Today was the last day. We were going to go out with a bang!
Our bus picked us up in the morning and then brought us to the other U of G students in Botswana, a group of twelve students that were spending the month of May on the Guelph Global Learner Program – (check out the Student Affairs website if you are interested in this for next year!) We also picked up some other World Universtiy Service Canada – Student Withour Boarders participants (who I am doing my placement through). It was amazing to be halfway across the world and to be meeting all of these people from back home! We spend a good deal of time just chatting and catching up – sharing our stories. It was really neat, and an interesting way of wrapping both of our trips up! However, the main focus of the bus trip was that we were all going to an annual cultural celebration of Botswana!
The festival was sponsored and co-hosted by Orange (the local major cell phone company) and Botswanacraft (the industrialized craft company of Botswana). To say the least, the experience was a little corporate. However, there were some really cool elements to pull out of it. The entertainment that was provided was really interesting – there was an AMAZING children’s dance troop, and some really good music performances. We had wanted to see Culture Spears – a big hit traditional Botswana band, but no go… We had some food too: an interesting tea made from some indigenous plant, some ginger snack drink and some baked goods.
We spent some time looking at crafts and souvenirs. People definitely stocked up on things to decorate their rooms and gifts for their friends and families. By the time we had to leave the festival was really getting exiting – our group was responsible for starting the social dancing on the main floor – and we didn’t get the chance to try the other locally prepared main dishes. It was a really neat experience and I hope that I can have some more similar experiences to this, but on a more grassroots and local level.
The rest of the day was spent wrapping up our experience. We did our group processing, which only problem-based learners can truly appreciate. It was a three-hour session where each one of us reflected back on the week, the ups and downs, and provided comments to each and every member of the groups. It was pretty emotional and we had many tears, but it was a really good way to wrap up such an amazing, unique and life-changing trip. The rest of the evening was spent over dinner and drinks. It was reminiscent of a true family – thought none of us are related – we all share something that can never be taken away from us, that will be with us forever and are united together as one. The night closed as any night should we joyful dancing – we definitely brought our ‘A’ game to the café we were at and had even got several locals on the dance floor with us! It was a moment of pure happiness and one that I will always remember!
I don’t know if I have ever been more affected and appreciative of one week of my life. Our group grew really close and I am really excited for the fall when we will all be back in Guelph and able to hang out once again. The friends that I made are unbelievable! The lessons I learned, both academically as well as socially will be with me forever. The memories I have of things that only a handful of people will ever experience I will cherish forever. And the growth and learning that I experienced about myself will irrevocably change my future. I can’t thank enough everyone that was involved with this trip.
I have only been here for a little over a week, but I know that a small part of my soul will stay here in Botswana – and I will always consider it a place near and dear to my heart.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Blog #10 – Capital “H” for Gaborone
We sleep in well today! The sun was already full up by the time we dragged ourselves out of the tents. We had a quick light breakfast and then took all we had at dismantling the tents. I don’t think I captured the essence of these tents in earlier posts, so I will try to do so now… These are not the tents you are imagining. There was no fiberglass, and no nylon – nothing but heavy materials! They were made out of canvas as well as strong metal poles – some cast iron others steel. To say the least the entire tent together probably weighed around 50 pounds! It was quite the adventure trying to dismantle these military grade tents and try and pack them snuggly into bags they barely fit – it also seemed like every tent had its own special way of fitting and that nothing that had worked before would work again!
Anyways, that was a task and I was already sweating by the time we finished. We pulled out the soccer ball we had bought and scrimmaged around for the next hour. It was the first time we had real cardio exercise on the trip and the first time that we got to see the competitive spirits of others :) It was a fun game, played on our sandy court, lined with thistle and prickly shrubs…playing barefoot may not have been the best idea! Once we were all tuckered out, we realized it was only mid-morning and we had a full day ahead of us! We filled up our water bottles – the local water was delicious (and totally safe, no worries!) We said our farewells to the local people and headed back in the SUVs for the Predator Centre.
We had no idea just how elusive this centre would be! We spent the next honour and a half searching for it – only to end up at dead ends on a lonesome unmanaged country road, or face-to-face with owners of private property that were quite frank about us not being allowed here and questioning our motives! The unfortunate part of all of this was the fact that we had less than an eighth of a tank of gas – and had no idea if that was enough to get us back to Maun (at least and hour and a half drive…but considering we were somewhat lost, who knew?) We decided to cut our losses and head back to Maun. The rest of the car ride was spent watching the gauge lower and the low fuel indicator light come on…we coasted into the bank and fuel station on the last drops of our fuel.
The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing over lunch and talking about the idea of community based projects and the role that they play in Botswana tourism. We eventually walked back to the airport and got onto our flight to Gaborone (pronounced ‘Hab-a-ro-knee’). This would be just a temporary good bye for me – as I would be back here in a weeks time to begin my placement, but for many others this signaled the first of many goodbyes as our field course wrapped up!
Our flight definitely left on Africa time – fifteen minutes late, but still managed to land on-time. The flight itself was quite enjoyable - I enjoyed walking out to the plane and loading from the tarmac. The “environmentally friendly” sticker on the side of the plane definitely made my day – I am not sure how exactly that works, but leave it to Air Botswana to figure it out! We played euchre and enjoyed our last flight together as a group and by the time we were passing over southern Botswana, the sun had set and the night had taken over. Compared to Maun there was a wealth of city lights and clearly defined highways. The bright headlights and red brake lights of the cars lined each side of the road. This was the city life for Batswana, this is where all of the major business and decision making occurred.
We got picked up at the airport in yet another mini-bus…but this one had a trailer for luggage so we were saved! Not to mention pros at it by now, haha! Our bus slowly wove its way in and out of traffic taking us towards the Brakendene, our hostel while in Gaborone. We passed the major area for public transport – with hundreds of people lining the street. We passed the St. Louis brewery, where the one and only Botswana beer was made. This was not another small town – it was at least twice the size of Guelph, but seemed much larger. Even in the night lighting we could appreciate the divide. There were gorgeous brand new corporate buildings, and large pristine homes. But the majority of the time was spent watching plot by plot go by with very basic, slum-like housing. Every plot and every building was surrounding by some fence…we only noticed a few without them…either high metal fencing or brick wall – most lined with electric fencing or barbed wire on top. Not the most welcoming … or comforting sight. However, the roads and streets were well maintained and there still seemed to be a clean, approachable feeling to the city.
We arrived at our hostel and were told we have less than fifteen minutes before the bus would return to take us to dinner. By the time we checked in, figured out what rooms we were in and dropped our bags there was less than then. My roommate Ben and I decided to do the impossible…. No one thought we would be able to do it, but we did. After a many days driving in and out of sandy safaris and staying in tents and campsites we needed it! We managed for each of us to take a shower and redress before the bus even arrived. It was by far the quickest shower I have ever had, and I still managed to shampoo twice…even though I only really rinsed the first time, haha! I can still feel the burn – but it was worth it, I had the best smelling hair and a clean set of cloths…it was a stark contrast to the wild, untamed, dirty motley crew with us :) - just joking… sort of… !
We traveled to the Riverwalk Centre – a huge mall! That would easily rival many of the major non-GTA malls. It was clean, flashy and had tonnes of shops. There was an entire wall of restaurants that opened up into outdoor seating areas. We had a difficult time to find a place to seat all eleven of us…it was packed in most of the places…obviously the place to be on a Friday evening! However, we ended up have the hostess of a small Indian restaurant chase us down after someone had erroneously told us they didn’t have room to sit us! It made even those of us who had managed to shower feel wanted!
This would be our last supper as a group and so we had a fantastic time eating, drinking and sharing. It was definitely an emotional time, with lots of laughter and countless toasts. By the end of the meal we had managed to completely empty the place…either because we took so long or because we were so loud…you can decide! It was a great night and by the time we got back to the hostel we crashed in our beds and just chatted until one by one people started snoring…(I had to be told this as I was the second one who conked out…but I am sure it was good times…)
Anyways, that was a task and I was already sweating by the time we finished. We pulled out the soccer ball we had bought and scrimmaged around for the next hour. It was the first time we had real cardio exercise on the trip and the first time that we got to see the competitive spirits of others :) It was a fun game, played on our sandy court, lined with thistle and prickly shrubs…playing barefoot may not have been the best idea! Once we were all tuckered out, we realized it was only mid-morning and we had a full day ahead of us! We filled up our water bottles – the local water was delicious (and totally safe, no worries!) We said our farewells to the local people and headed back in the SUVs for the Predator Centre.
We had no idea just how elusive this centre would be! We spent the next honour and a half searching for it – only to end up at dead ends on a lonesome unmanaged country road, or face-to-face with owners of private property that were quite frank about us not being allowed here and questioning our motives! The unfortunate part of all of this was the fact that we had less than an eighth of a tank of gas – and had no idea if that was enough to get us back to Maun (at least and hour and a half drive…but considering we were somewhat lost, who knew?) We decided to cut our losses and head back to Maun. The rest of the car ride was spent watching the gauge lower and the low fuel indicator light come on…we coasted into the bank and fuel station on the last drops of our fuel.
The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing over lunch and talking about the idea of community based projects and the role that they play in Botswana tourism. We eventually walked back to the airport and got onto our flight to Gaborone (pronounced ‘Hab-a-ro-knee’). This would be just a temporary good bye for me – as I would be back here in a weeks time to begin my placement, but for many others this signaled the first of many goodbyes as our field course wrapped up!
