installation and then that particular guy was out. But in fact, the company was very professional and very accommodating. On Thursday afternoon when the rain finally let up some, Koketso and his crew arrived to install something on the roof and a wireless router in Kuno’s bedroom. It was great – no landline, bank statements, pay stubs, yearlong commitment as some of the other companies require. It works perfectly, even through all of the rain. Has made a huge difference for us. We are a little sad not to see the people at the internet café regularly anymore, though we can always go there to have copies made, buy school supplies and more.

We had incredible rain this week; indeed it actually rained non-stop for about 48 hours, some of it torrential. It is fine when we are snug and dry inside our flat, but even just going out to do an errand becomes a chore – never mind our three gates and three locks that have to be locked and unlocked every time one goes in or out. At the same time, I think also of all of those people who are living in not very watertight houses and think how uncomfortable they must be. A second person, Sethunya, told me that my Setswana name would be 'Mmapula' for bringing the rains (pula means rain and is also the name of the currency - since rain is about the most valuable commodity in dry Botswana; Mma is how you address a woman). The rain has wreaked total havoc on the roads; that patching of potholes that had commenced might well not have. The potholes are even worse now than before. I am told that the roads outside of Gaborone are not nearly as bad as in the city and that does seem to be the case. Gaborone has grown so much in the last years and the roads, among others, simply have not kept up. On GABZ FM, when they do the evening traffic reports, it is primarily about where the potholes are bad and where the traffic lights are out. We have seen now that in the evenings there is lots and lots of traffic out of the city as people head out to the northern and western suburbs. I am very happy that we are right in the city center. The electricity has only been out once since we have been here, in the middle of the night one night, despite all the rain and thunderstorms. I am told that during the fall there were regular, even scheduled outages, but have not seen them since we have been here. Something about South Africa, from whom electricity in Gaborone comes, trying to wean Botswana from its use of power from South Africa.

Cultural Excursion

2009-01-21T09:27:00.011+02:00

Over the weekend we were invited to go along on an excursion for international undergraduates at UB organized by the international students office. It was a very hot weekend and we were in a large, unairconditioned school bus from the University of Botswana. It was about 30 foreign students and 10 Batswana: former students and those who currently work for the office. One of them is actually from Zimbabwe and had his two children, Tokudzwa and Rutendo (Kuno and Mave's ages), with him. Also with us was another American family, the Knoops (who actually very kindly invited us along), coordinating the ACM program at UB, including their two girls who are also at Thornhill in Stds 4 and 2. It was a packed program beginning in Mochudi, capital of the Bakgatla, and the Phuthadikobo Museum; this is a nice, small historical museum that I would like to return to on another occasion. From the museum, which is up on a hill, one has a great view of the ‘village’ or town, including two looming red and white cell phone towers. (As all over southern Africa, everyone seems to have a cell phone; many people do not have landlines.) After touring the museum we went back into town to get lunch at either Choppies or Spar. Of course it was midday Saturday when many people are doing their weekly shopping so was quite crowded. And hot and getting hotter. Next we went to see the so called Matsieng Foot Prints in Rasesa. This was the least impressive part of the trip; this place refers to an origin myth for the Tswana and a four meter hole in the ground that is supposed to be the place from which an early ancestor emerged. After that we went to a village called Manyana that contains very poorly preserved rock paintings that were painted 2,000 years ago by the Bushmen or Basarwa of contemporary Botswana. One could barely make out the many different figures, indeed could only do so with the assistance of a guide. It is remarkable that these paintings exist out in the open where they are clearly washed by the rain and other elements. There are supposed to be others up near Maun that are better preserved. Also in Manyana we saw David Livingstone’s tree. This is the most amazing tree I have ever seen – a wild fig tree that is bigger than enormous and that has bent over and rooted in numerous spots. There are areas underneath some branches that are miraculously cool and are apparently the place where Livingstone held his clinics. I am not very informed of his time in Botswana; will hear more, I am sure.

