http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Botswana/North-East/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Botswana , North East en-us Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:56:28 BST Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:56:28 BST I am writing a general happy reflection on our great days in SA and Botswana while it is still very vivid in my mind We all had wondeful prime family time with many friends as well. It is amazing to think and imagine we were still in Botswana this time last week having arrived back in Europe to the weather we may have wished for at Christmas time I am in Frankfurt area with Peter and we woke up http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Botswana/North-East/Francistown/blog-322998.html Hello everyoneSorry it has been so long since we last wrote to you...time seems to have flown We are now feeling very at home in Francistown and even our room has become quite cosy. The hostel we are staying at is really lovely and the staff look after us loads They were worrying so much when we went away this weekend nice to know they are watching out for us Our routine now is arriving in http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Botswana/North-East/Francistown/blog-291548.html What a weekAfter orientating ourselves to Francistown on Wednesday we started our placements in the hospital on Thursday morning at 7.30am That was the first culture shock. Anna and I began in AE while Fiona and Jemma went to Obs and Gynae. The hospital wasn't quite what we were expecting. We thought it would be a lot better equipped and more Westernized than it really is. The AE departmen http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Botswana/North-East/Francistown/blog-285465.html Well we made it safely to Francistown We spent yesterday just wandering in the centre of Gaborone and took some pictures of the Parliament building etc but nothing too hardcore touristy as we were still recovering from travelling It's a nice enough city but we all got the impression it has been very quickly purpose built and is definitely not a top tourist destination In fact we ended up in http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Botswana/North-East/Francistown/blog-283669.html Botswana Francistown and NataAfter being really surprised by Joburg we were really looking forward to Botswana. We stopped over in a place called Rustenburg to get to Botswana which wasn't all that nice so we went to the pics to see Keanu Reeves and Forest Whittaker. We then did a really long drive the next day across the border and up to Francistown which was about 600km.Immediately Bots http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Botswana/North-East/Francistown/blog-276567.html It was a beautiful African morning. I was standing on the dusty riverbank soaking up the warm sun and watching an amazingly long line of ancient trucks and busses and a few private vehicles wait their turn for a spot on one of the two tiny river boats that were ferrying the vehicles back and forth across the river. I had already passed through Zambiarsquos border post and from where I stood I http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Botswana/North-East/blog-270558.html Maun Botswana.It's an interesting town with some smart shops and a vitality about it.For once the corrugated shacks have been replaced with some nice small huts and bushman huts. I get the feeling there's a lot of employment here. That gives people money and that makes them happy although Botswanans are generally happy people from waht I've experienced.I decided to take the road through Botswana http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Botswana/North-East/blog-260650.html After a longish bus ride from Gabarone we arrived in SelebiPhikwe saleebpeekway and were met by Sarah and Pilar 2 amazing Peace Corps women who took us back to their flats they live next door to each other and we settled in for the evening.Sarah made chili for dinner and after not having eaten much since arriving in Africa I was elated to have familiar food. The 4 of us talked for http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Botswana/North-East/blog-249841.html After having only left JHB at 1.30 with so many last minute things to do 300 of them to be exact we headed off towards the Groblersbrug border post. On our way we got a Sanral pamphlet that indicated that the border closed at 6pm that gave us exactly 5.5 hours to travel 480kms. Nail biting but we got there 15 minutes to 6pm. Apparently Sanral hasn't caught up with the times as the border ac http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Botswana/North-East/Francistown/blog-225041.html Was around 5 hours from Kasane to Francistown asked the guy beside me how the road was before leaving he told me there's an hour of shit roads in the middle of the trip... turns out my definition of a bad road is drastically different from his think I might have felt a bump or 2 in there somewhere. Managed to spot a real truely wild elephant ie. not in a park en route as well as a few os http://www.travelblog.org//Africa/Botswana/North-East/Francistown/blog-171811.html