Our flight definitely left on Africa time – fifteen minutes late, but still managed to land on-time. The flight itself was quite enjoyable - I enjoyed walking out to the plane and loading from the tarmac. The “environmentally friendly” sticker on the side of the plane definitely made my day – I am not sure how exactly that works, but leave it to Air Botswana to figure it out! We played euchre and enjoyed our last flight together as a group and by the time we were passing over southern Botswana, the sun had set and the night had taken over. Compared to Maun there was a wealth of city lights and clearly defined highways. The bright headlights and red brake lights of the cars lined each side of the road. This was the city life for Batswana, this is where all of the major business and decision making occurred.
We got picked up at the airport in yet another mini-bus…but this one had a trailer for luggage so we were saved! Not to mention pros at it by now, haha! Our bus slowly wove its way in and out of traffic taking us towards the Brakendene, our hostel while in Gaborone. We passed the major area for public transport – with hundreds of people lining the street. We passed the St. Louis brewery, where the one and only Botswana beer was made. This was not another small town – it was at least twice the size of Guelph, but seemed much larger. Even in the night lighting we could appreciate the divide. There were gorgeous brand new corporate buildings, and large pristine homes. But the majority of the time was spent watching plot by plot go by with very basic, slum-like housing. Every plot and every building was surrounding by some fence…we only noticed a few without them…either high metal fencing or brick wall – most lined with electric fencing or barbed wire on top. Not the most welcoming … or comforting sight. However, the roads and streets were well maintained and there still seemed to be a clean, approachable feeling to the city.
We arrived at our hostel and were told we have less than fifteen minutes before the bus would return to take us to dinner. By the time we checked in, figured out what rooms we were in and dropped our bags there was less than then. My roommate Ben and I decided to do the impossible…. No one thought we would be able to do it, but we did. After a many days driving in and out of sandy safaris and staying in tents and campsites we needed it! We managed for each of us to take a shower and redress before the bus even arrived. It was by far the quickest shower I have ever had, and I still managed to shampoo twice…even though I only really rinsed the first time, haha! I can still feel the burn – but it was worth it, I had the best smelling hair and a clean set of cloths…it was a stark contrast to the wild, untamed, dirty motley crew with us :) - just joking… sort of… !
We traveled to the Riverwalk Centre – a huge mall! That would easily rival many of the major non-GTA malls. It was clean, flashy and had tonnes of shops. There was an entire wall of restaurants that opened up into outdoor seating areas. We had a difficult time to find a place to seat all eleven of us…it was packed in most of the places…obviously the place to be on a Friday evening! However, we ended up have the hostess of a small Indian restaurant chase us down after someone had erroneously told us they didn’t have room to sit us! It made even those of us who had managed to shower feel wanted!
This would be our last supper as a group and so we had a fantastic time eating, drinking and sharing. It was definitely an emotional time, with lots of laughter and countless toasts. By the end of the meal we had managed to completely empty the place…either because we took so long or because we were so loud…you can decide! It was a great night and by the time we got back to the hostel we crashed in our beds and just chatted until one by one people started snoring…(I had to be told this as I was the second one who conked out…but I am sure it was good times…)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Blog #9 – African Lion Safari
Last night was very chilly. Very chilly. Perhaps we should have closed our windows…or not broken the zipper on the main door? So as soon as the sun was bright out we began getting up – our goal was to be off by seven. That meant 7 o’clock breakfast and 6:30 wake-up! As this was our second morning drive we were not going to be taken surprised. Everyone bundled up in as many layers as possible as well as packing their sleeping bags.
As we climbed into the safari vehicles – we had quite the day ahead of us. We had four hours of driving each way. We had a packed lunch and boat tour in the middle of those road battles. Unfortunately is doesn’t get warm until around 9-10 each day, so we had a few hours to face the cold temperatures and bitter winds of driving in an open vehicle. Everyone tried to cocoon themselves as best as they could. I had three layers, a blanket and then packed myself into my sleeping bag and drew the top drawstring. There was no problem with the temperature for me! Only problem was that I didn’t have use of my hands (as they were inside) so I couldn’t hold onto my seat, and my sleeping bag was slippery against the seat, so I kept slipping down – it was still eventful.
By the time I emerged we began seeing some great game. The most spectacular moment was when we came across a family of giraffe. There was a mother and her baby just a few strides from the car and we followed them a short distance while they went to drink at a watering hole. Watching these huge animals bend over, spread there front legs and fold at the knees to get a drink was magnificent. Also, imagine the change in blood pressure, from having to pump blood all the way up their neck to when there head drops nearly twenty feet to the water! It is amazing their heads don’t explode!
Then we see it in the distance – a whole grouping of even more animals. At first we saw the giraffes on the treeline. Then we saw the impalas grazing and running. Next were the zebras casually meandering around. After that a huge group of blue wildebeast drinking from a small pond. Several large storks… all of this is the small clearing. It was seriously just like a scene out of the Lion King (which by the way provided a great deal of theme music to our long drives and quiet moments, haha!) There is apparently a very special relationship for all of this. The giraffes act as sentinels on the look out for predators. All of the other animals rely on each other to either make their food available or to act as cover/protection. It really was a shockingly realized example of communalism in the animal kingdom – breathtaking. After soaking it all in we finally pulled ourselves together to depart; we had quitea bit of driving yet still.
It was at this point in the safari when we saw the most incredible thing. A leopard! Our driver Pax, whipped around in his seat and told us that these were a very rare species and he was shocked that we had happened across one. It was sitting quite calmly twenty feet off the road. Pax, who was originally from Moremi, but whose family was forced to move when it was turned into a National Park took advantage of his locality and native rights. He maneuvered the truck so that we were really close to the leopard, but it was still hiding in the grass. Eventually the leopard got fed up with us and got up – it was a magnificent cat with a big strong build and low and sulky stature. I couldn’t believe this was happening! It was awesome! Then the leopard starting walking away right down the path! It was one of those moments of understanding. Such a beautiful creature, it was evident the pride that hunters must get from shooting it, but at the same time so fantastic that I couldn’t ever imagine wanting to harm it…thought I wouldn’t mind trying to pet it, haha! Yeah right!
We finally made it to the Mbora site where our boats would depart. We had to wait a while for the other car to catch up…they unfortunately didn’t see the leopard, but did see baboons instead…in my opinion we won :) Our boat ride was in a very shallow, flat bottom boat that had a single outboard engine – it held six people. It was really cool the way that we navigated the small narrow channel, which was lined on either side with ten-foot high reeds. While the airplane ride had given us the big picture of the deltas, this really gave us the understanding of how small we were in comparison to everything!
As the channel started opening up we came upon our first group of hippos! Here they seemed much larger and more dangerous…we were no longer on a large two storey boat, but a seemingly small fragile piece of aluminum. We continued to drive around seeing some incredibly new plant life and scenery. One of the coolest parts of this was when our guide explained to us about the floating islands. It all begins when a little part of a marshy reed island breaks off. Then the birds poop on it and there are seeds in their fecal matter. The seeds start growing into plants which encourage the growth, development and capture of more land. All this time the island is still floating with to connection to the bottom of the lakes. I am talking about an island that is nearly flat with many trees and that would take a few minutes to drive around in our power boat – not something tiny! This place is amazing and every moment more I spend it in, I continue to learn something new and to have to question things that I have taken for granted my entire life! So cool!
We finished our boat tour and headed back to the start. We had lunch laid out for us again this time fish, potato salad, pasta salad and other delectable dishes! After filling our bellies and swapping stories from the morning drive and boat tour we clambered back in to the safari vehicles, waved our good byes and began the four hour trek back to camp!
On the way back we saw a huge cube van parked way off the road. They waved at us and pointed straight down by the side of their vehicle. Pax, our driver, weaved his way over. We nearly hit a lion! There must have been at least five different lions all lounging about. The birds were going crazy – you could tell that they were sending some form of warning (not sure to who though!). We sat here for a while, basically surrounded by lions as they walked around, nuzzled each other and stretched their limbs. They truly are huge powerful beasts that somehow seem to maintain an air of elegance and prestige. We had three safari drives and each time saws lions – that is a perfect record – so I couldn’t believe our luck! I probably have around a thousand pictures of animals – so don’t worry you can all have a great second hand experience once I get home, if you want it, haha!
We got back to camp (after the sun had set, so you know by now how cold it must have been!). I won’t say much more about the temperature, but there is something to singing My Fair Lady, the Sound of Music, Vanilla Ice and National Anthems, not to mention tonnes of camp songs, that just seems to cut through the cold and make the time pass much quicker! It is amazing what a warm meal at the end of a day like that does for you – so good! Then we grabbed some gin and tonics and sat by the bon fire. We were serenaded by some of he more vocally inclined members of our group and chatted about all things relevant and irrelevant. It was one of those moments that you just wish could go on forever, problem is, that at my age the body doesn’t hold up like it used to, haha! So as the fire dies down, the stories started to fade and the stargazing slowed down, we headed off to our tents for our last sleep in Maun!The coolest part about this leg of our journey was the fact that this Kaziikini Camp was a community based project. The entire camp site and experience is owned and operated under the direction of the community. All of the funds that are raised and put into a trust and then the Board of Trustees (whom are all community leaders) decide where to spend it. Sometimes they improve facilities, sometimes they provide every family in the community with upgrades (this past year they installed many enviro-friendly toilets), as well as providing each family a stipend of money. The community is around 600 people and the project in all aspect employs close to 80 people – so it an integral part of the community. We loved it because it was true eco-tourism as its best. We knew that our good times and the money we spend went straight to the people. I was proud to have stayed their and experienced the people and would suggest and recommend it to anyone else making the trip to northern Botswana!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Blog #8 – Kamikaze & Kaziikini
When I woke up this morning I had no idea of the excitement and adventures that would come. I thought we would be seeing the Delta from the sky (in a plane similar to my Uncle Ricks) and then enjoying another peaceful safari ride through another national park. Little did I know that today would be one of the most memorable days in my life!
