Blog #46 – Media, Police & Beer Pong

Tuesday was a different story. I spent the morning around town and in the office. I was arranging and making sure that the media who had visited and got footage from the camp had everything they needed to get it to press. I was, as would call, a free-lance writer. I actually wrote the article for the local newspaper. I brought it in on a flash drive to the sports journalist and gave it to him telling him that this is what we were thinking and was something he could work off of. I was interested to see what would happen with that. After dealing with the print media, I headed to the TV station to see how things were coming. Calvin was a little frantic trying to put everything together – there were a few shots that he wanted, but wasn’t able to get. I got a load of still pictures to him and provided him wit ha bunch of literature that would hopefully help him get it finished.

The best part about the morning was running into an angel. That’s right, an angel! She carried this beautiful red shiny bucket! And inside were the treats of the devil – pure temptation itself…. Nah, I am just kidding. It was this sweet old ma who baked these home made samosas! At first I just bought one and I ate it right away, it was probably the most delicious thing I had eaten all summer! Then as she was about to leave I bought another two to go. I couldn’t help but eat one of them now though. Then one of my friends that was with me said they were too spicy for her, so I ate hers too. All in all, I didn’t even eat lunch I was so full of samosa.

The next excitement of the day was when we were at French Connection, a little café, for a drink. I was having my usual Iced Mint Tea, when a special constable (police) officer came into the restaurant. He looked all business and I was really excited to see what was going to happen! He had a local man with him that ointed directly at our table. I was like, “oh shit! Run! There is no way that I am going to a Botswana prison!” However, I am not that gutsy, so I just sat there – taking solace in the fact that to my knowledge I hadn’t broken the law.

Turns out I was safe. The Motswana was after Maura – the cinematographer – who had apparently filmed him yesterday in the marketplace without his consent. He had given Maura a really big stink of it the day before and was apparently quite rude about it. Maura showed him the filming permit that they had from the Botswana Government explaining that they had the right to shot in any public spaces, she also told him that they wouldn’t use that footage if it bothered him. In the end she just packed up and left – leaving the shot behind as the guy wouldn’t quit.

Apparently he wasn’t satisfied, so he had went to the police and got them to come and “summon” them to the police station. How he found them in French Connection of all places in Maun is ridiculous to me. Ashley, the director got involved and spoke with the officer. In the end the officer told them that they should come to the police station to make a statement. They weren’t under arrest or anything, so it was really odd. We didn’t have the vehicle at the time so we headed back to the office to wait for it there. In the mean time though, we somehow decided that it wasn’t necessary for them to go to the police. They weren’t under arrest, nothing had been filed, this was all unofficial, so why would they go? They also had shooting set-up for a little bit later that they didn’t want to miss as it was during sunset when the lighting was needed to be just right. We were also set to go to Lesley’s for dinner tonight and it was getting late.

That’s when the police rolled up in their car to the office and knocked on the door. I was like, “they found you! How did they find you?!” There was no way that they knew they were with BPCT and have never been to the office before – we had even just moved into the office last month! I was amazed at the effectiveness of the police, or perhaps diligence. However from the moment that I answered the door I could tell that the constable did not want to be there. The Motswana was still with him and immediately started demanding that we all come to the police station now. First off, I had nothing to do with this, so I was staying out. After debating for twenty minutes, Ashley decided to come with the officer to the Police Station out of respect of the request. He did threaten her to say, “they were not under arrest NOW, but if they didn’t come that would be problematic for the future!” haha, whoa!

The best part of this was that the police vehicles here are similar to those at home. There are two seats in the front – but then the back of the vehicle is where the criminals go. That is exactly where Maura and Ashely went. Kate and I were left in the office and we were pissing ourselves laughing as they climbed up into the caged cell on the pack of the police pick-up. We joked that this would be the last time we ever saw there alive – not really a joking matter, but you had to be there – it was so picturesque!

Kate and I chilled at the office for the next three hours while we waited for them to return. They never came. We decided to close up and see where they had gone so we drove to the police station. They were sitting in the main office of the station facing the man who was obviously the constable in-charge. They were talking back and forth and looked drained and exhausted. The Motswana was still going strong with really energetic gestures and talking quite emphatically. I have no idea what he was saying those – as they were talking in Setswana. After the next ten minutes, the constable in charge turned to us and said “please, just go”. The Motswana was not pleased one bit at his decision! He started putting up a fight, but the officer stopped him. He said that he had already caused them so much grief, he should be happy that they are not charging him for all of the time wasted, that he was out of line and had no right to do what he did. That was the last we ever saw or heard from that man.

We made it to Lesley’s two hours late for dinner, but it was a really nice evening. She had prepared Kudu steaks – which were quite meaty and delicious! We also had Painted Wolf Wine – which is an award winning Swiss wine that is the private label for the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust. The vineyard donates money for each bottle to this organization that Lesley runs and that I am volunteering with, so that is super cool! We spent the night recounting our recent adventures and chatting about all things under the moon.

The night was getting late, but I had arranged for one of my friends to pick us up – her name was Kat. However, there was a little bit of a miscommunication. Kat, had come from a braii to pick us up and take us back there…not home :) I was totally cool with that – as I had never been to a braii, but the others were a little bit unimpressed. A braii sort of originates from South Africa – or so we were told – and is basically like a big bbq roasting party. There is a fire that the meat gets cooked over and everyone drinks and has a merry good time! There is a very distinct smell to a braii, the mix of cooked meat, and fire, which is really warm and inviting.

We ended up playing a drinking game called Beer Pong – which I am sure the university students are familiar with. The only reason I am bothering to include it was because it escalated quite quickly into a battle of the continents: Africa vs. North America. It was a very intense battle and we played the best of three rounds. We split the first two rounds and everyone was watching as we played this final round. I am SO proud to say that I represented Canada well and we destroyed them in the final round! It was all I good fun and the night was really enjoyable – and totally unexpected, haha, but all the good things in life are :)