At that point we were all as hot and sweaty as one could imagine and had no water left. We were on our way to the Bahurutshe Cultural Village in Mmankgodi, the village that Masters had pointed out to us. We were greeted by a very sweet group of ululating older ladies who sang and danced for us and showed us some Tswana customs from the past. The students had group sleeping arrangements and the families had chalets. There was no hot water but there was at least running cold water which, together with some soap, was amazingly refreshing. For dinner we had some Tswana specialties including seswaa and bogobe (otherwise known as pap). Of the latter we had maize at dinner and sorghum, much darker, for breakfast – with curdled milk and sugar. We were all exhausted, primarily from the sun, I suppose, and slept very well. In the morning, after a breakfast that included the bogobe and vetkoekies, we headed for the Mokolodi Nature Reserve. We had been here a couple of years ago and remembered it as so-so. As then, we were going out late morning which is not a particularly good time to see animals. We saw some of the same animals from the Gaborone Game Reserve, but in nowhere the numbers and a few others such as an old giraffe that stared us in the face (there are supposed to be 40 in the reserve) and a couple of elephants standing waiting for us with their keepers. The only other thing we had not previously seen was a couple of wildebeest. There was a very nice braai lunch waiting for us down by the river at the end of the game drive and then we were off on to the final stop on our excursion, Lion’s Park. I could have done without this, basically a water park run by an Afrikaner playing the occasional Afrikaans tune on the music system. At least everyone had an opportunity to cool off. In any case, it was a great way to spend our first weekend on our own and a welcome chance to get out of Gaborone and see some of the surrounding areas. I have to say that Botswana is really dry. And I am saying that in the middle of a rainy season when it has been raining a lot! But even though there is a lot of green out there and even though we are in the better watered part of the country it is clear that this is a very dry (and very hot) country…..

Thornhill Primary School

2009-01-16T09:25:00.001+02:00

Well, we finally got the school situation sorted out! On Tuesday Mave and Kuno were ‘assessed’ at Thornhill School, my first choice because of its location (right in town near the Main Mall, a 10 minute drive for us) and its fees, which are less than several of the other private schools. Both children – with their fine Delaware public educations – were reported to be excellent students and would have no trouble going ahead to Standard 7 and Standard 4, though Kuno is young for Std 4. The school year in southern Africa is the calendar year so a new year has just started so the kids either had to go ahead half a grade or behind half a grade. I was delighted that they accepted us even though they are really squeezed for room. They were very kind and accommodating. As soon as we found out the kids were accepted we cancelled our assessments at Northside. School started on Wednesday!

The school is a mini world unto itself. The students are primarily Batswana though there are South Africans of all hues, reflecting the significant South African population in Gaborone. There are a few Indians, not as many as had been suggested by others, and then a smattering of other Africans and Europeans. There are three classes for each grade or standard. School starts at 7:15, with me dropping them off around 7; they finish at 12:45 at which time I pick them up. There is a half hour break around 10:30 when they are encouraged to run around and have some fun. They all have hearty snacks at that point which they have brought from home. In another week or two activities (no extra cost) begin. Those run from about 1:30 to 4:30 and kids may choose to sign up for whatever they want – lots of sports, art, music etc. At that point a school lunch will essentially be offered (which they eat outside; it is a lovely if a bit small campus) or they may bring a lunch from home. So hopefully Mave and Kuno will find activities that coincide and I will pick them up later, giving me a longer work day and giving them a longer day.

They wear serious school uniforms – a dress, short white socks and black shoes for Mave (posts or small hoops only for earrings) and grey shorts and short socks, black shoes and a Thornhill white button down shirt for Kuno, becomes grey trousers when colder. They have special swimming ‘costumes’ and bathing caps for swimming (once a week) and special PE ‘kits’ – green Thornhill shirts, white shorts and white sports shoes for PE which is also once a week. On PE and swimming days they may wear their PE clothes. The kids look great in their uniforms and blend right in. Both came home with the names of five friends they had made the first day. Mave reported that the girls that she hung out with that day were surprised to hear her American accent as they assumed she was a new student from here. They like her American accent while Mave loves their Botswana/South Africa/English and whatever else accents. For Std 7 there is a field trip to South Africa at the end of the year that Mave is already sorry that she will miss.

Postscipt: In the book, Desert Doctor, by Alfred Merriweather, first Speaker of the National Assembly in Botswana, he writes of the new capital city around the time of independence: "Schooling had always been a problem in Botswana. In the old days there were separate primary schools for whites and Africans. Such a state of affairs could not be in the new town, and so Thornhill School was built." He goes on to write that the school had a "great prestige value among the people of Gaberones."

