Life in the city - it can wear on you.
We’ve been in Gaborone a little over two weeks now, and the University finally kicked us out of the fantastic hotel where they had us booked for the last 14 days.
We moved into a “temporary” apartment the University owns while we wait for them to wrap up the renovations in our permanent housing. The stop-gap flat is… well, it ain’t the Hilton, but it is shelter. We’re adaptable, though, and a freshly made-over apartment is definitely worth waiting for even if the current digs are sub-par.
The last week has been consumed by bureaucracy after bureaucracy, and a seemingly never-ending string of visits to the various shopping centers around the city. Driving all over town, shopping for basic essentials, and waiting in line at numerous government offices has been our life of late.
We managed to squeeze in two quick game drives at the local Mokolodi Game Reserve (more on those in future posts), and a couple of nice dinners out, but otherwise the quotidian demands of getting settled in a foreign freakin’ country have taken precedent. Traffic in this city can be harsh, and I am mall-weary.
However.
We are bound and determined to get out of town this weekend - to escape the traffic and the “sign this”, “stamp that”, and “that’ll be 5300 Pula, please”. We booked two nights at the Khutse Game Reserve tomorrow and Sunday with the concessionaire Bigfoot Tours. The campsites are NOT cheap ($38 per night for two people), but the park entrance fee is a nominal $5.
Khutse is a small (by Botswana standards) reserve tacked on to the bottom of the massive Central Kalahari Game Reserve, and it’s only about 120 miles from Gaborone. It’s known for its lions and huge herds of Oryx, so hopefully we’ll see both.
Frustratingly enough, I have had a difficult time tracking down basic 4x4 and camping supplies that I had gambled on being readily available here. What is locally available is of sub-standard quality, mostly very, very flimsy Chinese stuff. I went ahead and stocked up on some items - basic tools and recovery equipment, an extra jerry can, and some camping kit like chairs, a table, and air mattresses. But this weekend we’re going to have to rely a lot on the backpacking equipment we brought from home, and then order from South Africa to get the real stuff once we decide what our long-term camping strategy will be.
We don’t care, though. We have what we need, and nothing more. Our first real trip into the African bush is on tap and we can’t wait to get out there.
As always, scope us out on mtdrift.com - Julie has a new post up:
We’re on the ‘Grams, too. @cosedivine and @mt_drift. My Instagram has been mostly pictures of exotic meats so far, so there’s that.