Early day, because we started orientation! Met our contacts with the Botswana-UPenn Partnership (BUP), who are all very nice and have awesome accents of unknown origin (unknown to me at this writing, anyway). The campus security people freaked us out about locking our doors and hiding our belongings. Then we had tea. That’s right, we went outside and had cucumber sandwiches, tea, coffee, and rolls. Clearly this is a tradition that we need to bring back to the States, immediately.
After getting more information about living on campus, Boitumelo gave us a campus tour (basically an extension of the 12 tours she’s given us already to various places). We particularly enjoyed the various public service announcement signs, which I plan to dedicate a photo album to. Stay tuned.
Headed back to the administration building for lunch, which was delicious – the closest thing to “authentic” (I hate using that word) Botswana cuisine that we’ve had yet. Steaks with gravy, cornmeal, veggies, diced potatoes, and salad. OK, so it doesn’t sound authentic, but it was good. Enough so that we went back to our rooms and succumbed to a food coma for a few hours before the game drive.
Driven out to Mokolodi Game Reserve by BUP staff, which is just past Game City on the road to Lobatse, a town about 30 minutes south of Gabs. Looked like we were driving into the middle of nowhere, but it was pretty when we got there. They also served us champagne (the drinking age here is 18, OK, we’re not alcoholics, and I’m legal anyway!). I was a little skeptical initially, because it looked kind of touristy, but once we headed out in the truck it was more than worth it. We saw impala and kudu (which are basically relatives of antelope), ostriches, various birds, zebra, “Pumbas,” “hearty-beasts” (that’s what they called them), giraffes, a hyena, and a cheetah. Unfortunately, my camera battery died within the first twenty minutes, mysteriously draining from a full battery to less than half a bar at record speed. The pictures that I did manage to take are sort of in the spirit of “Where’s Waldo” – if you can spot the animal, more power to you! But really, in the interest of full disclosure, I’ll basically be mooching off of everyone else’s awesome pics for this portion of the trip. The scenery was stunning, though, especially as the sun began to set. The native flora was not quite as genial, as branches of acacia trees covered with two inch barbs reached in every few feet to grab the unlucky people sitting to the outside of the jeep. Yikes.
As it got dark, we pulled off next to a small pond (we heard hippos but didn’t see any), where a beautiful buffet, crackling fire and lavishly adorned dining tables awaited us. It was like we were royalty. So awesome. And the food was beyond words. More steaks and chicken, plus beef sausage (they apparently eat meat at every meal here, including breakfast), butternut squash, cornmeal, bean salad (sort of like a cold Indian curry, but with kidney beans), garlic bread baked over an open fire… yeah, I’m still drooling over it.
While we were finishing our meal, a group of traditional dancers came out to sing and dance around the fire. They were… scantily clad… and we all felt bad for them because it was so cold. They looked like they were having so much fun though, and they dragged a couple of us up to dance with them at one point. Yeah, it’s a lot harder than it looks. And that fire is pretty darn warm. The tableau was completed by the stunning star-studded sky – way more stars than you can ever see in Philly or Atlanta.
So, by and large, an AMAZING, wonderful, fantastic day. Went home glowing, with a new requirement for whomever I end up marrying: he better want to come back to Africa. Often.
What we learned about Africa (Part II):
1. When traveling to Africa, invest in a quality camera. You will NOT regret it.
2. Zazu birds are black, not blue.
3. Male impala that get kicked out of their herds never mate. Ever. They’re basically doomed until they become lion chow. Talk about a thankless existence.
4. It does actually get cold after dark in the bush. Like three layers of clothing plus a coat, gloves and a scarf cold.
5. Americans cannot dance.
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