Blogs from South-East, Botswana, Africa - page 7

Gaborone is an odd city. It was built from scratch as a capital, but despite it’s modern origins, it seems to have sprung up with little forethought or planning. The land area that it covers is vast, and long taxi or combi rides are needed to get anywhere. Much of the population live in the widely dispersed suburbs, now organised into numbered ‘blocks’ some of which are themselves as large as small towns. Dividing these blocks are major highways that cross each other at great ‘circles’ (the local name for roundabouts). In theory, all the streets have names. In practice though, most of them are missing any clue as to what they might be. There is also a great lack of maps to be found. Indeed, many of the locals I asked didn’t seem to really ... read more

As I've mentioned in previous entries, I've stayed in pretty much every type of accomodation there is to be found during my African travels. I've lived in converted stables, family homes, mud huts, luxery lodges & hotels, plus most things in between. During that time, I've met a great many of my fellow travellers, and it really is amazing what a melting pot Africa is these days. Almost uniformly however, the most interesting people to be found are staying in amongst the cheapest accomodations. In the luxery lodges and the big hotels, all I seem to encounter are rich Americans on one or two week safaris. I am sure there are a few other nationalities spotted about there too, but to be honest the Americans are (almost) always so loud, that it sounds as if they're ... read more

With no love lost between me and Joberg, I got on a bus on the 6th and headed north to Botswana. The ride was uneventful, albeit long, and around 9pm I was getting off the bus and looking for Mr. Knight. An viola.....there he was, getting out of a cab in all his full Jerry-ness. We grabbed my pack and headed toward the cab. As we were walking he explained to me that half of Gabarone had lost power (a fairly common event in Southern Africa), and our hotel was on the side with out power. This also explained why the biggest city in Botswana was pitch black. After a short cab ride we were at the Oasis Hotel. We got to our room, and Jerry....whaddaguy...had purchased 2 little bottles of champagne to celebrate my arrival. ... read more

Hi everyone! Bry has done an excellent job blogging our life here, but now I shall take a turn and try to fill you all in on my life at work. Apologies in advance if this is a bit more boring than Bry's usual entries :) I am working at Godisa Technologies Trust (www.godisa.org), a very interesting place indeed. Godisa (it means "to help things grow") is a social enterprise, although that terminology is new and unfamiliar here in Botswana. It is a charitable trust with deaf empowerment as a core value, but we assemble and sell products including hearing aids, batteries, support equipment like audiometers, and Godisa-invented and developed solar powered chargers for the hearing aids & batteries. The solar powered charger is ingenious - often the cost of batteries is as expensive as the ... read more

Dumelang! Well it's two weeks in and we are starting to get our bearings and get comfortable with the city. I can pretty much find my way around by driving though I find myself constantly distracted by the little things I notice all around me that represent the life that is this place. People make their livelihoods by the side of the road. Mango sellers park their flatbed trucks full of the fruit under shady trees, often next to manure sellers doing the same. Yesterday I passed by an area where a man was selling wooden bowls; today a woman has laid out intricately woven table cloths to sell. In the western part of the city, efficiently called Gabs West, it seems as though a welding district has sprung up. Basically, everywhere along the roadside ... read more