Serowe and Johannesburg

 Winning Gold in Serowe

 Entering South Africa

 JOBURG

 German Pub on Queens Street

Nelson Mandela's House in Soweto

Hello once again. It has taken me so long to write because I have been uber busy traveling around, playing volleyball, hanging out with friends and more. And boy what a difference a week can make. The last time I wrote I was pretty homesick and frustrated with Botswana but since then my attitude has changed and now that time in winding down I feel myself not wanting to leave Bots and all my friends here.

The rest of the week, last Wednesday and Thursday, flew by as I was kept busy preparing for the volleyball championships that I had the weekend of October 20^th and 21^st. Volleyball practice was supposed to end at 7 but because we were leaving Friday for the championships in Serowe, practice on both Wednesday and Thursday went way past 7:30 meaning that I didn’t get home until like 8:30/9ish. The frustrating part was that we would actually end practice at like 7 but then would talk and talk forever, again without really saying anything. Half of it would be in Setswana too so I had no idea what was going on and when it was in English it would take 5 minutes to say something that could have been said in 1 sentence. But that is the Batswana way-no rush, no need to move quickly!

Anyways, Friday rolled around and even though the bus was supposed to leave at one, we ended up not leaving until 3:45=shocker. Of couse, Ashley and I showed up at the meeting place at one and had to kill time until everyone else and the buses showed up. In fact, basically all UB sports teams were going to Serowe together because it was the Botessa National Championship Games so the basketball teams went, the tennis teams, badminton, netball, softball, soccer and volleyball were all traveling together.

We finally get on the bus and it is HOT! There is no AC on the bus and Friday was one of the hottest days I’ve had in Botswana so far. I was just sweating basically the entire time. The bus ride was really interesting because it really felt like we were riding with a bunch of middle schoolers-people were yelling, bothering those who were sleeping, taking a million pictures, yelling out the window, running around the isles, crazy!! After a couple of hours we stopped at the same rest stop I had been at a week earlier with CIEE as we were going to the same place as last week. We got snacks then headed back on the bus to finish our ride there. Got to Serowe after another couple of hours and first stopped at the college where the games would be held the following day to pick up mattresses for us to sleep on. This sounds simple enough but this 20 minute stop turned into a 2 hour stop. Why??? I do not know.

By this time it is nearing 9pm and we finally get to ISH (the college we were going to be housed in for the next weekend) but of course we didn’t go to our rooms right away but hung out in the parking lot for about an hour. Luckily dinner was provided so we were able to eat as we waited in the lot. It was weird though because each team only got 10 meals so if you had more than 10 players you had to share with other players. We finally are shown to our rooms which is very, very chaotic with everyone pushing and no one hearing what exactly is going on. The boys vball team would be staying on mattresses in an empty classroom whereas the girls would be staying in a dorm (they call them hostels).  Each girls team got 3 rooms no matter who big the team was so we had to have 4 girls per room. However, we soon learned that the doors didn’t lock and even more we were staying on a floor of a boys hostel. A lot of the girls got really uncomfortable with the idea of unlocked doors and a bunch of guys staying around us so we ended up moving to sleep in the classroom with the volleyball boys who we actually knew. So finally at like 1am we are settled in this sweltering hot classroom. Some of the kids were playing a game similar to charades so the lights were on until like 2am. Thank god for my eye mask which completely blocked out the light, noise was another issue. Finally asleep at like 2.

Before I knew it people were getting up to go take showers. The first people who got up, got up at 4am and by 5:30 the lights in the room were on again. Why people wanted to take showers before they were about to exercise? I do not know! But they got up so early and we didn’t even have to leave until 7:45 so when people were done taking their showers they went back to playing that game from the night before. Ashley, Anthony and I were all so confused as to why they didn’t just wait to wake up and take showers so they didn’t have all this extra time but oh well.

So the games finally start on Saturday morning. We were able to watch most of the boys win their first game before ours started. It was pretty awesome to watch everything that was going on as there were so many people and so many things happening all around us. It was time for our first game and Ash and I had to get in our ridiculously ugly, unattractive and really unflattering sky blue uniforms with our names on the back. I thought it was cool to have our names on the back but boy was I wrong. As soon as we started warming up people all around started heckling us yelling our names and “American” and “white girl.” It was so, so overwhelming and Ash and I jut wanted to get off the court. I actually never even got on the court during the game and didn’t’ play at all. Not sure why but the team played pretty well and won the first match. Afterwards though both Ash and I were on the verge of a breakdown because the heckling never stopped even after the game. We would walk around and people would yell our names and stare. What made it worse was that we felt so alone as none of the other girls stood up for us and instead would tell us what to do the entire time or pick us apart. For example for Ash on the court, they would tell her to pass better or run faster and for me on the side they would say oh you need to wash your hair or you have a weird skin color, etc. So Ash and I had to leave the courts for a bit, have a breakdown and regroup. We talked about how we were feeling with our friend Mo, a matswana, who explained that they get heckled terribly too but it is in Setswana so you can’t understand. And the girls are in all truth jealous of us because of all the attention we get, especially from males, and therefore do things to us not out of spite but of jealousy and because they are intimidated. This helped a lot and the second game of the afternoon was a lot better as we were able to block out a lot of the ridicule.

Our games ended in the early afternoon but we had to wait around for the rest of the sports to finish so I ended up watching a basketball game and some netball. Some of the boys vball players were watching netball too and they tried to explain all the rules to me but it’s really weird and, for me, not that exciting.

We didn’t do much that night except eat dinner back at the school and walk to the gas station (filling station) for some snacks.  However, Ash and I did take a shower and when we walked back into the classroom received wide applause because according to the girls by that time we should have showered at least 3 times. Oh well—it was hilarious. And on the way back from the shower we heard one of the best pickup lines yet. “Hi ladies! I like you.” Pretty blunt!!

The morning ritual was pretty much the same on Sunday except that this time the lights stayed off until 6:30 which allowed for a bit more sleep! We headed over to the courts around 8 and once again were able to watch some of the boys game befor ours started. This was the championship game so I really wanted to watch all of it but unfortunately could only watch the first two games before I had to start warming up for our championship game. The boys did end up winning 3 games to 2 and therefore got their gold medal that so many of them wanted. And we, the girls volleyball team, did too! It went to five games but we ended up winning in the end. However I think I might have played a grand total of 2 minutes so I don’t really feel like I earned my medal but hey, oh well! It was so windy out though that the volleyball really wasn’t that pretty, not to mention the levels here are just lower than US levels. After the medal ceremony we just had to hang out and wait for the other teams to finish before finally heading back to Gabs.

The bus ride back was similar to the ride there with a bunch of kids yelling and running around. I thought at least this ride would be quiet cause everyone would be tired, but nope, I was wrong. It really felt like I was in middle school again.

