Final Blog - Victoria Falls

Our helicopter ride over the Falls proved to be a highlight. The Falls, which are 1.4 km across, has not seen this much water in 40 years. You can often walk across the top of the falls, but not this year! It is hard to imagine that the water in the gorge is 50 feet higher than normal.

This is my final blog. What a thrill it has been to share the last 2 weeks with Laurel. Again my heartfelt thanks to Tom for allowing all this to happen. What a good friend he is, and how lucky Botswana is to have such a generous resident.

Chobe National Park

Chobe is a National Park and was teeming with game. What was unusual this year was that a tremendous amount of water was pouring into the normally dry river bed. Our guide, Sean, had never seen water this far into the park before. We finished up seeing a lion group (4 adults 3 young ones) who were enjoying the remains to two water buffalo kills. Sean says that lion have preferences for what they hunt. In Chobe it is the water buffalo and in Laroo it is wildebeest, which is what we saw when we were there. The lion pictures are for Nathan and Graham.

Moremi Game Reserve

Before we went to the Moremi Game Reserve we flew over the Okavango Delta to get an overview of this amazing geographical feature. The Okavango River is a raging torrent in Angola and when it enters Botswana it spreads out and becomes a “delta” and eventually dissipates itself into the Kalahari Desert. We also had a day trip out into the Delta in a mokoro which is a hollowed out log. The water in the Delta is shallow and for centuries poles have been used to travel and go out fishing.

In the Reserve we had to chase away a herd of impala before we set up camp on the edge of a hippo pool and in 2 days of drives we saw all sorts of game, culminating in lion sightings at dusk. Laurel luckily spotted a male lion out of the corner of her eye and we were able to then see two females and a cub. We were able to get a couple of good pictures. These lion pictures are for Johanna and Ryan.

Leroou La Tau - Footprint of the Lion

This lodge is about 4 hours north of Serowe. It is located on the border of a national park and we had to go through some desolate desert territory to get there. The road was paved, but there were serious pot holes, one of which took out a tire on my rented VW car. Because the lodge is on private land we were able to do a night game drive (not allowed on reserves and parks) and saw an unusual cat called a jennert. The next morning we watched an entertaining struggle between a jackal and about 20 vultures over the remaing of a lion kill from the previous night. We were house in "tents" which had hot and cold running water and toilets!

Khama Rhino Sanctuary

The Khama Rhino Sanctuary is about 45 minutes north of Serowe. Tom’s friend Ralph took us in his truck which can handle the sand trails. We took along the daughter and the grandson from the courtyard who were on a month’s school break. They admired Laurel’s sunglasses so she bought them each a pair. Thanks Ralph for a wonderful day!

Room finished

The Bessie Head Room has been finished and the 3 views here show what it looks like now. Her typewriter and her books need to be added to the work area, and a bed will be placed beside the desk. This will approximate the work space in which she produced her writing and hopefully inspire young visitors to see that you don’t need to live in a castle in order to be a writer. You can even see where candles have burned into the top of her desk. Everyone here is delighted with the results.

Today we visited the Khama Rhino Sanctuary with the 2 children from the yard. I don’t have pictures yet because Laurel brought a wonderful new camera which we used and for which we don’t have the proper drivers for downloading. We were able to get very close to giraffe, zebra, wildebeests, and pretty close to the rhinos.

This is likely the last blog for a couple of weeks. We are off on safari and don’t know what computer facilities will be available. I am kind of hoping that there won’t be any to spoil the natural atmosphere! We will post pictures when we get back so look for these in about 2 weeks.

Picture and Notes 5

Laurel had arrived and one of the daughters of the family came to the airport to greet her and welcome her to Botswana.

TB

While I was walking home yesterday from the grocery store a man stopped me who looked familiar. He reminded me that he had met me with Tom a couple of weeks ago. At that time, I recalled, Tom had said that he didn’t like the sound of the man’s cough and that he should get it checked for TB. The man said that he had done that, that it was TB and that he was now taking the treatment. He wanted me to tell Tom who was very pleased when I told him.

