Rising Skyline

   As mentioned before, a new CBD is currently under development in Gabs. The other day I drove past and was quite impressed by all the works going on there. The architecture is mostly functional and a lot of the projects are actually being built by the Chinese, but some day in the future all these buildings will determine the face of the city.

 A whole new skyline is evolving here and it'll be interesting to watch the first real high-rise buildings grow over the next years...

Happy V-Day!

 It seems to be sort of a big thing here...a lot of shops have specials, restaurants offer Valentine menues and the call-in radio show today also was all about Valentine's Day.

We're having drinks with heart-shaped icecubes and a braai with friends tonight ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

rush hour

Gabs city is growing and so is traffic. There is a lot of road construction going on, which means that sometimes you will spend a lot of time in the car, waiting for traffic to move very slowly around one of the detours. These days, even the road along Old Naledi is jammed, and the other day I got a good view of life next to the road while on my way home.

veggies & bread

When we got back to Gabs, I found a flyer for a "vegbox" at our gate. We decided to try it and got our first weekly delivery of fresh, locally grown, vegetables, salad and fruits. Now our fridge is full of healthy, green stuff and so far, we've not become tired of the veggies. Also, given the lack of proper bread, we have started to bake our own bread. Björn has mastered the art of baking bread with all sorts of flour and grains, and I made some baguette the other night from a recipe I got from my mother. We ate it fresh out of the oven with salad from our "vegbox" and it was sooo good that it was almost gone by the time I remembered to take a picture ;)

Anyone in Gabs interested in getting a vegbox, contact Karin at 76637577 or email thevegbox@home.co.bw

Blue Zebras

It is the first time that Botswana has qualified for the AFCON and now that the tournament has started, the country is going slightly crazy. Yesterday was the first group game of the Zebras against mighty Ghana and it was amazing to see the support of the fans throughout the city.

Cars are waving the national flag, people everywhere (even in the bank!) are wearing their trikot, and the Orange Fan Park at Game City was shaking from the stomping and dancing of the crowds.
And even though the result was disappointing, it was an exciting match and everyone is looking forward to the next matches!
Go Zebras!

Sunset Saturday XXXXVII

Evening sky with big clouds and beautiful colors at our house. The past week we've been settling back into life here and trying to get into some kind of routine. Our garden is green like never before and our dog seems really happy to have us back. Things are pretty much back to normal, with some uncertainty remaining as to what this year will bring...

Sunset Saturday XXXXV

A sunset in the bush at Mabuasehube. The sun was scorching during the day and even the wind was hot, so all we did was hide under the shade and wait for the sun to paint a golden sky behind the thornbushes. As much as I complain, the European winter makes me realise how spoilt I am and I really miss the warmth and the sunlight of Botswana.

Sunset Saturday XXXXII

The sky is on fire. A burning, red evening sky over Gaborone. These days, the light over here is just incredible. The rainy season has started for good and different layers of clouds break the sunrays in various colors, making it most spectacular during dusk, like this flaming red, orange and pink.

Photo taken by Björn and the iphone

Sunset Saturday XXXIX

A peaceful, quiet evening sky behind the high reed at Gaborone dam. Love the fluffy little clouds up there - these days it's more about big mountains of thundery clouds piling up all over the sky as the rainy season has (finally) started. Happy weekend!

Sunset Saturday XXXVIII

Sunset over the Chobe River during our boat cruise last weekend. It was an incredibly hot day and only started to cool down a little in the evening, so it was great to be on the water and get some breeze on the boat. There were many fires over in Namibia, and a lot of smoke in the air, but the colors of the sky and the reflections on the water were amazing as always.

zwei lange schlangen, die schlängeln viel herum

We visited the CARACAL Biodiversity Centre in Kasane, where they have a variety of snakes, birds and other animals. As the Chobe National Park is so close, many animals do venture outside the park, and snakes in particular like the food options available at the lodges. So whenever a lodge finds a snake on its premises, they bring them to the biodiversity centre. There, visitors and schoolclasses can learn about snakes - which ones are dangerous and which are not.
We got to hold a young python, who is actually quite pretty and didn't fell cold at all. However, you could already feel its strong muscles, which they use to kill their prey by constriction and clearly, I am not exactly comfortable holding it.

