Rain in Vain

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Africa » Botswana
February 4th 2008

Saved: January 7th 2013

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Anj and Bry

Anj & Bry awaiting the sunset

Hi All,

Long time no write, but I am quite sure everyone has been very busy in the last few months that you even forgot about us. Happy New Year! It has been quite a year and those of you following this blog will know much more about our goings on this side of the world than we do of you. So before I get into another roaring update, I might as well pass on our new news.

The Ryan-Rappaport adventure in Botswana is coming to an end. It all happened so quickly that both Anj and myself can't quite believe it ourselves. We started looking for work in November. We were considering opportunities in Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and of course, Calgary. Angela has taken an amazing position as the manager of Amnesty International Canada's National Manager of Major Gifts in, wait for it, sunny Toronto.

Yes, we are going/coming home. I am exploring opportunities back in Toronto and Angela is very excited for her new position. We will always remember Botswana fondly and am sure will be off for another great adventure before you know it. But, lets save all that sentimental stuff for when

Kiss at the Falls

Oh what a view. Not a bad breakfast

we actually have to go. It can all be found in my final leatherbound blog entitled "Looks like we made it - a tale of love, danger and intrigue in the Kalahari". Watch out Alexander McCall-Smith, I smell a made-for-tv after school special....

So, we are very excited to see everyone in our home-town again and am sure everyone will get tired of us real quick. I think that by rights, the next place will be of my choosing. Look out, Wilmington, Delaware, you're in our sights.

The unofficial date of return is March 6th, but we are leaving Botswana March 1st to spend some time in Cape Town.

THE BLOG
OK, to what we have been doing the last two months. Well, we have been fortunate to have had one of Anj's closest friends, Jes, visit in December, followed by her folks, Tom and Barbara, visit last month. This blog then is essentially a two parter. You will find the majority of the tale here as well as photos from December. The next blog will be photo-intensive, from our recent trip with the Ryans.

Jes came mid December in what has turned out to be

Nata worry in the world

Anj chillaxing by the pool in Nata

our rainy season. Now before you scoff and say " but Bryan, you're in the desert, what possible kind of rainy season could you have, stupid?" let me tell you, that I truly believe that more rain has fallen here in recent months, than in an entire decade in Bangladesh. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration and I apologize to my Bangladeshi friends out there (hi Mo) but there has been enough rain to put a complete damper on the provincial lifestyle we have become accostomed to. The real victims have been the roads. Overnight our lovely town has become so pockmarked with VW-Bug sized potholes that it resembles post war Germany. Again, a slight exaggeration, but you get the picture. Our Corrolla is become a surrogate 4x4 and probably has but a few more potholes left in it. But I digest.

Now back to Jes, who works as a nurse practitioner at a clinic back in Toronto. She decided to give up some of her hard earned vacation time (don;t I know it) and volunteer at a clinic here in Botswana for a week, before going on a little Corolladventure with us around the B.dot (Botswana). We matched her

Our shack in Francistown

Anj and I enjoying the view from our palace.

up with an organization that works with people suffering with HIV in a small village about 20kms outside of Gabs, and she was raring to go, looking forward to working with people in need. Alas, not to our surprise, it did not work out as planned. The organization was more interested in the depth of her pockets than her abilities and we decided to call the whole thing off after one fruitless day. We salvaged some of her skills at Godisa, where she gave a talk to some of the deaf workers (translated by Anj) about health, and answered lots of questions they previously had noone to ask them to.

So we spent a good deal of time showing Jes what life is like for us in Gabs. Went to a few of our favourite spots and restaurants and just enjoying the time together, swimming and soaking up the few sunny days we received.

From there we loaded all of our gear into our little Corolla and headed up north to the hinterland that is Nata. After poor highways and weather slowed us down a bit and forced us to spend a night in Francistown, we eventually came

Sosu Pan, Nata

Most of the year this is a dry salt pan. The remains of a giant superlake, once 60,000km squared large.

to the dustbowl that is Nata. Driving down that empty highway, it really did feel like we were in among the same scenery; sand everywhere, filled with acacia bushes of varying sizes and ferocities of thorns. Yet, in Nata, this shrubbery only lasts for about a kilometre, and then beyong that, to the west, is one of the most astounding places in the world. A mega lake. Or a mega salt pan, depending on when you visit. For us, it was most definitely the former.

If geography class taught me anything, apart from the capital of Prince Edward Island, it is that rivers flow into, not away from, large bodies of water. Aha. Well, this is essentially the story of Northern Botswana. Several rivers, which most times of the year are just dry river beds, become filled from the rains in more tropical places like Angola and Zimbabwe, and rush down into Botswana. But, if you look at a map of Botswana, you see no lakes. In fact, there used to be a massive inland saltwater lake many many years ago, streteching from Northeastern Botswana to Northwestern Namibia (lets say the distance from Paris to Lisbon) which stayed wet

Anj in Nata

throughout the year and was fed by the Okavango, Nata and Zambezi rivers. Changing climates over millenia in Botswana made it too warm to hold a lake year round, but the rain kept falling in Angola and Zim, forcing the water to flood the desert and pans of Botswana each year, only to dry up again. This is how the Okavango, and Nata were formed.

