The "Committee"

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Dodging the constant barrage of goats, cows, donkeys, dogs and people on the road was a gentle reminder that we had arrived within the boarders of Botswana.

A couple of days of relaxed riding brought us to Maun, a good base for exploring the Okavango Delta, set in the southern region of this 'World wonder'. Trips into the delta on a makoro (dug out canoe) turned out to be ridiculously expensive for our budget, so foot-power was the name of the game on our exploration missions in and around the local area. It's always great to get off the beaten track, which usually involves walking anyway.

One such exploration brought us to a local football (soccer) match. Easy to find as you could hear the music and see the rising dust off the pitch in the distance. The two teams played an entertaining game, with a flamboyant, colourful African style that was great to watch. Not that this did much to deter the rowdy drunken Sunday crowd from dancing, drinking and socializing on the side-line. Never mind watching the game! Just as I was going to take some photos the "Committee" turned up, toting beer cans in their hands, slurring that I "had to consult with them first before taking photos", and "what were the photos for anyway?" Not wanting to play the bribe-game, I protested my innocence and ignorance, deciding to talk about the football game instead. Not even the "Committee" knew which teams were playing, but that wasn't really the aim of the day I suppose. The game carried on. And if the players weren't choking on the dust kicked-up off the pitch, they were choking on the dust from vehicles doing wheel-spins and donuts on the side-line!

One of the highlights of the African trip so far, of course, has been talking to the local people. Walking through, and talking to the locals of Matlapaneng village was no exception. Botswana used to be an English colony, and there is English taught in schools, but it still surprised me that some of the older villagers knew enough English to hold a basic conversation, smile, laugh and joke with us. It is always a humbling experience to see how most people of this world live, and it was great to come away feeling that they were genuinely happy that we had taken the time to meet them.

In eastern Botswana we started to get a taste of African wildlife that wasn't behind bars as such. We free-camped off the side of the road down a dirt track, under an amazingly quiet and starry night sky. I had asked a local about the safety of free-camping in Botswana (referring to the chances of being robbed), and was told about elephants being in the area. We never really thought much about it until the next morning when we saw a huge bull-elephant crossing the road within a stones-throw of where we were camping! During the ride to Zimbabwe we saw two other groups of elephants roaming free through this beautifully autumn-coloured landscape.

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Photos

Gully
A friend that's a barman is a good friend indeed.

Great people
Homework - learning English

Comments

[orit]

love reading your tales
thanks for transporting me to Africa again and again I am living vicariously through you!!!!!!!!!! keep on trucking!

[orit]

july 23 ????
I just realizes this is from june 20 a month ago???? where are you now???