We departed Audi Camp and headed for the Maun International Airport – which interestingly is large enough to land a Boeing 767 – but today we would be in much smaller planes. We only had eleven in our group…so we split up into two small single propeller planes. I knew it was going to be good when the pilot asked us if we wanted to go high or go low, and our group responded with a resounding, “LOW!” followed quickly by a request to ride on the back of an Elephant (I promise no Elephants were harmed in the duration of the flight, so no worries PETA). Our pilot responded with, “That can be arranged :)”… oh, good times!
We took off and were only a few hundred feet off the ground. The Okavango Deltas were amazing – there are some beautiful scenes – which are hard to capture in a bumpy plane. The vegetation is uniquely structured and patterned. The water collects into small lakes and finger like streams that collect and pool together to form and separate the islands. It really is a fascinating scene and difficult to explain, so I just suggest visiting it someday!
While the natural landscape was amazing so were the animals. Just as we started to see animals the plane took an immediate nose dive and headed straight for the ground. We all screamed a little bit (at least I did) and everyone heard a huge crash at the back of the plane. I thought that we had lost the tail end of the plane, but it was just the sound of the back flaps smashing down with the amount of force that the pilot exerted! We literally got less than ten feet of the ground! IT WAS INCREDIBLE! It felt like we were just soaring through on a really fast car, which I guess you could consider as I am sure that our landing gear were only feet from the ground! We flew by some elephants and some different herds of animals.
The nice thing was that the pilot continued to dive, rise and turn the plane at all angles. It was an amazing experience, but definitely at the hands of a stunt aeronaut that ended up flying safari tours and not a Top Gun… as we wove on I started feeling the gas building in my stomach and the familiar onset of nausea set in…within thirty seconds I was scrambling to grab the little paper bag from the seat pocket in front of me. I saw a wicked galloping giraffe right out of my window, which was all I could manage to yell out before I spewed…I got the bag in front of my face, but the combination of the force of my puking, the bumpy plane ride and the tiny size of the bag contributed to exploding on the seat in front of me right onto Al, over my arms and onto the floor of the plane. Gavin quickly came to my rescue by documenting the situation with his camera ;)….All in all it took three bags before I was finished, but I was more pissed that I had wasted time puking and not looking out of the window. The best part of it all (besides the animals and land) was that fact that several people in the plane didn’t even realize I had puked until we landed, got out of the plane and saw the three bags!
The flight was amazing – and is an even better story now – but I needed to wash myself up in the tiny public airport washroom, brush my teeth on the sidewalk and then down some liquids and easy foods at the café across the street. After this recovery stage we packed back into the cars and headed for a one-hour drive down a bumpy dirt road towards our next accommodations – Kaziikini Camp.
My favourite thing about driving in Botswana is the fact that the two biggest worries are potholes/bad road conditions and trying to avoid the goats/donkeys/cattle on the road! As we stopped at a veterinary stop point (to avoid the spread of Foot & Mooth) some people had to relieve themselves on the side of the road. When we got back into the car it wouldn’t start…the battery was definitely gone. Thanks to my father’s persistent training I knew that it most likely not the alternator, nor a dead battery – so perhaps the starter…we popped the hood and I smiled. The connection on the negative lead of the battery had come off (picture the kind of rough road it would take to accomplish that!) – so I reconnected it and we were good to go!
We pulled into the Camp only to be greeted by five locals. We did traditional handshakes and exchanged names. They were really friendly and welcoming – they said they were excited to have us and were waiting for us! We wanted to go on a game drive, and didn’t even have time to unpack or set-up tents, but instead decided to head out now and do all of that when we returned.
Our camp site was around thirty kilometers from the entrance to Moremi Park – Botswana has 17% of its country in national parks are close to 40% in parks and wildlife protection areas – amazing! We loaded into to open safari vehicles. The sun was gorgeously warm and as we wound down the road, we started getting more excited for the game. This was a huge park compared to where we went in Chobe. Once we got to the park we were advised by the rangers that instead of doing our planned route that there was a lion pride in another direction. We set out on a forty-two kilometer trek down a VERY bumpy and rough ride. We couldn’t drive to quickly behind the other vehicle because of all of the dust and there were many instances of smashing our heads off the top and side bars of the vehicles on the big bumps! It was quite an adventurous ride, but trust me that it was well worth it!
The first major sighting was a large group of forty elephants that were drinking at a watering hole. At first they were resistant to us being there but eventually relaxed and continued on their business. There were some really cute baby elephants that we so small – it was amazing! We also came across lots of other wildlife on the drive as well! When we came to the end of the trip we ended an open grasslands. The rest of the trip had been in mainly forest cover and so we knew that this was going to be different. Then we spotted them – a small group of lions just thirty feet from our position. Our guide Pax took us closer. We were literally ten feet from the lions. There were several female lions and two cubs. They lounged and yawned and played a little bit with each other. It was a fascinating scene – and so different from when they were in killing and hunting mode. The most bizarre part was being so close to them. They knew that we were of no concern and that they could destroy us in a flash if we posed a threat…which was also a bit unnerving. With yet again our safari lusts satisfied we headed back to camp. Part way back we paused to have our lunch. It was a wonderful spread of home cooking – beet salad, roast chicken, been salad and a fresh loaf of bread. I had a can of Pineapple Fanta – which was very different but quite refreshing and satisfying!
We just made it back as the sun was setting and we scrambled to unload and set up the tents with the little remaining natural light that was left. We had a large open flat sand area to pitch our tents that was surrounded by trees and bush. As soon as we finished setting up camp we headed over to a large wood and thatch building to have supper. We were all famished, but could still appreciate the meal. By the time we got back to our tents, they had started a small fire for us – we used it to warm up and people we so tired that we were all in bed by nine o’clock – how is that for a party scene, haha! We definitely need the rest though as the long days and many activities were starting to drain us. I find it funny to be writing a blog in the middle of the night, in the wild, in a tent, with no power, using my lap top battery – guess we can only remove ourselves from North American comforts so much :)
We departed Audi Camp and headed for the Maun International Airport – which interestingly is large enough to land a Boeing 767 – but today we would be in much smaller planes. We only had eleven in our group…so we split up into two small single propeller planes. I knew it was going to be good when the pilot asked us if we wanted to go high or go low, and our group responded with a resounding, “LOW!” followed quickly by a request to ride on the back of an Elephant (I promise no Elephants were harmed in the duration of the flight, so no worries PETA). Our pilot responded with, “That can be arranged :)”… oh, good times!
We took off and were only a few hundred feet off the ground. The Okavango Deltas were amazing – there are some beautiful scenes – which are hard to capture in a bumpy plane. The vegetation is uniquely structured and patterned. The water collects into small lakes and finger like streams that collect and pool together to form and separate the islands. It really is a fascinating scene and difficult to explain, so I just suggest visiting it someday!
While the natural landscape was amazing so were the animals. Just as we started to see animals the plane took an immediate nose dive and headed straight for the ground. We all screamed a little bit (at least I did) and everyone heard a huge crash at the back of the plane. I thought that we had lost the tail end of the plane, but it was just the sound of the back flaps smashing down with the amount of force that the pilot exerted! We literally got less than ten feet of the ground! IT WAS INCREDIBLE! It felt like we were just soaring through on a really fast car, which I guess you could consider as I am sure that our landing gear were only feet from the ground! We flew by some elephants and some different herds of animals.
The nice thing was that the pilot continued to dive, rise and turn the plane at all angles. It was an amazing experience, but definitely at the hands of a stunt aeronaut that ended up flying safari tours and not a Top Gun… as we wove on I started feeling the gas building in my stomach and the familiar onset of nausea set in…within thirty seconds I was scrambling to grab the little paper bag from the seat pocket in front of me. I saw a wicked galloping giraffe right out of my window, which was all I could manage to yell out before I spewed…I got the bag in front of my face, but the combination of the force of my puking, the bumpy plane ride and the tiny size of the bag contributed to exploding on the seat in front of me right onto Al, over my arms and onto the floor of the plane. Gavin quickly came to my rescue by documenting the situation with his camera ;)….All in all it took three bags before I was finished, but I was more pissed that I had wasted time puking and not looking out of the window. The best part of it all (besides the animals and land) was that fact that several people in the plane didn’t even realize I had puked until we landed, got out of the plane and saw the three bags!
The flight was amazing – and is an even better story now – but I needed to wash myself up in the tiny public airport washroom, brush my teeth on the sidewalk and then down some liquids and easy foods at the café across the street. After this recovery stage we packed back into the cars and headed for a one-hour drive down a bumpy dirt road towards our next accommodations – Kaziikini Camp.
