Botwana or Botsi-don’t-wana?

Botwana or Botsi-don’t-wana?
After the emotional day in Jo’burg followed by the “let’s celebrate African nationalism” in Pretoria, we left the country and headed to Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana. Crossing the border went smoothly…the hightlght was that we actually had to WALK across the border. Pretty cool. About 2 hours later, we arrived in Gaborone and pulled into our hotel.
Now, our previous hotel in Jo’burg was the lap of luzury: two full beds with down comforters, huge bathroom with deluxe shower, sitting area, satalite TV…you name it, we had it and we were spoiled. When we pulled into the Hotel Gabarone, things were VERY different. The hotel was situated in the middle of the city’s bus station. Now, a bus staition in Africa is not what you perceive in America. By bus station, I mean a HUGE lot full of mini busses and people everywhere! Gabarone is one of the cities in southern Africa which act as a gateway to the rest of the continent, so there were people from all over Africa. During our time in Botswana, we met a Kenyan as well as a man from Rwanda who walked away when we asked about his country. Anyway, back to the hotel: billed as the Gaborone Hotel and Casino, we were treated to one of the dumpiest places ever. My cold shower, paired with the oh so pleasant “eau de Gaborone” hotel stench, made the stay an interesting one, more akin to what one would experience in West Africa. It was safe to say that group morale was a bit low upon arrival, especially when Rich and Kay said “we’ve never been here, we don’t know anything about Botswana. We’ll see you at 8am.” No one had a guidebook, much less a semblence of what to do that night for dinner.
A group of us decided to explore and headed to the SupaSave Grocery store. Pure chaos. I couldn’t help but to think that it was the first time in my life where I was a minority, and felt like one. We managed to grab some bread and PB for breakfast (no breakfast included and we were NOT going to eat in the hotel restaurant…). After hitting up the ATM to grab some Pula (which means Rain in Tsatsawni), we headed back to the “Jaundice Tower” as we called it, and decided to get the heck out of the hotel and explore the rest of Gaborone.
A group of 12 of us negotiated with some cab drivers (no formal running meters on the cab - we had to negotiate our price!), and we headed to a local bar and resuaturant called the Bull and Bush. When we arrived, we grabbed a long picnic table outside beside some firepits, and let the fun begin. The restaurant had a very diverse crowd - a far cry from what we experienced at the hotel. The highglight of the evening was the female karaoke singer who had a love for Tina Turner. We all danced and sang around the fire to keep warm while waiting an hour and a half to get our pizza. Chris and I decided to split a pepperoni, onion and green pepper pizza, and what arrived over an hour later was an olive, mushroom and garlic pizza. We were so hungry we didn’t complain and scarfed it down.
After surviving the night, we headed out to shop for Botswana crafts. Our first stop with a Pottery studio…what beautiful work. It’s just too bad they didn’t take credit cards, and the fact that we all have to get pottery back to the states in a suitcase. I picked up a couple of pieces - hope it survives! Many of us had spent all of our Pula, so we stopped at a bank/ATM and then off to lunch at the Botswana specialty: KFC. In the afternoon we headed to a Weavers Co-op where I made my big “I’ll always have this item for Africa” purchase: a beautiful hand woven, hand died, hand spun tapestry made by a Botswana woman that took one month to complete. It will look great hanging in my living room, and will forever remind me of this experience.
Our typical lunch on the road...Pick and Pay for Cheese and Crackers or the dreaded Wimpy Burger. I hope never to visit another gas station bathroom after this trip...

Here I am with my favorite Botswana artist!!

Typical View of Botswana!


The highlight of our Botswana experience was meeting with the Peace Corps Country Director, Peggy. She was an absolutely fascinating woman and shared her love of the Peace Corps with all of us. Botswana gained independence in 1966, at which point there were only 11 miles of tarred roads and only 8 University graduates in the entire country at the time. The Peace Corps helped establish the Botswana laws as well as develop the country’s infrastructure in the 60’s. Their main focus now is to help with HIV/AIDS prevention and education. Botswana’s rate of HIV/AIDS infection is second highest in the world just behind Swaziland. The CDC estimates that 40% of the population is infected country-wide. The Peace Corps aims to combat this through life skills education programs in schools, along with a strong mother-child program to combat transmission. They also work on developing public awaresness through various campains like “Who is in your sexual network?” as an aim to get out the message against HIV/AIDS. Most infections are spread through heterosexual relationships with multiple people. Botswana’s goal is “No new infections by 2016!” A lofty goal, but the government with the aid of the Peace Corps is working to make this a reality. I have definitely noticed the much strong public outreach for HIV/AIDS prvention through the use of condoms here in Botswana. There are condom dispensers in every bathroom, public building, at the border, in the hotel room(ironically, in the safe)…it is everywhere.
I am totally sold on the Peace Corps, and would love to be a part of it at some point in my life. Peggy was telling us that Obama is looking at new ways to recruit more teachers into the program and is considering a funded “sabbatical” year where teachers would leave the classroom for a year to go and teach overseas with the Peace Corps. I really hope this becomes a reality because I would sign up in a second. A 27 month committement is a bit daunting, but a year sabatical seems much more reasonable. Like I’ve said in previous posts: I need to find my way to reach out to the rest of the world.
Our last night in Botswana brought us to the Riverwalk Mall where we had some Indian food. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel, spent of 20 pula voucher in the casino (lasted me about 10 minutes on the slots!), and then sat around and had some great conversations. The conversations are definitely the highlight of the trip!
We left Botswana early in the morning and headed back to South Africa and finally to Mafikeng. We got in early and had some down time…very nice and much needed during these long bus days! We had dinner at this restaurant called Spurs, which was essentially South Africa’s version of Chilis. It was good, except that I didn’t expect my chicken burger to be the side of my head…. We all had an early night and crawled into our freezing hotel rooms…and by freezing I mean no heat and the outside temperature in the 30s. I made myself into a human burrito and slept for a solid 9 hours. Wonderful rest.
We’re on our way to Kimberly, the diamond capital of South Africa. Two more nights and then I’ll be back in Capetown for our last week. I can’t believe how time is flying! As much as I don’t want to return to Cape Town because that means our time here is almost over…I am really sick and tired of lugging my now VERY heavy suitcase around!
See you all in just over a week…CRAZY!!




Here is the burger almost as big as my head...

Love you all! :)