Overall, the weekend was for sure an experience. I had some great moments hanging out with the girls and boys, learning some Setswana here and there, seeing how tournaments are done in Botswana, meeting kids from other UB teams and more. But I also definitely struggled at times. It’s so much harder than I ever thought to be a true minority; to not know the language, not understand the culture and be looked at and treated differently. Just the pure fact that heckling is part of the sport is hard to overcome because although it happens in the US it is more at the professional level rather than friendly competition. It was hard with the fact that when Ashley and I walked around we got stares, people yelling our names and guys saying weird stuff to us. For example on Sunday one guy goes, “Hello. I’m single by the way” which I just replied “hello, good for you.” I mean I don’t know what they want when they say things like that. It was definitely very trying emotionally but an experience that helped me understand life as a minority.

We got home late Sunday night so Monday morning was for sure a struggle especially when I had to go to Setswana class and learn the 14 different noun classes!! However, it did help me understand why certain things are said this way or why sounds seem to repeat themselves. And it was helpful that since volleyball practice was cancelled, me, Ashley, Anthony and Mo all went to a local bar called Bull and Bush for Monday half off rib night. Although the ribs weren’t as good as those from MiRancho in Silver Spring, it was so much fun to hang out with Mo, Ash and Anthony even though I had hung out with them all weekend.

Tuesday went to Old Naledi again to volunteer. However I am finding it harder and harder to go because I really don’t understand my purpose for being there. When I showed up most of the food had already been cooked so I just hung around until it was time to serve which was like 3 hours later. There weren’t that many kids to play with and the ones were around simply want to jump on my back which I can only take for so long before my back gives out. After cleaning up from lunch at Old Naledi I headed to campus even though there was no volleyball again. Instead I had to teach a fitness class for the OIEP (Office of International Exchanges and Partnerships) Wellness Week. Apparently the government makes various offices host these wellness weeks even if the department has nothing to do with health so OIEP got a hold of me and asked if I could teach an hour long fitness class in the student center. I ended up only teaching the OIEP staff that were required to come but still had to do it right in the middle of the student center which was pretty nerve racking to have all these students walk past and see me teaching cardioboxing. It ended up being really fun though and I think everyone got a workout even if we did start a half hour late so the class was a half hour instead of hour.

Wednesday and Thursday flew by especially since Thursday afternoon, me and 6 others were going to be heading to Johannesburg for the weekend. So Thursday afternoon me and Ashley, Charlotte, Ellie and Kylee all boarded the TJ Motlegari’s Express to Johannesburg  for our 6 hour drive to Joburg(Mo and Anthony were going to bus down on Friday).  The drive was pretty uneventful but we did get to see a lot of South Africa since the border from Gaborone is only about a half hour and the rest of the drive is through SA. It is a lot greener with a  lot more trees than Botswana which was a really nice scenery.

We arrived in Joburg around 10pm and a wonderfully nice lady from our bus showed us where to catch a taxi and helped get us a driver to take us to our hostel in Kensington.  As we were driving our driver took us threw Hillbrow which is supposed to be a pretty dodgy area and one to for sure be avoided so that was interesting. We showed up at our hostel, Diamon Diggers Backpackers and were taken back by the awesome view of Joburg from the office. Pretty sweet place.

Friday it was just us girls so we spent the day exploring. It started by waking up early and walking down the street to the little grocery store to buy breakfast fixings. We ended up making banana pancakes and scrambled eggs! YAY!! I miss pancakes—so good. We then had the housekeeper, Kim show us how to get on a minibus which is basically like a combi and took us to the center of Joburg to the Carlton Center. The Carlton Center is basically a big mall but there is a huge building attached and for 15 rand (well 10  because I asked if there was a student discount and the lady said okay) you can ride the elevator to the 50^th floor and get a 360 view of Joburg.

From the “Top of Africa” as it is called we saw Joubert Park right by the Johannesburg Art Gallery and decided to venture out that direction. However the walk there was for sure an experience. It was super busy with a  lot of people hustling and bustling and a lot of people trying to sell us stuff. We were heading towards Hillbrow so it just got sketchier and sketchier making some of the girls feel a bit nervous and very guarded. But we made it to the art gallery (decided against the park because there were some suspicious looking people) and spent some time wandering the gallery looking at various Picassos and other works.

After the museum we made our way all the way to Newtown which was supposed to be a rejuvenated fun part of Joburg-Nope!! It was empty and pretty sketchy looking. We went to the one place the guidebook suggested for lunch called Nikki’s Oasis but it was anything but an oasis. Pretty terrible food, unfriendly wait staff and some things were way overpriced. The afternoon in Newtown didn’t get any better when we walked over to Market Theatre which was supposed to have little shops and a photo gallery but all we found was an empty theatre. We were tired by this point so had a security guard help us get a cab to take us to Bruma Lake World Market for some craft shopping before heading back to the hostel. Well we get all the way to Bruma Lake and then our cab driver goes “oh yeah they closed down the market for renovations.” Well thanks for telling us now! So instead we had to pay him an extra 100 rand to take us back to the hostel.

Once at the hostel, it had started to pour so we just sat in the living room watching TV and recuperating. The hostel manager and another guest were going to go to a local German pub to watch the rugby game and offered to drive us there. It ended up being a really awesome pub with great outdoor seating, cool inside with rugby flags all over, vu vu zelas hanging on the walls, traditional Germany mugs thrown around and a lot of locals. We all ended up getting some type of Bratwurst and had the nicest waitress ever named Pamela. While we were eating dinner we got to talking to some locals as well and spent a good deal of the night learning about South Africa from them. Soon enough, our boys, Mo and Anthony showed up too so we stayed until the bar closed just drinking, eating and chatting. The locals we met were nice enough to offer us rides home so that saved us some money which was nice. Overall it was a great evening…until we returned to the hostel.

We got back around midnight and Kylee says she can’t find her camera in the room. Then Ashley notices her money is missing. Then I check my belongings nad find that my iPod touch, 1000 Rand (which I hid in my sunglass case) and my camera charger are all missing and Charlotte’s camera and iPod are gone. All of us go into survival mode really. Some people go wake up the manager and start watching surveillance footage while others focus on making a list of what is missing and others sent emails to the insurance company and our director in Botswana. It turns out there were two other guests who took our stuff. Earlier in the day when we were in the living room talking about our plans for the evening there was this gentleman sitting there as well but he was a little sketchy, didn’t make eye contact or say anything to us. Then in the video the man he was staying with sat in the lobby at the foot of the staircase that led to the dorm rooms reading a magazine for 40 minutes, about 10 minutes after we had left for dinner. After about 40 minutes, the guy from the living room earlier comes up the stairs with a backpack and the two leave never to come back even though they had just checked in that afternoon. And it turns out that in a hostel they had stayed at a couple of days earlier, 300dollars had gone missing.