My favourite thing about driving in Botswana is the fact that the two biggest worries are potholes/bad road conditions and trying to avoid the goats/donkeys/cattle on the road! As we stopped at a veterinary stop point (to avoid the spread of Foot & Mooth) some people had to relieve themselves on the side of the road. When we got back into the car it wouldn’t start…the battery was definitely gone. Thanks to my father’s persistent training I knew that it most likely not the alternator, nor a dead battery – so perhaps the starter…we popped the hood and I smiled. The connection on the negative lead of the battery had come off (picture the kind of rough road it would take to accomplish that!) – so I reconnected it and we were good to go!
We pulled into the Camp only to be greeted by five locals. We did traditional handshakes and exchanged names. They were really friendly and welcoming – they said they were excited to have us and were waiting for us! We wanted to go on a game drive, and didn’t even have time to unpack or set-up tents, but instead decided to head out now and do all of that when we returned.
Our camp site was around thirty kilometers from the entrance to Moremi Park – Botswana has 17% of its country in national parks are close to 40% in parks and wildlife protection areas – amazing! We loaded into to open safari vehicles. The sun was gorgeously warm and as we wound down the road, we started getting more excited for the game. This was a huge park compared to where we went in Chobe. Once we got to the park we were advised by the rangers that instead of doing our planned route that there was a lion pride in another direction. We set out on a forty-two kilometer trek down a VERY bumpy and rough ride. We couldn’t drive to quickly behind the other vehicle because of all of the dust and there were many instances of smashing our heads off the top and side bars of the vehicles on the big bumps! It was quite an adventurous ride, but trust me that it was well worth it!
The first major sighting was a large group of forty elephants that were drinking at a watering hole. At first they were resistant to us being there but eventually relaxed and continued on their business. There were some really cute baby elephants that we so small – it was amazing! We also came across lots of other wildlife on the drive as well! When we came to the end of the trip we ended an open grasslands. The rest of the trip had been in mainly forest cover and so we knew that this was going to be different. Then we spotted them – a small group of lions just thirty feet from our position. Our guide Pax took us closer. We were literally ten feet from the lions. There were several female lions and two cubs. They lounged and yawned and played a little bit with each other. It was a fascinating scene – and so different from when they were in killing and hunting mode. The most bizarre part was being so close to them. They knew that we were of no concern and that they could destroy us in a flash if we posed a threat…which was also a bit unnerving. With yet again our safari lusts satisfied we headed back to camp. Part way back we paused to have our lunch. It was a wonderful spread of home cooking – beet salad, roast chicken, been salad and a fresh loaf of bread. I had a can of Pineapple Fanta – which was very different but quite refreshing and satisfying!
We just made it back as the sun was setting and we scrambled to unload and set up the tents with the little remaining natural light that was left. We had a large open flat sand area to pitch our tents that was surrounded by trees and bush. As soon as we finished setting up camp we headed over to a large wood and thatch building to have supper. We were all famished, but could still appreciate the meal. By the time we got back to our tents, they had started a small fire for us – we used it to warm up and people we so tired that we were all in bed by nine o’clock – how is that for a party scene, haha! We definitely need the rest though as the long days and many activities were starting to drain us. I find it funny to be writing a blog in the middle of the night, in the wild, in a tent, with no power, using my lap top battery – guess we can only remove ourselves from North American comforts so much :)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Blog #7 – The Amazing HOORC!
Today we traveled to the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre. Our day started with a brief introduction to the University of Botswana (HOORC is a big research facility of UB) and the HOORC. After that we had four lectures on different topics that we currently being studied in the region: tourism/ecotourism, the San people (the oldest hunting and gathering society in Africa and the second largest indigenous people in Africa, whom are mainly found in and around Botswana), soil geochemistry work regarding changing land and water dynamics and wildlife conservation. The talks were really interesting and covered a huge array of disciplines. We got to have some got question-answer periods and discussions with the different faculty as well, which was cool! What struck me the most about the morning was the fact that they had faculty from all over the world and that they spoke and worked in almost identical manner to any other professor I have come across. It was shocking how universal it seems that university education has become.
We also had a quick tour of the entire facility. The most interesting part of the tour was the library. While it wasn’t huge, resources could be ordered from the main campus of the University of Botswana. However, the library did have very special historical and cultural special selections of the region. They had some amazing media and documents regarding the San (bushmen) as well as the discovery and development of the Okavango Delta. I am definitely going to try and come back here in the summer to do some more work and reading!
Later in the afternoon we traveled to a local restaurant to meet with Leslie and Tico, the leaders of the Predator Centre – the organization I will be doing my placement at. Tico heads up the research component, which focuses on the large carnivore species – specifically the African Wild Dog, while Leslie spends the majority of her time working on community outreach and education. I will be working with Leslie to help launch and organize a large expansion to her ‘Coaching for Conservation’ program. The program uses sports, mainly soccer, to educate all of the local elementary students about self-esteem and self-respect. The idea is that if we can teach these children to love themselves, each other and Botswana is that those foundational tenants are the beginning of addressing issues like HIV/AIDS, conversation and self-care.
We had an interesting discussion with these two about our work here and our aspirations as a group and individuals, but also about their work and their story of getting to work here in Botswana. After this we basically cruised the town – did some money exchange and also purchased a soccer ball. It was amazing that while we walked around with the soccer ball, either kicking it around or just holding it, how many people would come up to us. We met Brown, Killer Brown, and many others. Some people just wanted to say hello, others kept challenging us to a game. Knowing our limited skills we weren’t ready to put our new ball on the line against these local players, haha!
People are really friendly in general. We had some interesting discussions while we were walking around about our North American beliefs and stereotypes about Africa. They give so little consideration that Africa has over fifty countries and that everyone comes in with these huge generalized guards about interacting with other people. While I know that they are there for a reason, meant to avoid trouble, it is a huge barrier to overcome when you meet someone. I think people need to be smart travelers and work on not putting themselves in dangerous situations, but work on preventative strategies not restrictive strategies…anyways, just some of my ramblings about tourism and intercultural interactions.
I am really beginning to like Maun, and am looking forward to doing my placement here. It is a quaint size town, with everything you need, but not too many luxuries and definitely a sense of a community. The challenge will be to become part of that community and to try and integrate myself in.
Our day wrapped up with a nice group dinner and then some social drinks. We had some interesting conversations about the trip so far: peoples expectations, and how they have been meet or not; questions and insights that people had made; and some sharing of funny stories and encounters. Our group is a really stellar bunch of kids and I cannot believe that we have only been gone for five days! It seems like we have known each other for so long. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day of bush plane rides over the Okavango and natural safari tours in Moremi National Park. We finished our drinks, wrapped up our stories and headed off to bed… after our drinks we definitely had a very peaceful sleep!
We also had a quick tour of the entire facility. The most interesting part of the tour was the library. While it wasn’t huge, resources could be ordered from the main campus of the University of Botswana. However, the library did have very special historical and cultural special selections of the region. They had some amazing media and documents regarding the San (bushmen) as well as the discovery and development of the Okavango Delta. I am definitely going to try and come back here in the summer to do some more work and reading!
Later in the afternoon we traveled to a local restaurant to meet with Leslie and Tico, the leaders of the Predator Centre – the organization I will be doing my placement at. Tico heads up the research component, which focuses on the large carnivore species – specifically the African Wild Dog, while Leslie spends the majority of her time working on community outreach and education. I will be working with Leslie to help launch and organize a large expansion to her ‘Coaching for Conservation’ program. The program uses sports, mainly soccer, to educate all of the local elementary students about self-esteem and self-respect. The idea is that if we can teach these children to love themselves, each other and Botswana is that those foundational tenants are the beginning of addressing issues like HIV/AIDS, conversation and self-care.
We had an interesting discussion with these two about our work here and our aspirations as a group and individuals, but also about their work and their story of getting to work here in Botswana. After this we basically cruised the town – did some money exchange and also purchased a soccer ball. It was amazing that while we walked around with the soccer ball, either kicking it around or just holding it, how many people would come up to us. We met Brown, Killer Brown, and many others. Some people just wanted to say hello, others kept challenging us to a game. Knowing our limited skills we weren’t ready to put our new ball on the line against these local players, haha!
People are really friendly in general. We had some interesting discussions while we were walking around about our North American beliefs and stereotypes about Africa. They give so little consideration that Africa has over fifty countries and that everyone comes in with these huge generalized guards about interacting with other people. While I know that they are there for a reason, meant to avoid trouble, it is a huge barrier to overcome when you meet someone. I think people need to be smart travelers and work on not putting themselves in dangerous situations, but work on preventative strategies not restrictive strategies…anyways, just some of my ramblings about tourism and intercultural interactions.
I am really beginning to like Maun, and am looking forward to doing my placement here. It is a quaint size town, with everything you need, but not too many luxuries and definitely a sense of a community. The challenge will be to become part of that community and to try and integrate myself in.
Our day wrapped up with a nice group dinner and then some social drinks. We had some interesting conversations about the trip so far: peoples expectations, and how they have been meet or not; questions and insights that people had made; and some sharing of funny stories and encounters. Our group is a really stellar bunch of kids and I cannot believe that we have only been gone for five days! It seems like we have known each other for so long. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day of bush plane rides over the Okavango and natural safari tours in Moremi National Park. We finished our drinks, wrapped up our stories and headed off to bed… after our drinks we definitely had a very peaceful sleep!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Blog #6 – The road (less traveled) to Maun….
