The Ultimate Update

I apologize to anyone who reads the following novel of a blog post. It was written over the course of several weeks, a few sentences jotted down her and there when I got a few spare moments. So it probably doesn’t make much sense.... sorry! Added subtitles for clarity...

Hello everyone,

Life in Botswana is going wonderfully. I cannot believe that I only have two short weeks left in this country, five on this continent. It's stressing Ellan and I out and we're already thinking of ways to come back. We haven't quite figured it out, but we'll be back sooner or later, that's for sure.

EASTER

There has been a lot going on since my last post. Most notably, we skipped out on work and took a long Easter holiday. Ellan's parent's came to visit and after a few days in Gabs to meet our friends and our city, we took them up North to Kasane, a very small town on the Chobe River and at the entrance of the Chobe National Park.

We hopped on the Botswana-Zambia bus Thursday night, a twelve-hour trip to Kasane. It was hot and sleepless but we got there in one piece early the next day. It was a lovely bus ride (in terms of scenery) but slow (we had to stop often to let elephants and other animals cross the road) and bumpy (Botswana has a pothole problem). We stayed at Thebe River Camping Lodge just a few minutes from the national park. We slept in pre-set tents, Jenny, Ellan and I in one and Mr and Mrs Dickieson in the other. It was great! Such a perfect place to stay. The campground had a bar/ restaurant, shared but very clean bathrooms and a swimming pool. It was right on the river so there were lots of birds to see. We were so close to the river that the loud grunting of hippos kept us up at night . One night it sounded like they were right outside our tent. You may be thinking "aww, cute hippos," but after hearing many stories of close-encounters with these vegetarian but very defensive animals, we were a bit frightened.

After recovering from our long bus ride, we hit up the town and the bar at the camp site, meeting lots of travellers from around the world. The next morning we headed out on the mid-morning game drive with out guide Opi. He was really good and taught us a lot. We ended up being the only ones on the drive so he was prepared to cater to our interest. We were in the park for 10 minutes and from the back of the truck Jenny says to herself "I'd love to see a lion. That's the only on of the Big Five I've yet to see." Without a moment's notice, Opi slams on the breaks, hauls the truck into reverse and speeds away in the other direction. He said "hold on." We sped through the uneven terrain for about half an hour. We'd see blurrs of elephants and impalas, but he kept reassuring us that we'd go slower on the way back but for now we had to race in a “westerly direction” through the huge park.

We turned towards the Chobe River. There were hundred of huge vultures sitting in front of us. This coupled with the disgusting stench in the air pointed something interesting ahead. Opi crept a few meters further and in unison our jaws dropped. For almost an hour we watch vultures and crocodiles snack at an elephant carcass. The elephant had died of natural causes and its body had already been ripped open by crocodiles and lions. It was such an amazing sight to see, a national geographic moment. We even saw a massive crocodile climb all the way inside the carcass. It was ridiculous. We knew that the lion had to be near, and soon enough a huge lioness came out of a bush a few meters away to scare off the vultures and crocodiles who were munching away at its afternoon snack. We later saw another lioness and two cubs from the same family. What a sight.

Even more eager than the day before, the next day we went on a sunrise game drive with Opi. We woke up at 5am and set out on what turned out to be yet another amazing adventure. We saw so many birds and followed leopard tracks. I learned a lot and don’t think I could ever get tired of seeing these majestic animals. Although, there are so so so so many elephants in Chobe National Park, over 60 000 in fact, that after a while we started to not notice them, much like puddles in Vancouver or Canadian flags in Ottawa.
That evening we went on a sundowner cruise on the Chobe River. We saw so many hippos and it just such a pleasant way to finish off our time in Kasane. Hippos are such funny looking animals and really quite entertaining to watch.
On Monday we got a combi to the Botswana-Zambia Kazungula border on the Chobe and crossed the river on a pontoon. The Zambian side of the border was sketch, to say the least. I won’t go into detail, but ask me to tell you the story some other time.