The police showed up and asked us to come to the police station in the morning to file a report. So about four hours later (after getting virtually no sleep) Kylee and I wake up and head on over to the Jeppe police station to file a report. We really didn’t think the police would find anything but wanted to have a copy of the report for the insurance company. It took forever at the station and the whole time I was kicking myself for leaving my valuables in my room even though all of us were sketched out by these two other guests. Luckily though my passport and credit cards, and important documents were locked in the safe and luckily these things were taken when I was out and I didn’t get mugged with a knife or gun which is pretty common in Joburg.

After filing the report and coming back for breakfast it was time to start our day. We filed into two taxis and headed to the outskirts of Joburg for the Apartheid Museum. The museum was huge and l thought there was a lot of information I really don’t feel like I learned that much. The museum had a special exhibit on Nelson Mandela that was organized more by topic than chronologically which made it pretty difficult to follow. Also, unlike in the states the museum basically just consisted of pictures and huge paragraphs of information. It was a pretty exhausting museum so after spending our afternoon there we headed back to the hostel for some rest.

After watching a movie and playing some cards we headed back to the German pub from the previous night where we got to sit inside and actually talk to the owner for a bit. She is Swiss and she and her late husband opened the bar up when they moved here a long time ago. She even gave us all a round of free shots as an apology for a rowdy customer who threw up near our table. It ended up being a really fun evening.

Sunday rolled around and we had most of the day before our 4pm bus back to Gaborone so we had arranged a tour of Soweto which is a famous township of Johannesburg. We went with a pretty cheap tour company and a cheap tour is what we got. All 7 of us and our luggage had to get squished in a ridiculously small car that kept dying as we drove around Soweto. However on the tour we were able to see the World Cup Soccer Stadium, the houses of Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu and the Hector Peterson Museum.  Soweto has a rich political history and was instrumental in various uprising against the South African government in the 1970s. The Hector Peterson museum is dedicated to the black students who protested the use of Afrikaans language in their schooling system. The Hector Peterson museum was a lot more interesting than that of the Apartheid yet again though I felt that it was just a lot of pictures and words instead of artifacts.

The last stop on the tour was supposed to be a tour of Soweto’s shantytowns but many people felt this would be exploiting the people of Soweto and instead we went to the bungee jump of Soweto. Basically there is a bridge that is suspended between two old nuclear towers that have been painted with gorgeous murals. Anthony was the only one who wanted to jump but it was pretty cool to watch and take pictures.

It was nearing 2:15 by now so we squished back into the car and went to Park Station to get lunch before we headed home. We easily made our bus and had an uneventful yet fun ride back to Gabs.

Overall it was a really interesting weekend. Joburg is for sure a place I wanted to see and for sure one that I don’t think I have to visit again. It is a huge city, something I didn’t expect and yet there is not that much to do there. Now I understand why people questioned me when I said I was going to Joburg for the weekend. And in terms of getting my things stolen, oh well. Like I said it was our own fault for leaving our valuables in the room and we were so lucky that it was simply electronics and not our passports or credit cards. And we were lucky that it happened in this manner instead of being hurt or attacked on the street. At the Apartheid museum  there was a wall with a huge array of quotes of Nelson Mandela, one of which was all about forgiveness. After reading the quote, I forgave the men who stole from me. Who knows? Maybe they needed the money to feed their families. Whatever the reason may be I just hope that they can find justification for their actions instead of simply greed.

My time here in Botswana is coming to an end and these past two weekends have made it so difficult and made me really want to stay in this place where I have made so many great friends. I do not think I will miss Gabs at all but will for sure miss all the friends I have made and the things I have done. I mean I just popped over to South Africa for the weekend; that can’t really happen in the states. It’s for sure a different world over here and one that I am really going to miss. 

**Sorry the pictures are out of order. Thanks to Charlotte too for some great shots**

 Out tracking some rhinos!

 Getting ready for our night time game drive

 The UB volleyball players-Team CHEERS

 Wildabeast at night

 Some of the bolts during an awesome lightning storm (I TOOK THIS PIC!!)

 Up bright and early (5:45am) for our rhino tracking

White rhino right in the middle there, kinda hard to see though

Hello once again. Boy is time flying by here. It’s so hard to believe that I have been in Botswana for almost 3 months now. In some ways it feels like I have been here forever and in other ways I feel like I just got here!

This past weekend CIEE had planned another excursion for us where we were supposed to go camping with the bushmen in Kwaduane which is in the Kalahari desert (the large desert that encompasses most of Botswana).  So Friday morning rolls around and after teaching a mini-spin class to my friends Charlotte and Kylee, we all ventured over to the CIEE office to head out. We were supposed to meet at ten but as this is Africa and we have been here for a while, most of the other Americans are adopting the show up when you can policy. Needless to say many kids were late, but still not as late as Africa time, about 15 minutes. However,  we didn’t even need to arrive that early because apparently last minute plans changed and we no longer were going to the Kalahari. Apparently you need permission from parliament to stay with the bushmen as they are the true native Bastwana and permission never came. So instead of going to Kwaduane we were going to drive north to Serowe to the famous rhino reserve. However since this all happened so last minute it meant we had to wait for transportation for a couple hours and didn’t end up leaving Gabs until 12:30.  And of course, I don’t bring my raincoat because although it looked overcast it usually burns off. Not today-it was pouring. Luckily I only got semi wet as I ventured out of the office to get a paphata.

The weather here has been so finicky. When we first got here it was freezing and people said just wait for September. September wasn’t really bad at all except for that one week after retunring from midsemester break where it was between 95-100. Then it cooled down and actual rain started. Last Thursday being the first intense thunderstorming downpour which cooled down Gabs to the point where I was cold coming to school on Friday with leggings and a t-shirt.

Anyways, Kyle (the CIEE program director) came with us for this excursion and realized how hungry we were so allowed us to stop at Nandos for lunch (Nando’s Peri Peri which are all over here and in the States) and then stop at spar a couple of hours later for snacks.

We finally arrived in Serowe at the Khama Rino Sanctuary where we would be staying around 7pm just in time for our night game drive. The game drive was pretty awesome. We drove for a while before seeing anything and then were able to see some impala, springbok, stembo, some cat type animal, wildabeast and saw two spotted hyenas which are pretty rare. Not to mention there was also a gorgeous lightening storm happening so in the distance we saw beautiful perfect bolts. However, before we knew it that storm was upon us with intense thunder and rain that was just falling horizontally through the game truck and onto us. By the end of the drive I had to use the bathroom, wasn’t seeing as much, was freezing and getting rained on. Luckily when we got back to the campsite, Kyle had already set up our tents and the rain had died down to the point where we could find the restroom and set up the rest of camp.

The rain kicked up again so we all just hung out in our tents having some drinks and eating dinner before it was time for Smores!!!!! What a great night??