Once we returned to the resort, we pounded down another large and delicious meal (as we were told that it would be our last of this quantity and quality!) and then packed to head off to Maun (Maa-oon). A mini-bus pulled up in front of us with all of our stuff and everyone looked behind it to see the other one coming…there was no way w e would all fit into this one vehicle! However, it was the only one we had. It had a one foot trunk space and seats for fourteen. We had 13 people with us and our luggage amounted to at least another five people…it was going to be TIGHT!
Kasane is in the most north-east corner of the country and Maun was a fairly staright line to the south-west…on a map of the country it looked like it would be a three hour drive – I’ve had worse! However, because of Chobe National Park we had to travel south-east and then north-west to get to Maun….Imagine a equal triangle and driving along two edges to get to the point which is only one side away!
The drive was further complicated by TERRIBLE road conditions. It had the biggest potholes I have EVER seen – I mean bigger than those back home in the country or even on the major highways. Our driver had to carefully , and oh so slowly maneuver the mini-bus around the potholes, which entitled using the entire road and often time pulling off the road when other vehicles had to pass! While we eventually made it through the potholes, we came across two other vehicles that didn’t. One was a small car that had completely blown a tire on one of the potholes and the other was an entire transport that had flown off the road been crushed like a metal can and had spilled all of it contents out!
All in all the drive was around ten hours! We definitely grew closer as a group and bonded a lot. You have to when you spend a good portion of the trip wedged in between people partway in their armpits! It was an amazingly enjoyable ride regardless of the bumps, the discomfort and the length. We sang nearly every song in everyone’s repertoire (trust me we are no choir!) The rest of the time we spent talking about Botswana and mostly the environmental challenges of the country. It was by far the most obscure and untraditional classroom that I have ever learned in – but it really teaches you the power of conversation and that good education is life long and always possible no matter what barriers!
As we finally pulled into Maun, the sun had long since set - a beautiful one with gorgeous warm rays, but hard to fully appreciate from inside a sardine can :) Maun has an interesting and mildly unpleasant odour to it – most likely due to the practice of burning garbage – it is definitely a transient town with some major roads and the majority of the people removed off the main paths. This is the town that I will be doing my placement in and I couldn’t help by try to take in as much as I could. In the dark there wasn’t much to see and after a long drive my optimism was waning, so it wasn’t the best introduction to the small town. We pulled into our next accommodations – Audi Camp – where we quickly unpacked the van. We headed to the ‘house’ that we would be staying in. We had four rooms – three for the girls and then the ‘bro room’ where all the boys shared. It was basic but comfortable – the most exciting was the mosquito nets – which made you feel either like royalty or like you were in some creepy sci-fi movie with big bugs that have cocooned you, haha!
We finished the evening with a hearty meal and quite a few bottles of wine! I had kingklip, which I had never had. It is a delicious white meaty fish that was prepared beautifully and tasted so good after a long day! When we got back to the room we pretty much crashed and went right to bed! Next morning we are visiting the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (or HOORC…haha!) to see the facilities, receive some lectures and visit the library’s special cultural selections. While we have had a lot of discussion and debates around everyone’s different researched areas, it will be really nice to have a more formalized day of learning tomorrow at the centre. I am really looking forward to see how post-secondary education is approached here in Botswana and what the culture is like in academia.
Kasane is in the most north-east corner of the country and Maun was a fairly staright line to the south-west…on a map of the country it looked like it would be a three hour drive – I’ve had worse! However, because of Chobe National Park we had to travel south-east and then north-west to get to Maun….Imagine a equal triangle and driving along two edges to get to the point which is only one side away!
The drive was further complicated by TERRIBLE road conditions. It had the biggest potholes I have EVER seen – I mean bigger than those back home in the country or even on the major highways. Our driver had to carefully , and oh so slowly maneuver the mini-bus around the potholes, which entitled using the entire road and often time pulling off the road when other vehicles had to pass! While we eventually made it through the potholes, we came across two other vehicles that didn’t. One was a small car that had completely blown a tire on one of the potholes and the other was an entire transport that had flown off the road been crushed like a metal can and had spilled all of it contents out!
All in all the drive was around ten hours! We definitely grew closer as a group and bonded a lot. You have to when you spend a good portion of the trip wedged in between people partway in their armpits! It was an amazingly enjoyable ride regardless of the bumps, the discomfort and the length. We sang nearly every song in everyone’s repertoire (trust me we are no choir!) The rest of the time we spent talking about Botswana and mostly the environmental challenges of the country. It was by far the most obscure and untraditional classroom that I have ever learned in – but it really teaches you the power of conversation and that good education is life long and always possible no matter what barriers!
As we finally pulled into Maun, the sun had long since set - a beautiful one with gorgeous warm rays, but hard to fully appreciate from inside a sardine can :) Maun has an interesting and mildly unpleasant odour to it – most likely due to the practice of burning garbage – it is definitely a transient town with some major roads and the majority of the people removed off the main paths. This is the town that I will be doing my placement in and I couldn’t help by try to take in as much as I could. In the dark there wasn’t much to see and after a long drive my optimism was waning, so it wasn’t the best introduction to the small town. We pulled into our next accommodations – Audi Camp – where we quickly unpacked the van. We headed to the ‘house’ that we would be staying in. We had four rooms – three for the girls and then the ‘bro room’ where all the boys shared. It was basic but comfortable – the most exciting was the mosquito nets – which made you feel either like royalty or like you were in some creepy sci-fi movie with big bugs that have cocooned you, haha!
We finished the evening with a hearty meal and quite a few bottles of wine! I had kingklip, which I had never had. It is a delicious white meaty fish that was prepared beautifully and tasted so good after a long day! When we got back to the room we pretty much crashed and went right to bed! Next morning we are visiting the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (or HOORC…haha!) to see the facilities, receive some lectures and visit the library’s special cultural selections. While we have had a lot of discussion and debates around everyone’s different researched areas, it will be really nice to have a more formalized day of learning tomorrow at the centre. I am really looking forward to see how post-secondary education is approached here in Botswana and what the culture is like in academia.
Blog #5 – EARLY Morning Chobe
When we found out we had to be awake and ready for a morning safari game drive, the reaction was bittersweet. What better way to begin a day then with a glorious sunrise in one of Botswana most beautiful and animal plenty National Parks? However that would be mean getting up from sleep around a time that would equate to something like 11 pm back home – talk about travel woes! I can’t complain for real though – let’s be realistic this is AWESOME!
Anyways, we get up at 4:45AM here and walk down and do a quick thirty minutes session of Yoga by the pool side over looking the Chobe River. Adam was absolutely hilarious here – by far the least flexible person of life - self-acclaimed, so no hard feelings ;) – decided that he wanted to participate. It was a great way to start the day, get some exercise, some laughs and then finish it off with a refreshing dip in the 70 degree pool!
We met at 5:45 out front of the resort and loaded into open safari vehicles – basically padded benches on the back of an open pick up truck with a metal and tarp roof overhead. We gladly cozied up to each other and wrapped ourselves in the woven blankets provided. In case you didn’t know, Botswana is in its Winter season now and traditionally gets down to 5 degrees, and many times even below freezing – how is that for breaking stereotypes?
The sun was not yet up and there was little light in the sky. The game drive started out with a short drive to the national park. We were told to remain in the truck at all times and to be quiet and not frighten the animals. I am so worked up. This time we were so much closer to the ground, to the wild. No longer would we be a comfortable distance away on a large floating boat…we were going to be right there with the animals! (wait to see the pictures and videos!)
Amazingly this time we didn’t see any elephants up close! We wove our way around the park and ended up seeing water buffalo, giraffes, lots of birds (including the ‘heaviest flight bird’ in the world, which is the name our guide gave it, haha!), warthogs, impala, kudu, steenbok and more! During this excursion we got to witness our first GORGEOUS African sunrise – it only lasts around a minute, but it is a beautiful thing to watch – it is also the only real source of heat, and so was quite welcomed! We took a break part way through the morning and swapped stories with the other safari vehicles around. We got to drink the wonderfully plenty and popular Rubios tea (spelling way off…?). It seems like our guide had down the best job and that some of the other people were frustrated (though that might have been because instead of taking photographs they are taking ‘snapshots’, hahaha)
What we were really hoping for was lions though – come on, who wouldn’t be! So as we were packing back in for the second half and our guide started chatting on the radio that distinctively said “lions” somewhere in there, we were excited! We started winding our way back to the roadway when we came upon two female lions – they were just walking and lazing in the sun and grass! They were a decent distance from the roadway and hard to spot, but it was really cool to finally see a lion in the wild! Little did we know that just a little way further next to the main roadway we would find a carcass with three lions feeding off of it! We got some really cool pictures of these mother lions devouring a young water buffalo! It was a truly amazing sight! We must have been less than ten meters from them, but they were totally un-phased and only really focused on eating! To say the least, the early wake up was well worth while!
Anyways, we get up at 4:45AM here and walk down and do a quick thirty minutes session of Yoga by the pool side over looking the Chobe River. Adam was absolutely hilarious here – by far the least flexible person of life - self-acclaimed, so no hard feelings ;) – decided that he wanted to participate. It was a great way to start the day, get some exercise, some laughs and then finish it off with a refreshing dip in the 70 degree pool!