If you just skimmed over that, no worries. Who needs lernin anyways eh?

So we enjoyed our time in Nata, went for a wet drive out into the pans, which looked more like the Mediterrenean than Botswana, and ate too well. It was our first time up there and the next month, when we visited the exact same spot with the Ryans, most of the roads were inaccessable and the water was at least a metre higher and 300 metres further inland than before.

From there we risked our very lives to drive up to Kasane to enjoy another trip to the Chobe Nature Reserve. For me actually, this was quite new, having been to Kasane before, only to miss out on the river cruise after that lengthy drive on the back

Anj naval gazing in Nata

of the 4x4 with Claire back in September. So even the drive up there was a different experience. Nice not to see it all zooming away from you while you lie on your back praying the car doesn't flip as you have no idea how you could possibly get out of the truck...the potholes though, were crazy and added an extra hour or two to the 300km trip.

The Chobe Riverfront feels like another country. From living in Gabs you get no idea of the luxury and amount of tourism happening on the other side of the country. We stayed in a cute hotel on the waterfront and had a stunning cruise of the river, spotting many new waterbirds and getting close and upfront with hippos again, but this time in a steel-bottom speedboat. The dinner though, was the highlight of the trip. A massive buffet at a reasonably reasonable price let to me having duck, lamb, kudu, cow and chicken, all on one plate, all at the same time. One more animal on that plate probably would have caused blindness, or at the very least uncontrollable mooing.

We decided to leave our car at the hotel for

Bry in Nata

our journey into Zambia as having seen the state of the roads and the state of the ferry before, we were not confident our car could make it. Also, we heard about the need to bribe many traffic cops in Zambia and had no desire. So we cabbed and walked the way to the Kazungula Ferry point, which was backed up with over 400 trucks waiting to get over there. Unfortunately, there is only one ferry, which can carry only one large semi, plus a few cars, and takes about a half hour round trip from Bots to Zam. Do the math and you can tell that some trucks will probably have to wait nearly a week to cross. With no hotels or restaurants for these truckers to go to nearby, an entire industry has grown around them. From vendors selling fried chicken, pap and drinks, to women, well, selling themselves, there has been a few recent articles in the papers complaining about this and the need for a bridge. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe owns some of the water the bridge would cross and getting anything done in Zimbabwe these days is just a bit difficult.

So, all was fine until

Sundowner time for Anj

Perfectly situated for a great sunset and a cold one.

the skies opened up. Anj, Jes and I were standing under a torrential downpour with no umbrellas, and no shelter for 30 minutes. Anj and Jes had raincoats with hoods, I had a shirt, shorts and glasses. None of which kept me, or my bag very dry. Eventually we made it to the other side, arranged a taxi and went back to our old haunt, The Waterfront, in Livingstone. Unfortunately, the rain didn't stop much and within a few hours all our clothes reeked of mould. The weather did improve on Christmas morning, if only for a little while. Anj had aranged a cruise onto the Zambezi to the edge (literally the edge) of Victoria Falls, where we had a fancy breakfast on Livingstone Island. Unlike our last visit to the falls, this time the water was in full rush and the views made it probably one of the best experiences of our entire year abroad. That good.

We returned for an afternoon at the Royal Livingstone Resort and while Jes enjoyed another game drive, Anj and I luxuriated at the fanciest hotel in town (or country) reading the world papers on leather and wicker loungers, sipping our

Elephant bones and others

Found this beside a foot and mouth inspection gate on the highway.

drinks as we watched zebras grazing next to the pool. Pfwah. I do say. Just missing a pith helmet, my Winchester and a good brandy. Left those at home.

Onwards we went to the Okavango Delta. Unfortunately, due to the rain, all we could manage was to get Anj and Jes on a scenic flight of a quite dry Delta. See, if you read my geography lesson, you would remember that the water comes from rain in Angola and since those had stopped a few months back, the water was retreating. The circle of life continues.

Our trip with Jes concluded in my familiar haunt in the Kalahari. We stayed in bushman huts in the desert, swam in the quarry and generally slowed things down before heading back to Gabs. Each experience in the Kalahari is special, with the stars, the people and the quiet, we were acutely aware that we had one last trip up here before our time would be up.

So, following this blog, will be another one, quick on its heels. Not sure if there will be blogs from Canada, but there probably will be a few updates.

Hope all is well,