Some four hours later, we were being woken up to go on our 6am morning rhino trekking adventure. At first I thought this was going to be a let down because it seemed like all we were doing was driving around without seeing anything. Once in a while our guides would get down out of the truck and follow a trail of fresh poop and footprints but nothing really came of it. One time they did say a rhino was near but it was the black rhino which is too dangerous to get close to. Drove around some more and eventually we found very fresh tracks! We all got down off the truck and followed our guide. When I say follow, I mean we ran after him. Rhinos have great sense of hearing and smell (not so great sight) so the guides said we had to move quickly and quietly in order to see them. Every once in a while the guide would find a pile of poop and feel it and smell it to see if it was still warm. It was just like a movie. After a lot of poop sniffing, track monitoring and crazy hand signals we saw the rhinos. They were huge. We were lucky enough to see a mom, baby and a bull! We didn’t get too close to them as they can be pretty dangerous. I thought it was going to be like Chobe where the animals came right up  to the truck but not here. There are only 4 black rhinos in the sanctuary and 41 white rhinos. There is a declining population of rhinos in Botswana and is Botswana’s last remaining population.

After watching and chasing the rhinos for a bit we headed back out of the brush. Along the way though the guides were able to pass along more information about the rhinos. In terms of their poop, you can tell the difference between the black and white through their poop because they have different diets. The black rhinos eat a lot more wood and therefore their poop is lighter in color and composed of twigs and wood shavings. Also, the main difference between them is their size as they are actually pretty much the same color. There are various stories as to their names then. One is that the white rhino has a much wider mouth so wider transformed into white and then naturally the other became black. The other story is that it is based on social norms. With the white rhinos the babies are always in front of the mother as with white people how babies are pushed in strollers (gross generalizations made in the country) whereas with black rhinos the babies follow behind like with black people how babies are wrapped into their mothers backs. Not sure how accurate these statements are but they semi made sense and were interesting none-the-less.

After our rhino tracking we headed back to camp for breakfast and to clean up the camp site before heading back to Gaborone. Ended up getting back to Gabs around 5 and since we were all exhausted yet did not want to go home yet had a movie night at the dorms at UB watching Lord of the Rings. Somehow we were able to fit 6 people into one side of the dorm room. It was a really fun night watching LOTR, eating peanut butter and enjoying each other’s company.

Sunday morning rolled around and since we were all used to getting up early were all up by 8. We all fell asleep to LOTR the night before so ended up watching the end of it in the morning-such a great movie.

After the movie we were ready for breakfast so headed for the student center to try our luck at paphatas. Luckily the little shop that sells paphatas was open so we go up and order 7 paphatas with egg, pay and then wait. Well, the girl working comes back after we paid and tells us they don’t have eggs so it would have to be just plain. Fine with us. The problem came when it took her forever to give us back the extra money we paid for the eggs. I have said it a countless number of times but there is no idea of customer service so instead of telling us to hold on or be patient she just stares at us and keeps working with other customers. “Um, hello..are you going to give us change” or …..And that is how life is like here. There is no descriptions or sayings as to what is going on. Even with the paphatas themselves we waited like 20 minutes without one word from the people saying they are coming or just hold on. It just got so frustrating.

However we did finally get the paphatas which were amazing, then headed to Broadhurst to go to the Craft Market we wanted to go to last weekend but was closed. We pull up to the market and every place is closed again, shocker, except this one crazy, Indian looking store called Jazella. As we walk up the owner walks out and welcomes us for the big event. What?? Apparently she just got in new stock and was having a little welcoming party but no one showed up so we were welcome to all the food that was there. Score!! Coffee cake, muffins, grapes, coffee, juice, wine. Boy did we luck out. Of course though the owner was not a Matswana but was actually English and had lived in Bots for the past 25 years.  After talking to her for a bit and browsing her shop we decided to head over to another craft place. The owner was so nice and called to ensure they were open; we had 27 minutes to walk there. Grabbed all of our belongings and really huffed it down to the other shop. Show up at 12:55 (it closes at 1) and the gate is locked. What??? Within a couple of minutes the gate opens up and about 5 people leave so we ask them “Are  you still open” with their response being “Can’t you see we are leaving now.” Okay, this just confirms everything I just said about there being no customer service at all. We are here to buy things from you, hello????? It is just so frustrating because everyday on the street I am asked for money yet when I am actually willing to pay for things and want to spend money people are rude. Now these are gross generalizations but on the whole I have not found the Batswana people to be extremely welcoming or friendly or show great interest in my life except “How do you like Bots” and “give me this…”

Anyways we hung out at the closed shop for a bit before heading to the station for some MilkyLane (an icecream parlor chain). This is one place I love!!! The best ice cream I have had in a while. We were all exhausted yet enjoy each others company so four of us (me, Charlotte, Anthony and Kylee) literally hung out at Milky lane all afternoon just talking. We all are going through this really weird phase where we are tired of Bots and feeling uncomfortable. Even though we’ve been with our host families for about 3 months now we still don’t feel very completely comfortable and enjoy the company of other Americans so much more. I am at the point where I am not ready to come home yet am in a funk where I am just tired of being the white person, tired of getting harassed as I walk around with people yelling things at me like Ms. White, tired of not knowing the language and tired of not feeling comfortable. Yet on the other-side this past weekend I went rhino tracking!!! I guess I just have to weigh the ups with the downs and remember that I chose this country for the sole purpose of getting out of my comfort zone. Because of this I have had such personal growth and development, more so than I ever thought I would. I thought studying abroad would open me up to the customs and traditions of Botswana and although I have learned about Bots I have learned so much more about myself and accomplished so much since being here.

Monday came and went without much excitement except that I did get to go out to eat with Charlotte, Kylee, Anthony and Ashley at Linga Longa lounge for maraconi and cheese then more ice cream at Milky Lane. It was so much fun because for me it feels kind of like therapy. We all are experiencing similar feelings about our time here and what we are going through and because of this are have become linked and formed stronger bonds than normal friends. Yet even here we experienced the typical Batswana stone face, lack of customer service at Milky Lane. I ordered my whizzer (like a DQ blizzard) and asked for a lot of tennis biscuits and I literally got no reply from the worker. She just gave me a blank stare. I have no idea if she heard me or if there were still whizzers, just a blank stare. It is so frustrating. Then she charged me for extra biscuits even though I just asked for a lot of them and when I asked why they were charging me, she mocked me. I guess I just had to pay extra for the attitude. This place!!!!

Tuesday was my day to volunteer at Old Naledi so I get up, do some homework, then head to the combi stop. I actually ran into a friend at the combi stop who I met when I taught the deaf students aerobics a couple of weeks ago so that was nice. But once on the combi my whole day changed. As soon as I got on, these two guys in the front seat turned around and kept asking me how I was doing, shouting because I was all the way in back. Then they said something in Setswana and the whole car erupts into some conversation which I feel had to do with me, but not sure. Some people get out and the guy who was yelling at me comes and sits right next to me with his arm around me and starts asking if I will take him to America and why I don’t want to take him to America. I just said I had no idea what he was saying and ignored him, kept reading my book until he got the jist. He finally gets out yet once out puts him arm in the window to touch my arm as the combi drives away. The part that bothered me the most about this was that everyone in the combi saw how annoying this guy was being yet did nothing to stop it. It just was frustrating.