Our Neighborhood

2009-01-12T09:07:00.005+02:00

I am very pleased with our flat. Now that I have cleaned, bought new sheets and covers for the beds, put some things on the walls, and set to work on new curtains the place feels like ours and much more homey. There is a pretty tiny front yard taken up by the car park and the clothes line and a much larger backyard. The backyard has the biggest jade plant/tree I have ever seen as well as a lemon tree that produces very lumpy lemons. It is all a bit overgrown and I am not sure how much we will work on it; there is a little patio with the white plastic table and chairs. It is a perfect place for Kuno to play with his sling shot. After trying unsuccessfully to down some lemons he took Moses’ advice and hauled out some appletiser cans for target practice. Hopefully that will keep him busy….among other activities. Yesterday there was a herd of goats in the area behind our backyard. Moses remarked that that would not happen in Windhoek and then observed, but we are in Africa here.

I am also very pleased with our neighborhood, known as Village. It is a bit rundown and while most of our neighbors are expatriates of one type or another associated with UB, they are not diplomats and aid workers who have a much higher standard of living. We are in the heart of Gaborone and definitely not in one of those neighborhoods with big houses and high walls and guards. So we are part and parcel of the city. Indeed, while more than 200,000 people live here, Gaborone is quickly coming to have a smaller feel to it as we figure our way around. I like that we have the small shopping area nearby with the Choppies for milk or whatever else we might run out of and the lady with her shop to sew our curtains, as well as a bakery, a restaurant, the Belgrade takeaway, our internet café and various people sitting under trees selling their wares. There is a petrol station about a block away and then the Riverwalk Mall about a mile away for our larger shopping needs. The best part is the Thapong Art Center - the only art center in Botswana! - on our corner. The Ethiopians to the right of us are usually outside talking and smoking into the night and the delicious smell of their food usually wafts our way. The Nigerians have four kids, one a boy who is a little older than Kuno. Yesterday Kuno had the time of his life as he and Moses went out onto the street to play with his new soccer ball. (He always corrects me that he is playing 'football.') First the younger son joined them, then the older one, then the Dad. Street soccer in Africa.

Gaborone Game Reserve

2009-01-10T11:31:00.005+02:00

A contribution from Mave: today very early in the morning the family set out to the Gaborone Game Reserve. We had been once before a couple of years ago but unfortunately did not see that many animals. When we arrived we came across some impala. They were the usual animals that you see around Southern Africa so we didn’t get that excited. After a drive further into the game park we saw some ostriches in the middle of the road just hanging out. Then very close to the ostriches was a family of warthogs. However the mother was on one side and at first we didn’t notice that it was a family until we thought that the mother was distracting us from something and looked across to find the father and babies. Unfortunately shortly after we spotted them they ran away. The next animal that we saw were the monkeys which we encountered several times during the trip. When we saw the monkeys we also saw all of the animals that are listed above and it was a very pleasant scene until the horrible wild dogs came and chased them away. We were terribly outraged at that!!!!! Later that day we went to the Botswanacraft so my mom could get some more wall hangings. Kuno also got a sling shot so he practiced with that for most of the day.

For the record: we saw at the Gaborone Game Reserve (in no particular order): ostriches, warthogs, springbok, an unidentified African eagle, pheasants and guinea fowl, vervet monkeys, impala, some kind of geese, some kind of white heron or cranes, meerkat, dassies, zebra and kudu. It was really a remarkable game drive. We were there when the place opened at 6:30 am and it had rained heavily the night before which may have contributed to all of the sitings. It was a lot of fun! The Gaborone Game Reserve is a small but delightful reserve more or less right in town. There are actually lots of animals to see, especially if one gets there early in the morning.

Settling In...

2009-01-09T05:49:00.003+02:00

This week has been pretty painful. I went back to Road Transport and Safety on Wednesday and was brought almost to tears as I was told I needed not just a certified copy of the seller’s ID, but of her passport. The only way that that could be overruled was if I got into my still unregistered car and drove to another office and met with Mrs Mabule. Fortunately, Mrs Mabule decided not to press the issue and I finally got the ownership transferred and car registered. I followed up on some leads for car insurance where they suggested I needed a letter from my insurer at home on my driving record. This makes sense though I did not have it and did not feel I could get it easily. Instead I will pay the premium rate which looks to be about $200 for the six months. While the agent worked on that she gave me temporary coverage, very efficient I thought. Then I went with Charles to transfer water, electricity and the security system. That all went remarkable smoothly as well, though took time. Yesterday we got Mave a cell phone which made her very happy.