We met at 5:45 out front of the resort and loaded into open safari vehicles – basically padded benches on the back of an open pick up truck with a metal and tarp roof overhead. We gladly cozied up to each other and wrapped ourselves in the woven blankets provided. In case you didn’t know, Botswana is in its Winter season now and traditionally gets down to 5 degrees, and many times even below freezing – how is that for breaking stereotypes?
The sun was not yet up and there was little light in the sky. The game drive started out with a short drive to the national park. We were told to remain in the truck at all times and to be quiet and not frighten the animals. I am so worked up. This time we were so much closer to the ground, to the wild. No longer would we be a comfortable distance away on a large floating boat…we were going to be right there with the animals! (wait to see the pictures and videos!)
Amazingly this time we didn’t see any elephants up close! We wove our way around the park and ended up seeing water buffalo, giraffes, lots of birds (including the ‘heaviest flight bird’ in the world, which is the name our guide gave it, haha!), warthogs, impala, kudu, steenbok and more! During this excursion we got to witness our first GORGEOUS African sunrise – it only lasts around a minute, but it is a beautiful thing to watch – it is also the only real source of heat, and so was quite welcomed! We took a break part way through the morning and swapped stories with the other safari vehicles around. We got to drink the wonderfully plenty and popular Rubios tea (spelling way off…?). It seems like our guide had down the best job and that some of the other people were frustrated (though that might have been because instead of taking photographs they are taking ‘snapshots’, hahaha)
What we were really hoping for was lions though – come on, who wouldn’t be! So as we were packing back in for the second half and our guide started chatting on the radio that distinctively said “lions” somewhere in there, we were excited! We started winding our way back to the roadway when we came upon two female lions – they were just walking and lazing in the sun and grass! They were a decent distance from the roadway and hard to spot, but it was really cool to finally see a lion in the wild! Little did we know that just a little way further next to the main roadway we would find a carcass with three lions feeding off of it! We got some really cool pictures of these mother lions devouring a young water buffalo! It was a truly amazing sight! We must have been less than ten meters from them, but they were totally un-phased and only really focused on eating! To say the least, the early wake up was well worth while!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Blog #4 - Actually Botswana.
*this is probably the longest post…who knew I was so chatty :) *
Luckily we got to sleep in today – our first real sleep since Wednesday before we left! The breakfast was delicious – they have GREAT fruit salad and I don’t think I have ever had quite as much guava juice before. After that we packed our bags and headed towards the Zambezi river to take a barge across to Botswana. We went to immigration and exited Zambia and then waited for one of these large barges to come across the river to get us. There were loads of people and supplies and trucks to be moved – so we were told to brace ourselves and basically make sure that we get on the barge as soon as it lands…. After talking with some locals and enjoying the gorgeous weather (which is very similar to South western Ontario June/August weather) we finally made it onto the barge.
What struck me while we were all waiting for this barge is the huge defense that I had in regards to my surroundings. I had manifested this fear and doubt in trusting and speaking with everyone. I was afraid of losing my stuff or saying the wrong thing to someone.
While on the barge we started talking with some locals as we slowly moved across the 50 meter river. This river crossing was really neat because the only way to get across was by barge. The barges moved people, cars and large transport trucks. After asking one someone, the wait for the trucks could be five days to get across! The other really cool thing was that it was the intersection of four countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana. There no fences, no toll booths, just large landing and departure pads for people to shuffle on an off of. Nothing at all like border crossing back home between the US and Canada.
Another shocking aspect to me was the fact that we looked and both felt so foreign to all of this. After all of the travel orientation and preparation you come to have these expectations of what people will be like and how you will fit into everything. My first lesson in all of this was when one of the men on the barge reached down the side of the boat and filled up a bottle to drink the water right out of the Zambezi river. The water was definitely not treated and there must have been bountiful pollutants from the constant crossing of the barges. Unbelievable!
What they really needed here was a bridge – and apparently is on the maps to be built, but it will take many years. Such a simple infrastructural project as a bridge (which we take for granted and as a given in North America) would be a huge assistance to inter-country trade, tourism and general travel.
We landed on the Botswana shore and finally stepped foot in the country I would call home for the next three months! It was a nice little clearing with people, supplies and trucks waiting to load. We shuffled off and settled down in a little pack of rocks and fauna to take a break while we waited for our transport.
We had to load all of our bags and ourselves into what I shall call our “safari truck” and pickup truck with a seating cab attached to the back that would hold nine people…needless to say it was cozy. We traveled no more than a minute before we came to the Botswana immigration. We filled out our official entrance to the country documents and filed through. Then we had to walk through what they call “veterinary control” for foot and mouth disease. It is basically a shallow trough that all the cars drive through and for the people you need to press your shoes and walk over a soaked pad of the cleansing chemical. It is a part of the way that Botswana complies with the international standards so that they can maintain their beef industry (which used to be a consider part of their GNP but now constitutes around 4%). This is one interesting issues with Botswana– the struggle between domestic and wild animals and their impact and relevance to culture and economy…more thoughts to come on that later!
So we pack back up (though luckily now we got to split between one vehicle for luggage and one for people! We drove down the roadway and literally for at least a mile there was a long line of parked transport trucks, whose drivers had set out chair, tables and more to rest and wait until they could cross!
Did I mention they drive on the wrong side of the road! It is so different to get used to – seeing the driver on the other side and then passing vehicles on the left and not the right! It will be interesting once I get to start driving myself during my placement!... should provide some great stories I am sure :)
We crossed into Botswana on the very north-east corner of the country and entered the town of Kasane (ka-sa-knee) were we stayed at the Chobe Safari Lodge. It was a higher class resort that we were staying at to get some good food at the start of the trip, a good rest as well as to take advantage of the resort’s safari services. The resort was built to mimic traditional building styles, with large log structures with thatch and grass coverings and roof. Our rooms on the other hand were very much a high end north American room with two beds, a TV, a bath, a shower, mosquito nets and more! Definitely not ‘roughing it’ as we had all expected – but good to remember we only get one night here! We dropped our bags and headed for lunch!
The food was AMAZING – it was buffet style and there were both local dishes as well as traditional North American foods. Some was cooked right in front of you in an exhibition style – Hospitality Services back home would be proud! I got to try Koodu (not sure of spelling…), which is basically a large grazing animal that tasted pretty good!
In the afternoon we talked and discussed about Botswana as a country, Chobe National Park and some of the issues and challenges surrounding its management. At the end of the day we boarded a large boat (sort of like a house boat without walls) and went on a sunset boat game tour!
This was the first time that we really got to see the African animals! We saw loads of different species of birds, tonnes of elephants, hippos, monkeys and more! It was so much fun and such a beautiful way of being introduced to the African landscape and wildlife. While on the boat, Marena started interacting with three of the local children that were also on the boat. We started talking with the kids – they tried doing peoples hair and attempting to instruct us in basic Tswana! It finally felt like we were in Botswana, being an enjoyed part of Africa, and getting immersed in the local ecosystem and culture (slowly of course, but it has started!)
One of my favourite points of the trip was being welcomed back from the boat to a music group of four men playing the Marimbas (basically sweet African xylophones) The music was so light-hearted and happy and I just remember feeling so happy: to be here, to have seen what we have seen already and to have another three months in this amazing country! We had another wonderful meal at which a large traditional dance troop came in and performed some native dancing! They have amazing costumes, somewhat similar to our indigenous people in Canada, but with some neat additions. They had these long, dried strings of small shakers that they wrapped around and around each ankle. Then when they did all of their stomping and shaking steps there was a constant rattle – it was awesome! They have an amazing sense of rhythm and beat, have beautiful harmonies and seem so proud to be doing what they are doing! It was an amazing capstone to an already amazing day! I love Botswana and couldn’t be happier!
Luckily we got to sleep in today – our first real sleep since Wednesday before we left! The breakfast was delicious – they have GREAT fruit salad and I don’t think I have ever had quite as much guava juice before. After that we packed our bags and headed towards the Zambezi river to take a barge across to Botswana. We went to immigration and exited Zambia and then waited for one of these large barges to come across the river to get us. There were loads of people and supplies and trucks to be moved – so we were told to brace ourselves and basically make sure that we get on the barge as soon as it lands…. After talking with some locals and enjoying the gorgeous weather (which is very similar to South western Ontario June/August weather) we finally made it onto the barge.
What struck me while we were all waiting for this barge is the huge defense that I had in regards to my surroundings. I had manifested this fear and doubt in trusting and speaking with everyone. I was afraid of losing my stuff or saying the wrong thing to someone.
While on the barge we started talking with some locals as we slowly moved across the 50 meter river. This river crossing was really neat because the only way to get across was by barge. The barges moved people, cars and large transport trucks. After asking one someone, the wait for the trucks could be five days to get across! The other really cool thing was that it was the intersection of four countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana. There no fences, no toll booths, just large landing and departure pads for people to shuffle on an off of. Nothing at all like border crossing back home between the US and Canada.
Another shocking aspect to me was the fact that we looked and both felt so foreign to all of this. After all of the travel orientation and preparation you come to have these expectations of what people will be like and how you will fit into everything. My first lesson in all of this was when one of the men on the barge reached down the side of the boat and filled up a bottle to drink the water right out of the Zambezi river. The water was definitely not treated and there must have been bountiful pollutants from the constant crossing of the barges. Unbelievable!