The day didn’t get much better as I finally show up to Old Naledi only to be told there is no gas in the kitchen and therefore no cooking and no kids to play with. Back to the combi stop where yet again I have some guy on the combi who keeps talking to me. He wasn’t as creepy but I was obviously trying to ignore him.

I finally get to campus and just hide out in the computer lab all day working on a paper, using the internet to get some things done and decompressing from my overwhelming morning. Went to volleyball practice which was fine except near the end we see these huge storm clouds and lightening bolts in the sky and then massive gusts of wind that cause the sand to whip around and exfoliate your entire body which hurt miserably. Anthony and I finally get a combi to the station and once at the station, the heavens open up and it pours. We thought we could wait it out and decided to get Milky Lane (yet again!) since it was buy one get one free day! Ice cream was great but no change in weather so I finally get home soaked! Although today was a very stressful and overwhelming, frustrating day there were definitely still lessons and highlights that I take away from it. Playing volleyball as I see the sky light up in the distance with bolts was really cool. Having the ice cream lady recognize Anthony and me was funny and she at least was very, very pleasant.

Highs and lows. That is my motto here as there are so many great things that happen everyday that could never happen in the states. So many little funny stories and anecdotes that just make my time here so amazing. Then there are also those frustrating, crazy and sometimes scary scenarios that make my skin crawl and bring that homesick feeling right to the surface. No one said studying abroad was easy especially studying abroad in Africa where so many things are so different from home. And especially in Bots where the  culture has not proven to be very welcoming to newcomers and stereotypes about whites are based on shows like “Keeping up with the Kardashians” creating the idea that all whites are rich and live in Hollywood. However even today, a day that has made me miss the US more than ever, I am happy to be studying abroad, appreciate everything I am learning and valuing the life lessons I am learning. 

Another Week in Gabs

Although I have been continuously posting I thought I would write one more so that I am completely up to date on the blog!  So that entails a quick wrap up of this week which should be pretty short since nothing that spectacular has happened.

Monday I originally thought I had my Setswana test but that got pushed back to next week and class ended up being cancelled because of some very sad news. Unfortunately my professor’s 12 year old niece was just killed in a car accident the night before in South Africa and my professor was in no shape to teach. So terrible.

Later that day I had my media class which entailed my professor showing up 20 minutes late then us reviewing a couple of freedom of press laws in Botswana and a discussion about whether or not there really is free press here. I found it really interesting nad actually love the kids in this class. They are all first year students so are pretty young but are all pretty “modern” meaning there is a lot of personality and styles in that class. The only thing is that the professor knows my name and asks me for my opinion a lot which is fine but it means that everyone in that class knows my name as well. That is fine too, but the problem is that I have no idea what their names are. I have great conversations with a lot of the other students but have no idea what to call them.

I had volleyball later that night but because championships are coming up practice is going later and later. Well, not so much practice, as the time spent reviewing and talking after. Just like in all other areas, time is more of a guideline so even though practice is supposed to end at 7, this past week we’ve been getting out at like 7:20 which means I don’t get home until 8:30! I wouldn’t mind staying if we were practicing or actually talking about important details but half of the time the coach talks in Setswana and when it is in English nothing is really being said. Something that a coach in the US would say in 5 minutes is said in 25 here. I thought my patience would grow being in this culture, but this past week, whew, my limits are being tested and frustration is growing!

Tuesday I went to Old Naledi but here my patience was once again tested as there was not much for me to do. For today we simply made pap and chicken which only took about 20 minutes to cook. Plus the school that Thlamelo Trust (the organization I work with) uses had a half day so all the students were out and about the schoolyard waiting for their parents. They are older and don’t really care about playing with me and the younger kids were jazzed to have so many older kids around that I really didn’t have much to do. So I left early and headed to UB but even there my patience was tested. I was on the internet for 2 hours and did not accomplish a single thing as the internet will crash every couple of minutes as there are too many people online. No wonder it takes so long to get things done in this country!

As the end of my time in Bots is soon approaching it is time to buckle down and do some great shopping. So Wednesday afternoon between classes, me, Kylee and Charlotte walked a couple of miles down the road from UB to this environmental watch society. It is basically a recycling center with an attached store where products made from recycled materials are produced. Really cool and I got some great little souvenirs!

Thursday?? Got up early to head to the gym to get a work out in since its been a couple of days. I then gave a presentation in my Psychological Challenges of HIV/Aids class which could have gone better. I don’t mind the presenting part but then we were supposed to run a discussion and my partner in the presentation was not very helpful in generating a discussion (neither was I). It was also difficult as no one on the class will really respond. There was this one kid though, who always makes the weirdest statements, who asked us if the reason there are more male beggars on the street is because, unlike women, they cannot prostitute themselves for money. Whoa. First off this had nothing to do with the presentation which was about the stigmatization faced by HIV positive adolescents and yet my professor looked at us for the answer. And secondly, I just thought this was the weirdest statement and what?? That is what discussions here have been like. Usually someone either says a statement that comes out of left field or they give a really personal  anecdote.

I thought the US was open and that African countries are usually reserved and more conservative but that does not appear to be true of Botswana from what I can see. In my HIV/Aids class, students are constantly talking about themselves and their partners or about the time they got tested, etc. There is really no sense of confidentiality. This is seen at the clinics as well. The public health students shadow doctors every week and from what I have heard the patients really get no say in whether or not the students are present and there is no sense of confidentiality.  The public health students did not even get a lecture on confidentiality as it is not something that is pressed on like it is in the states. A lot of kids are even really open about their sexual behavior giving us details about who and when they have slept with which is something that I feel is more taboo back home. There are also a lot of subjects that are taboo in the states that are open here. A lot of my friends have expressed how their homestay families keep telling them they are getting fat and will poke their stomachs and arms as proof. At volleyball practice I am told everything from you need to wash your hair to lotion your legs to learn how to pass. Things that in the US would be rude to say are okay to say here, at least with the youth. This is so different from what I had originally thought and heard when coming to Botswana. I thought that people were very proper and sexual behavior, money, etc was just not discussed but it has been the complete opposite!

Anyways, Thursday evening was fun because I got to hang out with friends in the afternoon then teach a fitness class. AND it RAINED!!!! Actually, it poured. It had rained and thundered Monday night but just for a short bit. It actually helped cool the country down too because it has been hot!!! Usually around 95. But today it was cooler and then even chilly when the storm clouds rolled in and the thunder started. Interestingly I had to stop by the pool to meet somewhere and even though it was lightening and thundering, the lifeguards allowed people to  keep swimming, huh??