On Tuesday I had had three goals: register the change of ownership on the car, get car insurance, and sign my lease for the flat – and then later in the day to go to the mall and get some new bed sheets and some groceries, finally. Well, I was quite lucky to accomplish two of those. First thing in the morning, though, Moses ordered a taxi to go buy a new battery for the car. Fortunately, he was very successful with that and we were soon, finally, mobile. On Monday we had met a very nice American Fulbright family, the Nitzas, who live a few flats down and had offered for the kids to come by and hang out if need be. I took them up on the offer knowing that the Department of Road Transportation and Safety would be nowhere for kids to hang out. That was a true godsend. Moses and I set out for there quite late (11 ish) only to be informed upon arrival that we needed a certified copy of the seller’s ID – not that that is stated anywhere on the form. So I called Francine at the Embassy and she was quite gracious enough to send her driver who brought the certified copy of the ID and the ID, just in case. But I was number 216 and they were just calling number 67. I somehow thought that if I returned in the afternoon (after the hour closing at lunchtime) I would still accomplish my task, but of course that was not the case. I realized that upon our return and decided to bag Road Transportation and Safety and see if I could at least do some of my business at UB. The kids were good for another couple of hours at the Nitzas’ house. At UB we had a wonderful experience, in strong contrast to the previous, thanks in large part to Leps Malete who, with John Holm via email, has been helping me out immeasurably. I think I was actually supposed to go by and see the Housing Manager before just moving in, but had been told that June 5th was the date and so had just moved in. It was not a problem as that had been the plan all along and I was given the formal letter allocating the flat to me for the grand sum of 2700 pula per month (about $350). This is a terrific price and will allow me to also hire some help a day or two a week which will be greatly appreciated. I also got letters of affiliation and letters for the library and IT office, so I am in great shape. This was a tremendous relief. I have been so impressed with UB in every interaction with them. With the allocation letter I could undertake another series of tasks, namely switching over the utilities.

After picking up the kids at the Nitzas, there was still time to go to Riverwalk although by that time we were all pretty hot and tired, not a good combination for shopping. We went to Mr. Price and got some nice bed sheets and pillows for the kids and a couple of coffee mugs though there is so much more we could get. We also went to Pick ‘n Pay for some groceries; we got quite a lot and that took quite a long time. At that point Mave wanted to go somewhere for dinner and the rest of us just wanted to go home, which we did. I was looking forward to a glass of wine which we had bought at the grocery store. Kuno had earnestly looked to find Yellow Tail for me and instead found something from South Africa called Tall Horse with a giraffe on a label that looked somewhat like the yellow tail labels. He only lamented that he could not find all the different colors. The Shiraz was quite good and I look forward to trying some others!

These first few days have been pretty hard on Kuno and Mave. The weather is very, very hot. We have only just moved into our flat after long travels and two hotels. They have been hearing for such a long time what a wonderful experience this is going to be and I think they are waiting for that wonderful experience. Instead there are just a million errands and so on to take care of with only the occasional fanta, appletiser or movie on the computer to help their moods. Kuno has been very concerned that everyone is staring and laughing at him. I assure him that they are just curious about me. I remind him that President Ian Khama, like Barack Obama and Kuno and Mave, is the child of a white European or American mother and African father. Ian Khama’s picture is everywhere and this can clearly be seen. That seems to help a little. This is something that Kuno will work through as we spend more time here.

Moving into our Flat

2009-01-06T08:51:00.007+02:00

(Pictures taken after we were in the flat for a while.)

At around 11 on Monday, Moses’ friend Masters came to transport us from the hotel to the flat. It took two trips with his smallish car and our four large suitcases. The place seemed very nice enough. It is quite close to the University; indeed, it is University housing and seems to be occupied mostly by expatriates from the rest of Africa, Europe and the US. Our flat is at the end of a row of about five two storey ‘flats.’ There is a security system, razor wire and a big padlock on the gate so I think we shall be safe. Inside, a good sized kitchen, large living and dining area with sofas and dining table and cupboards, a bath with washer and dryer and couple of roomy closets on the first floor. Three ample bedrooms on the second floor and a full bath with shower. Even air conditioning in the living area downstairs and master bedroom upstairs. But it also looked like it had not been well cleaned in ages and there were leftover items everywhere: all of the lotions and shampoos that the last six occupants had used, all of the bits and pieces of school supplies that previous families had used and a million different kinds of converters and adapters. Still, I could see the potential of the place though there was a lot of work ahead.