What they really needed here was a bridge – and apparently is on the maps to be built, but it will take many years. Such a simple infrastructural project as a bridge (which we take for granted and as a given in North America) would be a huge assistance to inter-country trade, tourism and general travel.
We landed on the Botswana shore and finally stepped foot in the country I would call home for the next three months! It was a nice little clearing with people, supplies and trucks waiting to load. We shuffled off and settled down in a little pack of rocks and fauna to take a break while we waited for our transport.
We had to load all of our bags and ourselves into what I shall call our “safari truck” and pickup truck with a seating cab attached to the back that would hold nine people…needless to say it was cozy. We traveled no more than a minute before we came to the Botswana immigration. We filled out our official entrance to the country documents and filed through. Then we had to walk through what they call “veterinary control” for foot and mouth disease. It is basically a shallow trough that all the cars drive through and for the people you need to press your shoes and walk over a soaked pad of the cleansing chemical. It is a part of the way that Botswana complies with the international standards so that they can maintain their beef industry (which used to be a consider part of their GNP but now constitutes around 4%). This is one interesting issues with Botswana– the struggle between domestic and wild animals and their impact and relevance to culture and economy…more thoughts to come on that later!
So we pack back up (though luckily now we got to split between one vehicle for luggage and one for people! We drove down the roadway and literally for at least a mile there was a long line of parked transport trucks, whose drivers had set out chair, tables and more to rest and wait until they could cross!
Did I mention they drive on the wrong side of the road! It is so different to get used to – seeing the driver on the other side and then passing vehicles on the left and not the right! It will be interesting once I get to start driving myself during my placement!... should provide some great stories I am sure :)
We crossed into Botswana on the very north-east corner of the country and entered the town of Kasane (ka-sa-knee) were we stayed at the Chobe Safari Lodge. It was a higher class resort that we were staying at to get some good food at the start of the trip, a good rest as well as to take advantage of the resort’s safari services. The resort was built to mimic traditional building styles, with large log structures with thatch and grass coverings and roof. Our rooms on the other hand were very much a high end north American room with two beds, a TV, a bath, a shower, mosquito nets and more! Definitely not ‘roughing it’ as we had all expected – but good to remember we only get one night here! We dropped our bags and headed for lunch!
The food was AMAZING – it was buffet style and there were both local dishes as well as traditional North American foods. Some was cooked right in front of you in an exhibition style – Hospitality Services back home would be proud! I got to try Koodu (not sure of spelling…), which is basically a large grazing animal that tasted pretty good!
In the afternoon we talked and discussed about Botswana as a country, Chobe National Park and some of the issues and challenges surrounding its management. At the end of the day we boarded a large boat (sort of like a house boat without walls) and went on a sunset boat game tour!
This was the first time that we really got to see the African animals! We saw loads of different species of birds, tonnes of elephants, hippos, monkeys and more! It was so much fun and such a beautiful way of being introduced to the African landscape and wildlife. While on the boat, Marena started interacting with three of the local children that were also on the boat. We started talking with the kids – they tried doing peoples hair and attempting to instruct us in basic Tswana! It finally felt like we were in Botswana, being an enjoyed part of Africa, and getting immersed in the local ecosystem and culture (slowly of course, but it has started!)
One of my favourite points of the trip was being welcomed back from the boat to a music group of four men playing the Marimbas (basically sweet African xylophones) The music was so light-hearted and happy and I just remember feeling so happy: to be here, to have seen what we have seen already and to have another three months in this amazing country! We had another wonderful meal at which a large traditional dance troop came in and performed some native dancing! They have amazing costumes, somewhat similar to our indigenous people in Canada, but with some neat additions. They had these long, dried strings of small shakers that they wrapped around and around each ankle. Then when they did all of their stomping and shaking steps there was a constant rattle – it was awesome! They have an amazing sense of rhythm and beat, have beautiful harmonies and seem so proud to be doing what they are doing! It was an amazing capstone to an already amazing day! I love Botswana and couldn’t be happier!
Blog #3 - Zambia & Victoria Falls
Blog #3 – Almost in Africa…
So, I last left you on the half-day flight to Johannesburg, South Africa…we got there… Awkwardly, we were woken up at 5 in the morning on the plane to have breakfast and prepare for landing. Basically, that equaled cutting my perceived (and already limited) rest down and also providing one of the most wretched wake ups ever! However, after we had some food – which was an interesting cooked breakfast of eggs and spinach pinwheel roll and ‘fresh’ apple slices that came in a industrial plastic bag we finally got off the plane and (after months of planning and years of dreaming ) we were standing on African soil…well, at least African tarmac or airport runway.
We never made it out of the airport – with only a few hours between out connecting flight, we basically got to explain and socialize with the other local travelers. Perhaps this was for the best, as the current situations are less than ideal, but it seemed so restricting to finally be in Africa, but not see the country!
We took advantage of the comfortable airport seating and available food and just relaxed until the time came to board our next (and almost last flight!) We had to ride a ground shuttle from the airport terminal out to the plane on the tarmac – which was not that small, but a tight enough squeeze to get six people across. We had a ninety minute flight from South Africa to Livingston, Zambia, which was quick and painless enough – we only got in trouble for playing Euchre during the safety presentation and also had to endure consuming the blandest sandwiches of life (but don’t get me wrong, we were grateful to have food!). We landed, very similar to central American countries, and got off the plane and walked by foot to a small and quaint airport of Livingstone, Zambia (the one-road town next to Victoria Falls!).
After waiting in a slow government induced line to pay for a VISA to get into the country (of which we would only use for the day) – yes, slow lines exist across the world apparently – we finally got our bags and loaded them into the car that would drive us to our accommodations for the evening. We stayed at the New Fairmont Hotel (yes the international chain)… however, do not be deceived, while it was nice and a solid roof over our heads and a locked door, it didn’t quite compare to the Fairmont downtown Toronto or elsewhere!
After getting into our rooms, we basically crashed and had to get ready for our first big African adventure. At this point, it still hadn’t really hit what we were doing and me where we were – getting to this point in the trip was exhausting and also quick, that I hadn’t gotten my bearings together yet. We ended up watching a brief bit of ‘Project Runway’, which proved two things: 1) North American TV culture has permeated all corners of the world (which can only mean to direct there opinions of us!), and 2) after traveling for close to two days straight, even trashy stereotypic TV is enjoyable and not worth the energy to argue over. There was no hot water for my shower, nor enough water pressure to get the shower to work – so I had a makeshift sponge bath with the coldest water of life! The price you pay for cleanliness.
Our tour guide driver picked us up at 3 o’clock to take us to Victoria Falls. We entered the Zambian Victoria Falls Park and had the chance to walk around the information centre as well as above and around the Falls themselves. Victoria Falls has 10 million liters of water flow over it during the peak rainy season – almost twice the amount of Niagara Falls. Victoria falls is 1.7 kilometers wide and a 108 meter drop (nearly four times the area of our Falls back home!) The raw power and awe of this should-be natural wonder was daunting!
We walked first to see the water and rivers that poured into the falls, both a shockingly large area, but also full of very picturesque and elegant currents and rapids. Following that we wrapped around the front of the falls, slowly working our way farther down. At no point in our walks could you ever completely see the start and end of the falls and I didn’t ever see the bottom! They were a sprawling gigantic scene of rocks, plant growth and wind!
As we wove our wave up and down and around the twisted and forest-ridden paths, not a single person came out dry. If we weren’t spontaneously caught in a brief shower of rain caused by the amazing amount of water in the air, then we were drenched when we walked over Knife Point (a small bridge) that was so close to the Falls that you literally felt like you had entire buckets being poured over you as you quickly tried to run by.
It was an amazing scene – so much life, so much natural power – such an underappreciated and forgotten aspect to our common and every-day lives. Africa is a place of such natural beauty and so much fundamental power – it is hard to think of all of the problems they face and the toll that they take on the lives of those involved! However, today was meant as an experience and learning, we are really only on Day#1 of the trip, and while I am amazing with what we have already seen and done, I cannot fathom what is yet still to come!
The rest of our night was spent relaxing and sampling some of the local regional brews. Mosi – a Zambian brew – was the drink of the night! We toasted to finally being in Africa and having such an unbelievable first day!
One of the evening highlights may have been Laurenne smashing the toilet lid at the New Fairmont Hotel. The toilet had broken somehow… and would no longer flush. So, I had to reach my hand into the toilet and eventually hook it all up together… I know quite unbelievable; who knew I had these skills, let alone actually need to use them! Then it was off to bed for a well need and much postponed sleep.
I am really glad with the trip so far. The whole group is amazing and I am really enjoying being a part of it and talking with everyone. I feel a lot better about being here in Africa and that after all the planning and talking about it – I am here. I can’t believe it and I can’t believe it will be my home for the next three months.
So, I last left you on the half-day flight to Johannesburg, South Africa…we got there… Awkwardly, we were woken up at 5 in the morning on the plane to have breakfast and prepare for landing. Basically, that equaled cutting my perceived (and already limited) rest down and also providing one of the most wretched wake ups ever! However, after we had some food – which was an interesting cooked breakfast of eggs and spinach pinwheel roll and ‘fresh’ apple slices that came in a industrial plastic bag we finally got off the plane and (after months of planning and years of dreaming ) we were standing on African soil…well, at least African tarmac or airport runway.
