I had been to Botswana before, during my first ever backpacking trip when I was 21 and travelled from Nairobi down to Cape Town over three months. On that occasion, in 2001, I crossed over from Zambia and visited Chobe National Park before continuing into Zimbabwe. I remember that Botswana was quiet, relatively affluent, and full of wildlife. I discovered 22 years later that thankfully it hasn’t changed much. Although, if I had visited Gaborone back then I might now be telling you that it had changed a lot. The country, and Gaborone especially, have been developing rapidly, which has driven a construction boom. Therefore, construction materials are needed, especially sand – the most mined mineral in the world. And where does the sand come from? Often from ephemeral river systems (they flow only once or
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