In the meantime, the goal for the day was to finally get hold of my car. To make a long story short, a neighbor and friend (and noted Bessie Head scholar), Mary, whom I had met here a few years ago helped to drive me out to Francine’s house where the French Embassy driver was jump starting the car – all that was needed I was assured. Delighted I drove back home again to Moses and the kids who had been promised a trip to the mall and dinner out. Once home however it became clear that the battery was dead and that we were not going anywhere. Everyone was at their wit’s end and the first thing we did was turn on the air conditioning and walk over to Choppies, the neighborhood store, and buy whatever Kuno wanted (mostly an ice cream). Mave later was enterprising enough to call a pizza place for some delivered pizza and that helped too. I continued cleaning and rearranging and throwing things out as I had been all day and by bedtime had things more or less the way I wanted them, give or take several things that we still needed to buy. We don’t have a landline and I am not sure that we want one, though then we may not be able to have the internet at home. But there are at least two very cheap internet cafes just around the corner and I will surely have access at UB. There is a small TV though it is not hooked up to anything and seems only to play a game that Moses and the kids are really enjoying. We do have a microwave, an iron and a hair dryer and various radios in addition to those that we brought. Our neighbors, Nigerians to the left and Ethiopians to the right, were talkative all evening long until a terrific thunderstorm shut and cooled everything down. The kids watched a movie on the computer and we all got to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour – before midnight that is.

Trip to Mmankgodi

2009-01-05T08:45:00.008+02:00

On Sunday afternoon we had a real treat. Around 3 Masters came back to pick us up to take us about 40 km outside of Gaborone to Mmankgodi where he is building a house, some shops and more. But first we had to do some shopping for the braai that we would hold out at Masters’ place. That meant some water and juice, lots of meat and a few rolls. As we were driving around town I had a fleeting feeling of homesickness for Namibia – which Mave later announced as well. Windhoek feels much more cosmopolitan than Gaborone and certainly more 'developed.' In Windhoek, of course, I know my way around so well and will always run into familiar faces in town. I am not sure that in Gaborone people even go ‘to town’ in the way that they do in Windhoek. Gaborone is much more African with everything kind of jumbled together and by that I mostly mean the different neighborhoods. Really, that is also why I am so happy to be here – to be somewhere like that - rather than somewhere in which the 'townships' and 'suburbs' (and all the baggage that go with them) are so clearly demarcated. The two countries, though neighbors, have such vastly different histories, which surely account for the many differences one notices even at first glance.

We were soon on the road to Mmankgodi, having turned off from the Lobatse Road which we recognized as the road to the Mokolodi Nature Reserve, past the big Game City mall and the baboons by the side of the road. The countryside was relaxing – quite green with all of the recent rain - with many hills surrounding us. We passed through villages and settlements, stopping at one point to purchase some firewood from the side of the road. It was sitting there in a pile and we pulled over to wait for the kid who was tending it to come and get his money. He asked for 25 pula and Masters gave him 20. The village of Mmankgodi is fairly populous – though not by Botswana standards where villages can actually have in the tens of thousands of people. Most of the houses were made of cement or brick with mabati or corrugated iron roofs; some more traditional huts with thatched roofs. We passed by one very impressive compound with a high stone wall and lovely open structure inside; turns out it was the village kgotla. This is the gathering space where for generations Tswana men have gathered with their chief to discuss and decide upon village matters. Women and children could attend to listen but not speak. The kgotlas continue to this day and are venues for discussing development, education and other such issues. People contend that they go some way toward explaining politics in Botswana today, for example, why there are so few women in formal political institutions. Once at his plot we found the two Zimbabweans whom Masters has hired to thatch his roof. He says that many Zimbabweans are multiskilled; they are all over Botswana these days, given the dreadful situation in Zimbabwe. These two live in Gabane and are doing the work for him on a job or piece basis as they do most of their work. In the background we could hear music and drums farther into the bush from an apostolic church. As on the farm in Namibia, Kuno was thrilled to run around and play with the insects and plants and sticks and bones. As it got darker it finally got cooler we could hear the clanging of the bells as the cows started coming home. We enjoyed a typical assortment of beef, kidneys (which even the kids enjoyed), chicken and sausage cooked over a ‘grill.’ Once we had finished eating and could hardly see anything anymore we headed back to Gaborone. There was a huge line of traffic headed in the same direction as the weekend and the Xmas holidays were coming to an end and people were heading home. Back in the hotel we could not get to sleep until the wee hours of the morning. We will have to start waking up at 7 in the morning and no naps during the day to finally get back on a regular schedule.