I hung out with some people in the dorms and watched as Charlotte gave Richard a hair cut using regular old kitchen scissors, got to use what we had! Then went to teach. A couple of weeks ago the UB Aerobics club asked me if I could teach a fitness class once a week and as part of my fitness internship I agreed. It was still thundering as I headed over to the outdoor arena to teach and looked like it might lighten up but as soon as we put out the benches for step it started pouring. There was a little porch area that we moved to to set up but it was probably one of the hardest step classes I ever taught. There was no music because of the rain, it was so loud because the rain was splattering all over the tin roof, most of the students had never taken step and most of the students were Batswana and could not understand my accent. All this==hard to follow, hard to teach but still a lot of fun. It was one of those crazy, I’m teaching a step class in a lightening, thundering, crazy storm with bolts lighting up the sky all over the place in Botswana! Life is awesome. Even though there were so many problems it was great to finally teach again. I forgot how much I love step and teaching!!!

Tomorrow (Friday) we leave for the Kalahari desert to go camping for the weekend which should be a lot of fun. I am going with the Public Health students which allows me to visit a rural clinic on Saturday which I am stoked for. Anyways, besides problems with my internet, life is good and time is flying by! I only have a month of school left before finals start. There are two weeks of finals but I only have two so I am hoping to take them on the first day and then head to Mozabmbique and the beaches before heading up to the Okavanga Delta and then Cape Town. So basically I have one month of living in Gabs and going to UB, then travel, travel, travel!  Loving life and hoping that all is well with everyone reading my blog back home!!!

Namibia, Zambia and Beyond!

 The group at Devils Pool at Victoria Falls

 Hanging over the edge of Vic Falls

 Chilling at a castle overlooking WIndhoek

 Sand dunes in Swakopmund

 Bungee jumping at Vic Falls

 Game drive at Chobe in northern Botswana

Skydiving in swakopmund!!

***There are a ton more pictures on facebook if you wanna take a good look. It is a lot easier to upload them to fbook than blogger. Friend me if we aren't friends already, Jules Brice*

So the time has come for me to do a quick wrap up of the most amazing, most fun, craziest week and a half I’ve probably ever had during my midsemester break vacation. It comprised going to four countries, crossing two rivers, jumping out of one plane, jumping off a bridge twice, swimming on the edge of a waterfall and more. I’ll try to keep it brief but not sure how successful I am going to be with it as we did so much.  It’s easiest for me just to go day by day but I will once again say please just skim a lot of it as I put in so much detail because I just love writing about what I’ve seen and done here but realize that it can be way overboard.

First off, the logistics. I traveled with five other Americans that are in the same program as I am in Bots. Quick recap of the kids just so you have a general idea of who I am talking about. Ashley-senior from UC Davis originally from California. Kylee-senior from Washington goes to University of Colorado. Charlotte: junior from Guilford but from Atlanta, Georgia. Kim-junior from Keene College, originally from New Hampshire. Richard: Junior from George Washington but has lived all over.  We had a week and half to travel so our basic itinerary was to travel from Gabs to Windhoek and Swakopmund, Namibia then to Livingstone, Zambia by Victoria Falls and then to Chobe Park in Kasane in northern Botswana.

DAY ONE: This was basically a travel day. So got up around 5, out of the house by 5:45 and off to RailPark to catch our bus to Windhoek. I was lucky enough that Elt was willing to wake up early enough to drive us (me and a friend who lives nearby) over to Railpark which saved me from having to try to get on a combi with a huge backpacking backpack. The ride to Windhoek from Namibia took about 12+ hours but we had a great time on the bus talking, reliving our childhood by playing MASH, seeing different parts of Botswana and Namibia and stopping at various rest stops throughout the ride. However, only in Africa would a bathroom break entail the bus pulling off the road in the middle of nowhere and all the men getting out and peeing on the side of the road..what??? As we neared Windhoek we couldn’t believe that in a couple of minutes we would see a huge city because all we could see was endless desert and huge hills. Did get to see a gorgeous sunset over those hills with the sky turning a beautiful purple color, something I have never seen before. Before I knew it we were entering a city that kind of resembled the US with paved roads everywhere, shops on every corner, street lights and more. I immediately felt at ease and comfortable with the city cause it reminded me so much of home. We were lucky that the bus driver was willing to drop us off right at our hostel, Cardboard Box Backpackers which was amazing! I loved it!!! We were able to get a room for 6=perfect and they had a pool, bar and kitchen. We had already eaten so just got some beers and played cards to unwind after our long day of traveling and in preparation for tomorrow’s adventures around Windhoek.

DAY TWO: Got up bright and early to find the closest ATM which allowed us to walk down towards the center of town and go to our first Namibian mall which again looked just like the US. Headed back to the hostel for our complimentary breakfast of cinnamon pancakes which were basically crepes with cinnamon sugar and butter on top: not too shabby for Julie (Friends quote for my Friends friends).  Then we were off to explore this amazing city. It is basically Africa meets Germany. Germany colonized Namibia until WWI when South Africa, under British rule, attacked and pushed Germany out and assumed control of the colony. Therefore this is a huge German influence seen mainly in the architecture and there is a huge Afrikaans presence in Windhoek and Swakopmund. We were able to visit the Christuskirche, the famous “gingerbread” church made from sandstone, walk around the Parliament garden grounds, take pictures in front of the Supreme Court, visit the National Museum which was housed in an old German fort and go craft shopping. Windhoek also has three castles so we were able to find one on the top of this huge hill that is now used as the Italian ambassadors private residence. To be honest it was kind of a let down after walking up a huge hill as the only castle like feature of the house was a turret. However, from up there we got a great view of the city and were able to see another castle that looked much more castle like so we headed in that direction. We thought we found a shortcut through a field but in reality the field turned out to be homeless people’s houses and toilets as there was toilet paper and feces everywhere-gross. Finally get to the castle and it is absolutely gorgeous. It’s been turned into a hotel and restaurant and we were able to get a table and have Windhoek Lagers as we overlooked the city of Windhoek. The whole time we just kept thinking, “We are hot and sweaty, just tracked through a field of human waste and yet here we are in a castle drinking Windhoeks overlooking Windhoek. Our lives are awesome.”

After exploring a bit more and heading back to the hostel to rest for a bit, we headed out to Joe’s Beer House a local tourist attraction. It was fantastic not only in food but in atmosphere as well. They had everything from a koi pond to stuffed baboons to tiki torches. Plus we were able to have the most interesting foods. A lot of us got the Bushman’s sosatie which had cornfritters, bacon wrapped pumpkin, chicken, ostrich, crocodile, kudu and zebra! I had to say the crocodile was much fishier than I thought it would be but I think that or ostrich was by far my favorite. Also tried my friend’s springbok which was really good too! Great way to end our first day in Windhoek!!!