Upon arriving in Livingston we headed straight to our lodge, dropped our bags, stuffed all of our important items in Ziploc bags and headed off to the mighty Victoria Falls, stopping at a hotel for lunch. We could see the Falls’ mist and hear its rumbling and thunder from miles away. We entered the park’s gates and within two minutes we were absolutely soaked from the mist. I cannot describe the Falls in words; you will all have to go see them yourself. I do understand why they’re one of the Seven Wonders of the World though. Even pictures can’t do the Falls justice. At a width of 1.7 kilometers and a hight of 108 meters, Vic Falls form the largest sheet of falling water in the world. After seeing the Falls face-on we walked across the bridge to the Zimbabwe border for yet another incredible view.

The next day I was supposed to bus back to Gabs so that I could get to work on Wednesday morning, but ended up missing the bus. There’s no such thing as schedules or routes, just word of mouth. So instead, I headed out to Mukuni Village and learned a bit about their way of life. It’s the central village of the smallest tribe in Zambia. The tribe’s governed by a Chief, a Queen and a Prime Minister. While the Chief represents the tribe within the federal government (because it would of course be inappropriate to send a woman to parliament, said our guide), the Queen holds more power, according to the village people. She assigns, revokes and controls land and cattle and can oust the Chief at anytime. The Prime Minister would be equivalent to our Provincial Premiers. Another interesting fact: the Mukuni people practice polygamy, with most men having several wives and multiple children, all who live within the same quarters. This, according to our guide, a member of the village, is for both economic and social reasons, such as status and cultural tradition. We’ve talked a lot about polygamy in my Gender and Development courses, but actually visiting a polygamist community and speaking to its people definitely gave me more to think about. In fact, the discussion often comes up in Gabs as many people try to justify the rampant “multiple partners” phenomenon by saying that it’s routed in a tradition of polygamy, practiced in villages long ago. This argument only goes so far though, is often put forward by men “caught in the act” and certainly doesn’t stand up to the fact that multiple partnership is a HUGE contributor to the HIV / AIDS epidemic in Botswana.

On our way home from the village we passed a sign that read “Gorge Swing.” We had heard about it before and although we didn’t really understand the concept, we heard that it was more thrilling that the Vic Falls bungee jump. We said to ourselves “why not?” and headed up to the top of the cliff that looked down into the Falls’ massive gorge. It was HIGH. We paid (locked in), got strapped into our gear and then watched the girls who were in line ahead of us walk backwards off this cliff.................. Thoughts that followed involved a lot of cursing and “this is what we’re getting ourselves into?” When I read the word “Swing” I imagined images of the playground swings, baby swings, and the like. Last time I checked riding a swing didn’t involve falling 90 meters to what feels like your death. Jenny and I were next. We were going in tandem and were told this would produce the faster and longest free fall. Legs shaking uncontrolably, we slowly backed up to the edge so that only the tips of our toes were on the ground. With the count of three we fell backwards and into a 4-second free fall followed by a lightning-speed swing across the gorge for an amazing view. It was AWESOME... so fun and exhilarating. Ellan went next. She was all alone and had to walk right off the cliff. We were on such an adrenaline high afterwards that sprinting down the street after our shuttle to the sunset cruise we were late for felt like a breeze. The cruise was lovely and we actually ran into the WUSC-Malawi interns on the boat, which was super random!

Getting home from Livingston was quite the adventure, of course. We caught a combi across the border before sunrise, stood in line at the border for what felt like an eternity, witnessed a brutal wild dog fight and caught up to the Zambia-Botswana bus on the other side of the border. The bus was full, but determined to get home, we offered to pay half-price if he’d let us sit in the aisle (there were several people sitting in the aisle on our way to Kasane from Gabs). He agreed, and what followed was a very bumpy ride back to Gabs, 14-hours.......All part of the experience, right?

Check out the Easter photo album. If you’ve already discovered it, well, I posted a few more goodies in there.

NAMIBIA – April 12-17

Once Jenny was done her placement up in Maun, she trekked back to Gabs and then we headed off to Namibia with Jocelyn (another intern) and her two daughters, Danny and Jasmin. WE COMBIED 30+ HOURS IN 5 DAYS. We left Gabs on Friday morning, combiing all the way to Windhoek, the capital of Nambia, a 13-hour journey. It was cramped, it was hot, but do-able and an experience. We checked into a hostel once we got there, walked around the city and got some dinner. Windhoek confused me. It’s a cosmopolitan Germany-meets-Namibia city. It’s clean, organized and orderly streets were a world away from our beloved Gaborone. The next day we headed North on yet another combi journey to Swakopmund, a coastal town on the Atlantic Ocean.

