Busses

The men in blue shirts started shouting out different destinations asking if you were going. I shouted back Gaborone and they energetically motioned to follow them through the maze of buses exclaiming "this way!" "Speedy Bus!" The only thing they didn't do was pull you by your hand. There were tables of free marketers lining the bus rank. They all sold most of the same items and others would board the bus putting ice water and other items between the seats in front of you. They would try to had you things and temp you if you just glanced at them. The bus to Gaborone was a small mini bus with 4 seats across, yes 4! 3 seats on one side and 1 on the other. The seats were comfy for me, but I think they were designed for the Bushmen, or Sand People? Not a great idea since most Botswana are fairly large. The bus had video and music, both of which were turned up way too loud!! This seems to be a theme in Botswana... people yell, mothers especially, bars are noisy with music so loud it hurts your ears and I can't forget about the random loud voices intruding anywhere from 4:30am to 6am when you are still sleeping. On the bus the music was blaring and when they turned the program on the video it was so loud the speakers were distorting. So much for getting any rest on the bus! There were curtains, but with the strong sun it's best to think about which side the sun is going to be on and it does take some thinking since I'm now in the southern hemisphere.

The bus to Mabutsani was a different experience. It was heating up in the afternoon and we were warned that more people travel in the afternoon. Again the same energetic men shouting out names of cities and asking where you were going, though this time the bus rank was MUCH bigger!! It was a large luxury bus with 5 seats across this time. It was a little beat up, but still not a bad ride until we stopped about 1/2 way to Mabutsani and at least 50 people came on the already crowed bus for the next 1 1/2 hrs of the ride!! There were peoples butts in others faces, elbows banging heads, and a big sweaty mess! I'm glad I had a middle seat.

I wonder if part of the volume issue of everything is because of all the concrete and little greenery, so sound travels and echos?

Animals

The roosters in Botswana don't know how to tell time. They crow all hours of the day and seem to get louder in the wee hours of the night. The fighting dogs do drown them out on occasion. Sometimes I think the dogs are there to protect my host family’s property from other dogs. Some nights the frequency of the fights is unbearable. 

It's difficult to tell what chickens belong to my host family and which ones are just visiting. All the animals come and go through the open gates, or holes in the fences and no one seems to mind all the crossover of lives stock. It's not uncommon to see goats, cows and donkeys wandering down the streets. They are often seen on the edges of the highways, though I'm told there are hefty fines if the owners let their animals wonder near the highways. My host family has their cows at the cattle post. I would love to visit the cattle post and they tell me they will take me there. The farms are family owned here and it’s a completely open market. No licenses, regulations, or zoning required to open what they call a Tuk shop on your property to sell mobile phone airtime, sodas, snacks, fat cakes, even food from your cattle post. Anyone can sell anything from anywhere.

 

It amazes me how many animals there are in Botswana. When I was in Gaborone a few weeks back there were baboons in the parking lot scavenging the garbage. They didn't posses any fear of humans and had no issues looking you straight in the eye while sitting on the wall of the parking lot enjoying their findings. I think I saw about 8 of them in all shapes and sizes.

We went to the rhino sanctuary just outside Serowe. It’s a huge park and we saw lots of white rhinos, many with babies, zebras, giraffes, wildebeests, birds, impalas, spring bucks and more!

Thanks for the awesome camera Mma Pa!