DAY THREE: We had half the day in Windhoek and then the second half was going to be spent traveling to Swakopmund. So after finishing our breakfast we headed out to this Hofmeyer Walk through Klein Windhoek Valley. Although Windhoek was already ten times better than Gabs (cleaner, prettier, available toilet paper) it was still Africa so finding the trailhead took forever and when we did it was a really old rusty sign that was falling apart. Needless to say the path was not well marked at all so we kind of made our own path up to the top of a mountain to overlook the city again. The views from the top were gorgeous and gave a great idea of how big the city really is and how enclosed it is by the surrounding mountains. After taking our fair share of pictures we headed out to the Windhoek Rail Station which was the cutest building, heavily German influenced, from 1912. Then it was time to catch our shuttle to Swakopmund located on the east coast of Namibia right on the Atlantic Ocean.

By the time we showed up it was dark and the town was deserted and there really wasn’t much to see so we started getting a bit nervous. Even the closest Food Lovers was closed so we had to walk aways down to get groceries to make spaghetti and veggies at our hostel, Villa Weise. Villa Weise was so cute and was a historic mansion from 1905. So great!!

DAY FOUR: Up early to explore and find this beach as there is no water in Gabs and we were all desperate to see that refreshing H-2-O. It was really cloudy and rainy yet still so great to finally see some water! My friend and I had reservations to go skydiving but unfortunately after waiting a half hour, called and was told it was pushed back to the afternoon because of the clouds. So after building up my adrenaline and getting pumped, I had to return back down to earth and explore Windhoek. Kylee and I just walked around, found the pier, saw the famous sand dunes, found a great café and did some shopping. Then it was time for skydiving which was incredible. First there is a 25 minute scenic flight where I could see the salt pans, the ocean, the city, the sand dunes, the moon landing mountains. It was breathtaking! Then we jumped and it was awesome! I loved that feeling of just jumping out of the plane where you  feel like you are floating. However, soon my instructor, Jack started spinning us during our freefall which I liked but my stomach did not. Before I knew it, he pulled the parachute and we shot upwards, the wind stopped and I could think clearly again. When we were floating back down to earth I was able to take control of the parachute and turn us one way then the other way. You could also make it so you basically went parallel with the ground and were spinning and spinning.  Made it safely back to the ground where I was on cloud 9 even though my stomach was still spinning for most of the afternoon. Not only was the actual experience of skydiving amazing, but it made me, in a way, feel more empowered and proud of myself that I had the courage to actually just jump out of a plane! Go me!

DAY FIVE: Now that I had a massive adrenaline rush I was ready for more so in the afternoon we had reservations to go quad biking on the sand dunes which is basically using an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) to zip around the massive hills. However, before leaving for our quad biking adventure we all just spent some more time exploring the city and shopping. It is such an interesting and cute city with a strong Afrikaans population. In fact there were more white people there I think than black people, at least in the city center.  2pm rolled around and it was time for quadbiking which turned out to be so much fun (not as much fun as skydiving but great, nonetheless). We all wanted to be extra cool so got the helmets without visors believing our sunglasses would suffice. Boy were we wrong. As we whipped around, the sand pummeled us to the point where a majority of the time my eyes were tearing up as they tried to rid them of sand. That sand just exfoliated us to the max. Even when we stopped to take pictures it was so windy and cold that we could barely hear each other. As we drove around though it was obvious that quadbiking is one of the only ways in which you can really appreciate the vastness and magnitude of the dunes. When skydiving they looked really small but when we stood in the middle I felt like we were in Lawrence of Arabia and in the middle of nowhere. It was such a fun activity in itself but even made it more fun that we were all together and since we drove in a straight line we were able to see each other and comment on how much air someone got or how someone almost flipped. So much fuN!

Still high off our quadbiking adventure we headed down to the beach to watch the most gorgeous sunset over the ocean , which for east coast Americans isn’t something we get to see. I never really thought about it but I only ever see sunrises over the ocean so this was, I think, a first. It was b-e-a-utiful!  Finsihed the night up with some fresh seafood in town before crashing for the evening.

DAY SIX: Back to Windhoek we go to travel from Windhoek to Zambia on a 20 plus hour bus ride. Not much to say here except that we were lucky because the bus ride to Zambia wasn’t that crowded so were each able to get two seats to try to get comfy to sleep. Around five in the morning the next day I am readjusting in my seats when the driver slams on the breaks. I look out the front window only to see a herd of elephants crossing the road. A herd of ELEPHANTS!!!!!  All I can say is Wow, Africa rocks!

DAY SEVEN: We showed up to Livingstone, Zambia and found our Jolleyboys Backpackers hostel pretty easily. This hostel was awesome too: a bar, a pool, pool tables, a sofa lounge..aah. Only downside to it, if this is a downside is we had to share a 16 person dorm room which was actually a really cool experience and something I’ve never done before. Since we arrived to Livingstone in the early afternoon we still had time to do some exploring of Victoria Falls so off to Vic Falls we went. It’s only about a 15 minute bus ride to the falls so we were there within no time. It’s a very interesting setup because the Zambia-Zimbabwe border runs perpendicular to the falls so its not like on one side of falls is Zambia and one is Zimbabwe but rather there is a border cutting the falls in half. Then the river that flows from the falls creates a gorge and the gorge is divided into Zambia and Zimbabwe. Really confusing and hard to explain without a map. Anywho, there is a bridge that goes over the gorge connecting the Zambia-Zim side and this is where all the bungee and gorge swings take place. I really wanted to bungee jump so bungee jump I did. However just to give an example of how different the US and Zambia-Zim are to get on the bridge you have to go through immigration and the Zambia border post. You walk up and say you are going on the bridge, they hand you a small piece of paper that lists how many are in your party and then you give it to the guard at the post. That’s it!!!

After handing the guard our number we walked down towards the bridge. Even the walk was crazy as there were baboons EVERYWHERE; on cars, on trucks, in trash cans, just in the streets, crazy! And there are all these salesman introducing themselves, asking your name and then trying to sell you stuff. That alone is an experience.

After signing all the release papers and getting weighed I headed off to the bridge to wait my turn to jump. Waiting was for sure the hardest part as I had to watch everyone jump which didn’t really scare me more but made me really anxious.  Finally it was my turn! They wrap huge thick towels around your legs and connect you up. Walk towards the edge so your toes are over the edge of the platform, arms out like you are flying, then 5-4-3-2-1-bungee and you jump out as far as you can. Just like with skydiving the first couple of seconds are very scary and your body just yells at you, “what are you doing??” but then it calms down and I really enjoyed it until the jerk of your body when you get caught and swing back up. I swung back up pretty far but at this point couldn’t tell in what direction I was moving. I think my favorite part was probably the end where the bouncing is less extreme and you literally just feel like you are flying. I loved bungee so much more than I ever thought I would!!

After bungee all six of us got harnessed up to zipline across the gorge from Zambia into Zimbabwe. To be honest I barely remember the zip as I was still racing from just having bungee jumped. But it is pretty cool to have swung from one country into another. Pretty awesome

That night we were all exhausted so just got dinner from Jollyboys and hung out at our hostel all night.