Now, I thought Windhoek confused me. Swakopmund is impossible to rationalize. Picture this: grey barren desert. Then all of a sudden HUGE, smooth and orange sand dunes pop our of no where. Then, just past the dunes lies a vicious and freezing ocean. It was an incredible sight and absolutely lovely. Even more, the it felt like we were trapped in a European movie set the whole time... cafés, galleries, gift shops, bakeries.... it was odd and VERY German!

Jenny and I woke up early on Sunday morning and headed out to the dunes for a day of SANDBOARDING!!!!! I remember writing a “To do before I die” list for some silly CAPP exercise in Grade 10. Very close to the top was written “Board on a dune.” Well, not did I do it, but I did it in the Sandboarding capital of the world. It was SUPER fun and very similar to snow boarding except that you use your edges much less and it is quite a bit slower.... and of course it was VERY sandy! (I am still picking sand out of my braids). The dunes are AMAZING and BREATH-TAKING and it was definitely something else to be in the middle of nowhere surrounded by these huge dunes. Unfortunately each 20 to 30-second run was followed by a 15-minute HIKE (and I mean HIKE... snowboard boots and all) up the dune. It was sweaty, sandy, tiring but so satisfying. And they even had a jump set up for those who had some boarding experience. It was a wonderful day.

We spent one more day on the Coast, exploring the quaint town, eating copious amounts of fresh seafood and chasing the Atlantic waves (much too cold to actually swim in them). We then combiied back to Windhoek where Jenny and I caught an evening flight to Johannesburg, leaving the other ladies who were going to head up North before they had to head back to Canada. We got up early the next morning and caught yet another combi to Gaborone, an 8-hour trip.

Namibia, well, the parts of it that we saw, was beautiful. I would love to go back and explore more of it. But it also really made me appreciate Gabs and all its awkwardness and character. Life in Windhoek would have been much too easy and familiar, I think. I found myself missing Gabs as we explored the region and was always glad to be heading back to our “ghetto” G-West.
I posted pics from our jaunt to Namibia, so take a look.

SAYING GOODBYE TO GABS – written on April 23rd in Maputo, Mozambique

After our return from Namibia, I had three days left at SADC. Unfortunately, the rest of the team was traveling so they were busy but lonely days in the office. I cannot believe that my time in the Gender Unit and in Gaborone has come to an end. To be honest, I’m not ready to leave. Even Ellan is staying! She just graduated and has found another 3-month contract with a local NGO. Although it certainly wasn’t love at first sight, Gabs really did grow on us! I feel like I’ve learned how to live and function in Gabs and it feels like home. It feels like I’m leaving a lot behind in Gabs, wonderful people and a lot of unanswered questions. Indeed, I came looking for answers to many development-related questions but am leaving with even more and very few concrete answers, but I guess that’s the whole point...ID is a complex process characterized by a multitude of differing theories, practices and perspectives!

Leaving Gabs wasn’t easy that’s for sure. And I feel like I’m going to going back there after our travels. But now that’s I’ve left, I’m looking forward to heading back to Canada to reflect on the whole experience and to see you all, of course!!!!

On Sunday morning Jenny and I boarded our Intercape bus to JoBurg, waving goodbye to Gabs. After a 10-hour wait in the FREEZING and VERY SKETCHY Johannesburg Park City Station, we hopped on a 12-hour overnight bus to Maputo, Mozambique. Ask me to tell you the Visa story sometime....

Mozambique’s lovely so far.... will write more later. Jenny’s on her way back to Canada and I’m getting ready to head to the Ezulwini Valley in Swaziland tomorrow (guess what mode of transport....that’s right, a COMBI!) where I’ll meet Ellan and tow of her workmates. Then we’re off to South Africa (not sure where yet!). We’ll finish up in Cape Town. I’ll be back in Ottawa on May 3rd, back to reality!

Miss y’all! Also added pics to Gaborone album.

See you SOON!

Later.