We never made it out of the airport – with only a few hours between out connecting flight, we basically got to explain and socialize with the other local travelers. Perhaps this was for the best, as the current situations are less than ideal, but it seemed so restricting to finally be in Africa, but not see the country!
We took advantage of the comfortable airport seating and available food and just relaxed until the time came to board our next (and almost last flight!) We had to ride a ground shuttle from the airport terminal out to the plane on the tarmac – which was not that small, but a tight enough squeeze to get six people across. We had a ninety minute flight from South Africa to Livingston, Zambia, which was quick and painless enough – we only got in trouble for playing Euchre during the safety presentation and also had to endure consuming the blandest sandwiches of life (but don’t get me wrong, we were grateful to have food!). We landed, very similar to central American countries, and got off the plane and walked by foot to a small and quaint airport of Livingstone, Zambia (the one-road town next to Victoria Falls!).
After waiting in a slow government induced line to pay for a VISA to get into the country (of which we would only use for the day) – yes, slow lines exist across the world apparently – we finally got our bags and loaded them into the car that would drive us to our accommodations for the evening. We stayed at the New Fairmont Hotel (yes the international chain)… however, do not be deceived, while it was nice and a solid roof over our heads and a locked door, it didn’t quite compare to the Fairmont downtown Toronto or elsewhere!
After getting into our rooms, we basically crashed and had to get ready for our first big African adventure. At this point, it still hadn’t really hit what we were doing and me where we were – getting to this point in the trip was exhausting and also quick, that I hadn’t gotten my bearings together yet. We ended up watching a brief bit of ‘Project Runway’, which proved two things: 1) North American TV culture has permeated all corners of the world (which can only mean to direct there opinions of us!), and 2) after traveling for close to two days straight, even trashy stereotypic TV is enjoyable and not worth the energy to argue over. There was no hot water for my shower, nor enough water pressure to get the shower to work – so I had a makeshift sponge bath with the coldest water of life! The price you pay for cleanliness.
Our tour guide driver picked us up at 3 o’clock to take us to Victoria Falls. We entered the Zambian Victoria Falls Park and had the chance to walk around the information centre as well as above and around the Falls themselves. Victoria Falls has 10 million liters of water flow over it during the peak rainy season – almost twice the amount of Niagara Falls. Victoria falls is 1.7 kilometers wide and a 108 meter drop (nearly four times the area of our Falls back home!) The raw power and awe of this should-be natural wonder was daunting!
We walked first to see the water and rivers that poured into the falls, both a shockingly large area, but also full of very picturesque and elegant currents and rapids. Following that we wrapped around the front of the falls, slowly working our way farther down. At no point in our walks could you ever completely see the start and end of the falls and I didn’t ever see the bottom! They were a sprawling gigantic scene of rocks, plant growth and wind!
As we wove our wave up and down and around the twisted and forest-ridden paths, not a single person came out dry. If we weren’t spontaneously caught in a brief shower of rain caused by the amazing amount of water in the air, then we were drenched when we walked over Knife Point (a small bridge) that was so close to the Falls that you literally felt like you had entire buckets being poured over you as you quickly tried to run by.
It was an amazing scene – so much life, so much natural power – such an underappreciated and forgotten aspect to our common and every-day lives. Africa is a place of such natural beauty and so much fundamental power – it is hard to think of all of the problems they face and the toll that they take on the lives of those involved! However, today was meant as an experience and learning, we are really only on Day#1 of the trip, and while I am amazing with what we have already seen and done, I cannot fathom what is yet still to come!
The rest of our night was spent relaxing and sampling some of the local regional brews. Mosi – a Zambian brew – was the drink of the night! We toasted to finally being in Africa and having such an unbelievable first day!
One of the evening highlights may have been Laurenne smashing the toilet lid at the New Fairmont Hotel. The toilet had broken somehow… and would no longer flush. So, I had to reach my hand into the toilet and eventually hook it all up together… I know quite unbelievable; who knew I had these skills, let alone actually need to use them! Then it was off to bed for a well need and much postponed sleep.
I am really glad with the trip so far. The whole group is amazing and I am really enjoying being a part of it and talking with everyone. I feel a lot better about being here in Africa and that after all the planning and talking about it – I am here. I can’t believe it and I can’t believe it will be my home for the next three months.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Blog #2 – Adventures to Africa
I am writing this at 3:10 AM (my newest time zone!…it is 9:10PM back home.) traveling at 958 km/h up in the sky 11 389 m.
There are ten of us from Guelph and we started our trek last night with a red eye flight to Heathrow, London, England. We spend an amazing day in London, walking about the gorgeous city – I cannot believe how much history and culture in ingrained into the city.
London is unbelievable! The people here are all well dressed and there isn’t a lot of obesity, haha! We bought a day pass on the underground and got to see all different parts of the city – Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral. We also had a good tour of some different pubs and restaurants and spent our afternoon in Green Park. We sat on the grass drinking wine (or beer for others), doing some yoga while watching the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.
I feel like I caught up in this whirlwind adventure. Even know as I sit on our twelve-hour flight from England straight down to Johannesburg, South Africa I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that Africa will be where I call home for the next three months! I am so excited and yet a little bit fearful. The beginning of this trip is going to be surefire enjoyment – we are a fun bunch of people are going to be doing some amazing sight seeing and learning! After that though, I am going to have two and half months with only my Batswana peers and me. There is so much for me to learn and so much for me to experience. I cannot wait to see how this all unravels and plays out – and I think that is where I have some trepidations… what if I don’t fit in? What if Africa isn’t all that I have built it up to be?
This summer is going to be hugely stimulating in every sense. I know that my body is going to have to brave the challenges of a completely difference climate, host of new organisms and a very different diet. Mentally I am going to be working and learning a completely new way of life and a new way of thinking. Emotionally I will be hear twenty four hours a day, seven days a week – completely immersed and surrounded by both beauty and devastation…. enough of these serious meanderings though – basically I am going to need some sleep to handle all of this…so I am going to stretch my legs, put back on my face mask and get some shut eye before we land.
When I wake up we will finally be in Africa! We will be starting out by visiting Victoria Falls…I can’t wait!
There are ten of us from Guelph and we started our trek last night with a red eye flight to Heathrow, London, England. We spend an amazing day in London, walking about the gorgeous city – I cannot believe how much history and culture in ingrained into the city.
London is unbelievable! The people here are all well dressed and there isn’t a lot of obesity, haha! We bought a day pass on the underground and got to see all different parts of the city – Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, St. Paul’s Cathedral. We also had a good tour of some different pubs and restaurants and spent our afternoon in Green Park. We sat on the grass drinking wine (or beer for others), doing some yoga while watching the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.
I feel like I caught up in this whirlwind adventure. Even know as I sit on our twelve-hour flight from England straight down to Johannesburg, South Africa I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that Africa will be where I call home for the next three months! I am so excited and yet a little bit fearful. The beginning of this trip is going to be surefire enjoyment – we are a fun bunch of people are going to be doing some amazing sight seeing and learning! After that though, I am going to have two and half months with only my Batswana peers and me. There is so much for me to learn and so much for me to experience. I cannot wait to see how this all unravels and plays out – and I think that is where I have some trepidations… what if I don’t fit in? What if Africa isn’t all that I have built it up to be?
This summer is going to be hugely stimulating in every sense. I know that my body is going to have to brave the challenges of a completely difference climate, host of new organisms and a very different diet. Mentally I am going to be working and learning a completely new way of life and a new way of thinking. Emotionally I will be hear twenty four hours a day, seven days a week – completely immersed and surrounded by both beauty and devastation…. enough of these serious meanderings though – basically I am going to need some sleep to handle all of this…so I am going to stretch my legs, put back on my face mask and get some shut eye before we land.
When I wake up we will finally be in Africa! We will be starting out by visiting Victoria Falls…I can’t wait!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Last 24 Hours in Canada...
As I sit here wondering where the next three months of my life will take me I can't help but feel two strong emotions:
1.) Excitement
2.) Anxiousness
I cannot wait to be on the plane, bags packed, farewells said and the fair, democratic, Canadian soil below. Africa is going to be one of the biggest adventures that I have been on to date and while I have thousands of perceptions running through my head of what it will look like, how the people will be and what I will experience - I know that not one of them will truly capture my time there.
However, there have been so many people to say goodbye. So many concerned hugs and goodbyes that have urged being healthy, staying out of trouble and coming back in one piece. I am going to miss everyone here in Canada, and know that there will be a lot to catch up on once I get back from Botswana after three months!
I will miss you all - and please take care of yourself - and I promise to take care of me :)
Nate
1.) Excitement
2.) Anxiousness
I cannot wait to be on the plane, bags packed, farewells said and the fair, democratic, Canadian soil below. Africa is going to be one of the biggest adventures that I have been on to date and while I have thousands of perceptions running through my head of what it will look like, how the people will be and what I will experience - I know that not one of them will truly capture my time there.
However, there have been so many people to say goodbye. So many concerned hugs and goodbyes that have urged being healthy, staying out of trouble and coming back in one piece. I am going to miss everyone here in Canada, and know that there will be a lot to catch up on once I get back from Botswana after three months!
I will miss you all - and please take care of yourself - and I promise to take care of me :)
Nate
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