Our Weekend at Cresta Lodge

2009-01-04T13:35:00.003+02:00

Our clocks have been way off with all of us likely to be up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. Our first couple of days at the Cresta Lodge have been rather difficult. We decided to stay here again as this is where we had stayed during our August 2006 trip and we liked it. I think this time we may have suffered from the effects of the long Xmas holiday. We were first put in a room that was really hot and even though the maintenance guys came to check it a couple of times, no improvement. Finally, today we realized that we just needed to change rooms and were immediately much more comfortable in a room with air conditioning that worked. There have also been more flies and mosquitoes than we expected. The internet was not working anywhere in the hotel and the pool was a big disappointment; not as clean as we would have liked. The kids jumped in and quickly out again Saturday morning. We were also still quite exhausted and I was having a hard time getting hold of the people I needed to in order to arrange our Monday morning move and and and. On Saturday night Moses’ Namibian-Tswana friend Master Jacobs Moelenyane joined us for dinner at Chatters. This time Moses had oxtail with pap and Kuno thought it looked really good!

This morning we slept till 10 after being awake for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. We all took showers which helped our moods and then went to OK Foods to get some cool drinks and Russians and chips. When we got back to the hotel we saw that the Business Center had been opened up after the Xmas holiday and so we could finally get online for a bit. The free weekend wireless from the hotel was unfortunately still unavailable. That helped to lift our spirits; we could catch up on what was going on at home and also let people know that we had arrived safely. Then we made the room change which lifted our spirits again.

Our Flights to Gaborone

2009-01-03T08:34:00.001+02:00

Look who we met at the Dulles Airport.....

We left Newark early for our largely uneventful drive to Dulles International Airport. We got there in plenty of time to have a bite to eat and enjoy the quiet, rather empty airport. Our flight to Amsterdam was about 6 or 7 hours and marked our first introduction to pretty terrible KLM food. They did come around with glasses of champagne early on in the flight to welcome in the New Year. That was a nice touch. We were late leaving Dulles, cutting down on our already short layover in Amsterdam.

At the airport in Amsterdam we had to go from one terminal to another and were given the impression that we should board our next flight immediately. Knowing how bad the food was we tried to pick up something to eat; used some remaining euros to buy pringles and orange fanta. On the 11 hour flight to Johannesburg we at first had miserable seats; a back row of four seats which meant that the seats could not lean back though those in front of us could lean back on us. Fortunately, the flight was not all that full and we were all told that we could move around once airborne. We were fabulously lucky to find seats in a nearly unoccupied front section where each of us was able to claim a row of two seats with lots of leg room. There were also windows from which to view our trip. We had a magnificent view of North Africa and the Sahara Desert, though cloud cover seemed to move in as we moved south. As we got farther south still it became dark and we could see little. Again, while the snacks were good and plentiful the meals were terrible and when we arrived in Johannesburg late at night, in the middle of torrential rain and thunder and lightning we were tired and hungry. It took quite a while to get through passport control but then our luggage was right there much to our relief. Next we had to locate the shuttle that we had reserved to take us to the Garden Court Hotel. There was no one there with a sign to ‘greet’ us but there were a small bus and driver waiting for us in the hotel shuttle area. People at the hotel were very welcoming; because it was so late the restaurant and room service were closed and since we had no rands we could not even buy snacks from the vending machine. We made some tea and coffee in the room and were happy to have showers and beds to spread out on. We were all awake and ready to go by 7 in the morning when the breakfast buffet, included with the room, opened up. There was a great spread, though not very good coffee, and we all filled up. The weather was gorgeous though we spent most of the morning in the hotel room just relaxing before the final leg of the journey.

The Johannesburg airport was quite busy in the morning and we had to pay about 250 rand for excess luggage, having just made it under the 50 lb per bag requirement at Dulles. Oh well. If we had flown South African Airways the whole way it would not have been a problem but we had tacked on the last portion of the flight at the end. The flight to Gaborone was one of those small express planes and took just about one hour. When we got off onto the tarmac at Seretse Khama International Airport the sun was blazing; definitely the low 90s that we had read about in the weather forecast. We passed easily through passport control with no questions asked and were again happy to see all of our bags. Again a shuttle to the hotel was waiting for us and we were off to the Cresta Lodge where we had stayed on our first and last visit to Gaborone. When we got to the Cresta Lodge we were truly exhausted. After a bit, Kuno and I ventured out to the shopping center around the corner to get some vital groceries like water, coffee, evaporated milk, rusks and bananas. Food prices, like everything else, seem pretty high though fruit and vegetables seemed pretty cheap. After hanging out some more we went to the hotel restaurant, again in the middle of a thunder storm and had some dinner; Moses ordered a Botswana favorite: seswaa with morogo (greens) and pap.