Security

For a basically peaceful society, Botswana has a great deal of security. Almost every shop employs at least two security people. One is outside the store and holds any bags that one is carrying. The other stands at the door and, as you leave, checks your cashier’s tape against what is in your bag and then initializes it. This prevents you from walking out with a bag of stolen graceries and a fake tape. You can see that the local grocery store, Choppies, has 2 security people (in red shirts) checking as customers come out.

Traditional House

There are still many old style huts made of mud and poles with loose thatch, but even in the one pictured here, the traditional thorn or rubber hedge has been replaced with a wire fence. I wondered if the loss of privacy is a concern to anyone. In our courtyard we cannot see our neighbours. The rubber hedge is great in drought and even goats can’t stand its bitter sap.

Wedding

The previous entry on marriage was based on what he and Thlagiso told me about this custom and I used Tom’ pictures from several weddings he has attended. Then, yesterday, I got to see it all first hand. In the next ward over was the biggest wedding anyone can recall with the biggest tent. We counted over 400 people in it. There were well over 200 cars and trucks during the course of the day. You can tell by the brick wall around the yard that these are well off folk.

We knew the preparations had begun when, around 7AM, we heard the gunshots signalling the killing of the animals. When we wandered over we saw that 4 cows and 2 sheep (hanging from a tree) had been slaughtered on the ground in a yard adgoining the yard with the wedding tent. Within 2 hours all the meat had been cut up, the livers set aside and the intestines stripped for the making of a tradtional soup. The skins that were left were scraped and folded up to be sold later for making into the shoes, handbags and jackets we all wear so proudly.

Already the first part of the meat was cooking in a pot to give to the workers who were diligently preparing the rest of the meat. I counted 45 men in the yard where this was taking place. You could see that the older men were instructing younger ones. This is how this tradition has been passed on for generations. At least a dozen cooking pots were already prepeared to receive various portions.

We left knowing that the actual wedding meal would not be served until after 1PM. Later Thagiso returned with a bowl of meat for us to taste. This was the “men’s meat” that is prepared for the older men of the ward to consume while they sit and discuss local affairs. I asked what was in it and was told it was a mixture of meats. It was quite tasty.

When I returned at 2:30 PM the wedding dinner was under way. A MC was directing the folks in the tent about how to line up for food. An enormous speaker system provided music to the whole neighbourhood. There was a bottle of red wine on each table. Outside, groups of local people were sitting in circles enjoying food.

By 5PM speeches were being given and empty bottles of “champagne” indicated that suitable toasts had been made. When we went back at 8 PM the tent was dark but outside the courtyard groups of people were still eating and drinking to music from their vehicles.

The next morning when I went by the ladies were performing that ritual seen the world over, The Opening Of The Gifts.

Pictures and notes 4

[I am having a problem with my camera so some pictures may not be as clear as I would like. Hopefully I can resolve it.]

Easter

Easter is a mjor holiday and several of the family have arrived including Tsholofelo, an older sister, and grandchild, Thabo, called T-boy.

Chubuku

This is a locally brewed beer made of maize and sorghum. It is sold for about 60 cents in 1 liter waxed cardboard containers which litter the village. Distributors of this beverage advertise their service with signs on their gates. You can see in this yard that the beer is kept in wheelbarrows. The woman who sells it is looking after her 9 grandchildren. The carton is washed off and then she demonstrated how to shake it properly. It is white and foamy in colour and tastes slightly bitter with a slimy texture. (i did not finish my carton but gave it to one of the other partons. Although it is made in this country and licenced by the government, some feel that it is a mistake to encourage its consumption.

Tom’s House

There are 2 rooms. One is the kitchen/dining room/bedroom. The other is the office/guest room (the bed is folded against the wall and the frig is in the corner). Guests often drop in and stay and even with 3 people it does not feel crowded. A lot of chatting and visiting is done outside in the shade.