Let's Hear It For Botswana!

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We arrived in Botswana on Saturday afternoon. The border crossing was considerably faster and less annoying than into Namibia, where the customs officers acted as though we were inconveniencing them, plus most of them fled on their lunch breaks as soon as we arrived. Botswana is an interesting place, with one of the most stable, legitimate goverments, and strongest economies in Africa. We're currently in Maun, one of the main entry points to the Okavango Delta, and it's a nice little place.

We left Swakopmund last Monday morning, after we heard all the tales of the skydiving and other adventure sports. I went on a township tour with a few people on Sunday afternoon, and it was really interesting. It's quite a hard life for a lot of the people, but our guides were saying that things do improve. Education is mandatory for ten years in Namibia, so our guides were saying that in the next generation things should get better. However, HIV is a massive problem across sub-Saharan Africa - currently 20% of people in Botswana are infected, which is insane.

The second we stepped out of our van in the township (Mondesa), dozens of little kids ran up and JUMPED into our arms. It was startling- we expected that there would be a lot of kids hanging around, but they were desperate to be carried around! We got to meet one of the chiefs in the township, which was very interesting - she didn't speak English so she used a translator, but she speaks a tribal language that features clicking sound, which was really cool to hear. Afterwards we had a look in a shebeen (a bar- according the chief, alcohol is one of the major problems in the community) and were given samples of food. The traditional food was, hmmm, an acquired taste. A common staple of African meals is a porride, which is picked up with the fingers, rolled into a ball, and eaten with a sauce, in our case, something like a spinach curry. The spinach was okay, but the porridge wasn't great - very thick, gritty, and tasteless. The meal was accompanied by caterpillars - not too bad, just a bit earthy tasting, as well as nuts, a fruit that tasted like woody figs, and beer that isn't for the faint hearted!!

It was an interesting experience, but I'm never quite sure how good it is to do these sorts of tours... I hate the idea of turning people's lives into a zoo of sorts. Still, the children were a laugh and lovely to see.

After we left Swakopmund we headed to Spitzkoppe, the "Matterhorn of Namibia" for a night of bush camping. This was also Kat's "punch night", where our tour leader made a punch that featured 8 litres of vodka, cases of red wine, and who knows what else. Think a lot of people had sore heads and tummies the next day, but I think some of them drank so much because it was so bitterly cold - hands down the coldest night we've had!

After Spitzkoppe we went to a cheetah reserve, where we got to watch the feedings, which was cool. The owners also have three tame cheetahs that you're allowed to pet - very carefully, since they're still wild inside! - and that was something else. It's utterly bizarre to be standing next to such powerful cats and to hear how frighteningly loud and deep their purr is!

Our next stop was Etosha, a national park in Namibia that is 20,000 square kilometers large for two days of game drivings. Once we reached northern Namibia we started seeing a few more animals - massive giraffes on the roadsides! - but Etosha has been a highlight so far, for sure. We got to see a leopard for ages, just wandering around the side of our truck, which our tour leader had never seen, and our driver had also never seen a leopard up close, and for so long - in twelve years of driving! We also got to see a lot of the normal game, and even a few elephants at the end of the day, which was awesome. We saw some hyenas by a watering hole - terrifying, smelly things - and also two lions (mating!) in the far, far distance. That night we were treated to jackals running around the campsite, as well as a warthog or two.

The next morning we did a game drive first thing, where we got to see a lioness up close. It was awesome - she was walking down the trail in front of the truck, wandered around a bit, and sat beside us. It is actually quite heart stopping when you first see the big cats... and then we noticed a giant bull elephant directly across from her!! It is definitely a new experience to see animals out in the wild.

Friday night was spent in Rundu, a somewhat grim little town on the natural river border between Namibia and Angola. This campsite had a pet monkey, though, and one of the guys saw it, and stuck his arm out for it to jump on. The monkey came up, put one hand on Oli's arm... and then smacked in twice in the face with his other hand!! Oli is now sporting a red bump on his nose.

We've been having a lot of fun, although most of the group is away on a two night excursion into the Okavango Delta. We opted out of it, since it was quite expensive, and we're doing an overnight in Chobe National Park (home of one of Africa's biggest elephant herds!) as well as a few nights in the Serengetei when we reach Tanzania. It's nice to be able to relax at the camp, though, and and be able to sleep in past 5am - we've had a few pre-5am wakeups, and it's not fun in the freezing cold!!

We reach Victoria Falls on Friday, which is where most of the people get off - six of us stay on until Kenya - and we pick up a few new passengers. That leg will probably see a smaller group than we have currently, which will be good and bad, in a way - but always nice to meet new people I suppose. And apparently once we get into Zambia and Malawi it won't be so cold at night!

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