The other one is a brown house snake, which apparently is the best remedy against rats and frogs around the house, and is completely harmless to humans. It showed us a little trick, making a knot into its body and releasing itself like a true escape artist. Despite this, I am not sure I'd like to have a snake in my house - but it definitely was a very interesting snake session!

This may seem like a quite touristy place, but it is actually very informative and most snakes are released into the wild after a while.

Land of the Giants

While in Kasane, we went for a boat cruise on the River Chobe and saw plenty of elephants. They say there are about 30.000 elephants in the Chobe National Park and I guess they must be about right. The land is very dry, so they all come down to the river in the afternoon to drink. Some are even brave enough to cross over to Sedudu Island through the water.
Below are a few of them, including a striped African elephant and a very cute baby giant.The water is so low at the moment - the big ones can actually walk across!

This little one was maybe a few months old, but following his big mother around just fine and oh so cute....!

stuck on the road

"Dear valued customer. Please be advised that fuel prices will be adjusted upwards effective 11th November 2011. The adjustment is as follows: petrol 40t per litre, diesel 51t per litre, paraffin 50t per litre."
- sms currently circulated regarding increase of fuel prices -
I didn't want to buy fuel, but I was stuck near the petrol station on my way home anyway.
edit: this is the third time that fuel prices increased in Botswana this year

dies & das

While some are spending their time searching for elephants in the North, others have to stay at home and work. COP17 is just around the corner and things have started to get quite busy.

In the evenings, I'm "working" on something else: the annual craft market is coming up and I will share a stall with friends, where we'll sell some handmade accessories.
So overall, I don't really have time to be too jealous of the travellers ( I'll meet them in Kasane for the weekend in a couple of days anyway!)

around the bush

The nearby Mokolodi Nature Reserve is a great place to take visitors for a first impression of wildlife and bush in Botswana, and we tend to go there every other month.
This Saturday, we drove around the lake,
saw a waterbuck looking for young leaves,
watched a tortoise crossing the road,
and came across an ostrich, who was taking a dust bath on the tracks.
Then we went up the hill and watched the panoramic views from the top before heading to dinner. As always, it was a nice afternoon there and every time we are amazed how close we are to the wilderness and the bush.

Sunset Saturday XXXVI

A fiery, red and purple sunset at the Gabs dam. A few days ago I went there for a birthday party and we enjoyed a couple of sundowners in this beautiful evening light. Somehow the colors of the sunset are even more intensive if there's water around, or maybe it was because of the thunderstorm later that night.

a visit to Bahurutshe

I went with some friends to Bahurutshe, a cultural village not too far from Gabs. The place is run by a retired woman, who is committed to keeping the traditional rituals and culture alive. We were greeted by a group of villagers from Mmankgodi and learned about the wedding ceremony, life in the olden days and how to ground millet Setswana-style. It was an interesting experience and a good way to get some more insight into traditional Setswana culture.

lion country

While at Mabuasehube, we got more than lucky and saw a total of 12 really big Kalahari lions.
We had heard that a bunch of lions was occupying a campsite not too far from where we were staying and so we drove there to have a look. Indeed, they were there, dozing in the shade and apparently well fed.

I would have probably freaked out completely, but the people staying at that particular campsite were surprisingly relaxed about being held hostage by the lions for a full day...

On our game drive on the next morning, we also came across a lioness. She was walking on the tracks and definitely not in a hunting mood, as the steenboks didn't run away. She was also very hesitant to leave the soft underground, but eventually we managed to pass her.
It definitely feels strange to sleep in a tiny little tent on the ground, knowing that this is lion country. On the other hand, it is so beautiful out there - I really wouldn't want to miss it!