Friday, December 24, 2010

You Know You've Lived in Botswana 4 Months when...

1. It makes your day when you get the front seat on the combi

2. Ants consistently climb out of your bathtub

3. You've eaten more pap than your body weight

4. You've been asked to be married by random Batswana men on the street, sometimes more than once a day

5. You've had your phone and your wallet stolen on separate occasions at the Bus Rank without knowing it

6. You've gotten used to waiting 30-45 minutes for a cab

7. Your feet will forever be covered in dirt

8. You have "Wavin Flag," "Waka Waka Africa," and "Your Love" engrained in your head for the rest of eternity

9. You've spent more time on the internet in Linga Longa than on school work

10. You've seen more boobs around the house or in combis than you've ever seen in your life

11. You've gotten sick from vendor food at least once

12. You've succumbed to eating dirt fruit off the street

13. A 30 pula ($4.50) cab rid is a rip of and you would rather take a 3 pula combi, even if it means taking an hour longer

14. You find "tumble weaves," huge chunks of fake hair, lying on the street

15. You put Tomato Sauce on everything- eggs, veggies, pap, bread, etc.

16. You ned a dictionary to decipher a local Motswana's txt bc its so cnfsing

17. "Is it?" and "Serious?" have become parts of your everyday vocabulary

18. Savannah Dry is your new favorite alcoholic beverage

19. You pass a tuck shop on every corner

20. You've bought those 50 thebe sweets even though none of them taste good

21. You've perfected the art of denying men in Botswana

22. You "write" exams, even if they are multiple choice

23. It is no big deal when the combi nearly hits a little kid

24. People say "sori" for everything from hitting you in the face you dropping your phone

25. You've given up on hoping for toilet paper in public or private bathrooms

26. All your favorite food options at restaurants are consistently finished

27. You started off speeding past every pedestrian and now you find yourself walking just as slow as the locals!

28. You seat constantly wearing T-shirts and shorts though everyone around you is wearing turtlenecks, down jackets, and pants in 35 deg C heat

29. You forget what is weird here and accept cultural traditions as the norm

30. Your still scared about contracting TB on the combi

Friday, December 3, 2010

Okavango Photos










Our camping, safari experience was a whirlwind of passport stress, free chartered flights, quintessential safari game drives through the bush of Moremi Game Reserve, mokoro rides through the reeds, hippo chases, elephant crossings, nauseating scenic flights over the delta, and uncomfortable peeing experiences in order to avoid being eaten alive by rabid hyenas at the campsite. It was an amazing time, but Im geared up and ready to head up North to Accra and coastal Ghana. More to come about my delta trip, but for now, enjoy the photoes!

1.Elephants were everywhere as well! A family of three even walked right through our campsite. Luckily they didn't destroy our tents!!

2. A relaxing swim in the Okavango River after baking in the mokoro boats all morning! Hopefully we didn't get any parasites :)

3. Sunrise at the Delta

4. Hippos were everywhere- in and out of the water. Did you know that hippos kill more humans than any other animals? The highlight of the motor boat ride was chasing a hippo doing butterfly through the winding delta rivers!

5. Jackie and Rachel on the traditional Mokoro Ride through the Delta

6. Zebras galore! The national animal of Botswana is well represented in Moremi Game Reserve where we went on all of our safaris

7. Photograph of the clouds outside of Ranann, Alicia, and my free chartered flight from Gabs to Francistown. In a nutshell, we weren't able to get onto the flight to Maun, but were lucky enough to get a free mini flight to Ftown then take a cramped, sweaty, 6-hour bus ride to Maun (followed by a 4 hour safari drive through the puddles and cocobelles of the African bush!)

8. Rockin the zip-off safari pants. Yeah, thats right! Only in Botswana :D

9. Close up and personal with some elephants