DAY EIGHT: Today we were actually going to go into Victoria Falls Park and our day started with a tour of Livingstone Island which sets off from the 5 start hotel, Royal Livingstone. Before our tour we had the opportunity to look around the grounds which was right on the Zambezi River and on a game reserve. I literally got to be within 5 feet of a zebra, 10 feet of a giraffe and like 10 feet from a lot of impala. What a great way to start the day!

Toured the grounds some more then got put in a speed boat to be taken to Livingstone Island which is right on the edge of the falls and I believe only accessible during the dry season when the falls aren’t in full swing.  Since it is the dry season instead of a huge sheet of water, there is a lot of rock face exposed and just a couple huge falls sprinkled throughout. However because the falls aren’t in full force you have access to Devil’s Pool which is a natural pool literally right on the edge of the falls. They even hold your feet as you edge over the falls and look down! It was amazing!!!!!! Not to mention at Devil’s Pool there is always a double rainbow which was the cherry on top! After swimming in the pool for a bit, the most beautiful and delicious breakfast was provided; muffins, crumpets and eggs Benedict! AHAH!!

They shuttled us back to the hotel where we hung out for a bit listening to an accapella group that was singing. At this point our group split up with some people going off to the falls and four of us hanging out listening. I stayed behind to listen and after about a half hour we decided to head on out so asked the front desk how to get to Vic Falls Park. They said they had a free shuttle service so we hopped right in. Before we knew it we pulled up to another hotel where a man in traditional African garb opened the door for us and welcomed us into another 5 star hotel. We walked through the lobby and there in front of us was the most gorgeous pool and four lawn chairs with towels so, being as we were so hot, we just jumped right in. It was fantastic and soon a band started playing the steel drums and xylophones. This was the life; sitting in a five star hotel, sunbathing, listening to African music and all for free/borrowed. Eventually we were able to drag ourselves out of the pool and on our way out asked how to get to Vic Falls. “Are you residents here at Zambezi Sun?”..”No, not exactly.” “Well are you residents at our neighboring hotel, the Royal Livingstone.” “It’s okay, they shuttled us here.” “Well, are you guests?” “We took a tour there.” So they figured out we weren’t guests at either hotel and were asked to leave the grounds. Oh well, what a great afternoon!!

Headed to the falls park where we took the Boiling Pot hike which is a steep decline to the bottom of the falls where water is continuously swirling around just like a boiling pot of water. We swam there for a bit then hiked all the way back up and went on another hike, Knife Bridge. It was nice but not as extraordinary as I might have thought simply because it is dry season so there wasn’t too much water.

We still had some time before dark so we went back the bungee bridge where I did the gorge swing! Since I bought combo pack I got a bungee, zip and gorge swing for $160 but didn’t have time to do the gorge swing yesterday so went back today. This was the most terrifying thing. You are harnessed up to a huge rope, you walk to the end of the platform you bungeed from and then you just step off. There is a lot of slack in the rope for the swing so you just free fall and plummet until the rope tightens at which point you start to swing back and forth. The swinging part was nice but have to say the freefall was terrifying and I screamed so loudly! Still a lot of fun and definitely a must-try-before-I-die kind of thing!

After shopping at some of the booths set up, we headed back and once again had dinner at Jollyboys.

DAY NINE: Today was  our last day exploring and adventuring before heading back to Gaborone and we were going to spend it on a safari in Kasane, Botswana. Our tour group picked us up from Zambia (after a lot of confusion about time and payment options) and drove us to the border where we actually had to use a ferry to cross. The border is actually right where the Kambezi and Chobe Rivers meet and is the point at which Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia all meet too!

As soon as we crossed into Bots, matata (problems)!! It took a while to get through immigration because they were unsure how to process our visas that we had for Bots, there was no toilet paper in the bathroom and things just moved so slowly. After stepping on a wet mat to prevent the spread of disease, we got into our safari vehicle and were transported to the Chobe Hotel right on the Chobe River where we would depart for our 3 hour boat ride. We set off and then after about a half hour, the engine stops workly fully. Back to the hotel we go to switch boats, ahah, Bots!

We start again, an hour and a half into our boat ride. Even though it was frustrating to have the tour start that late it was awesome. We got within feet of elephants, saw elephants crossing the river, crocodiles, hippos in and out of the water, water buffalo..It was so cool. We start heading back to the hotel for lunch when the speed boat engines starts to give out. Ayy. There was another boat next to us so our driver tries to throw a five foot rope to them and pull us closer. After several failed attempts she managed to get the rope onto the other boat but when she tries to pull us closer almost falls in. Again only in Africa would the speed boat engine give out, there be no rope, no life jackets, no communication back to the hotel, no safety precautions given, all in hippo-infested water with hippos that could easily tip our boat! The driver gave up and tried the engine again which would work for like 5 min then stop, 5 min then stop. Needless to say we eventually got back to the hotel for lunch. Lunch was awesome, a huge buffet right on the water==WONDERFUL!!!

Then we headed out on our game drive. This was really great too as it allowed us to see more giraffes right by the truck, more elephants, elephants taking mud baths, three female lions and warthogs! However since the boat had problems in the morning our game drive (just like our boat ride) was cut really short. Oh well!

The company then dropped us off at our lodge for the night which was basically a little camping site in the middle of nowhere with small 2 person cabins spread out. But we show up at 5:30 and our cabins still aren’t ready. Okay?? We finally get to our cabins and it is sweltering inside!!! I was unpacking and literally had sweat bulleting off of me.  Then we try to get dinner  at the bar but there is no one in sight, no food, no drinks in the bar. When we asked the reception if we could drink the  water he said no. We asked if they had any taps for drinking, No. Do you sell water, No.  Can we go buy water somewhere? No because it’s late and the elephants are out. Okay, guess we will just wait for morning. Luckily Kylee brought iodine tablets to purify the water but still. Ish!

DAY TEN: Our original plan had been to use this morning to walk around Kasane but after showing up to our lodgings and realizing we would have needed a car to get anywhere instead just hung out, played cards and journaled. Decided to head to the airport early so we could stop on the way to buy food and we were just too hot in Kasane.

After stopping for food and chilling at the airport for a bit we finally boarded our plane. Shocker, it was boiling on the plane and everyone was just covered in sweat! It’s about a 2 hr plane ride from Kasane to Gabs so we got back to the city by around 5.

We walk out of the airport in Gabs to try to find a taxi and of course there are no taxis whatsoever. We asked and the airport security said “Sometimes there are taxis and sometimes there aren’t. Today there aren’t.” Matata. However it was still a public holiday since yesterday was independence day! We called one of our cab guys to give us a ride but still, oyy Africa!

Well, that was my whirlwind of a trip! In short, AMAZING! Got to see and do so many different things that I never thought I could. In a way, all the adrenaline things I did boosted my confidence so much and I feel so empowered after doing them. I did it!!! A girl who has only been on like one baby roller coaster, who loves the indoors watching TV, backpacked around southern Africa, snuck into a hotel, jumped out of a plane, jumped off a bridge, stood next to a zebra. It’s just ridiculous!!! Life is good!!!