I'll Gladly Pay You A Pula Today...For A Rand Tomorrow

For those of you who may wonder where in the world one might find Botswana....I've provided this handy map with complementary flag (in case you wondered about that too). Carrie and I traveled to Southern Africa a few years ago...although it seems like it was just yesterday...for a University outreach project. In Botswana we worked with students from the University of Botswana, Gabarone to teach women and children entrepreneurial skills and basic business practices. Essentially our goal was to teach them to support themselves, as a large portion of their adult male population has died or cannot work due to HIV/AIDS.

We expected to find people lacking in education, business skills and understanding of entrepreneurial concepts. What we found were individuals steeped in entrepreneurial thought, having found ways to make a pula in the past just to keep surviving and feeding their families. I was thrilled to experience the excitement and pride that our students had in their ideas and plans for the future. It was truly an amazing opportunity for Carrie and I to understand that there are universal truths about mankind....we will overcome anything if we have to and with work and dedication there is no limit to creativity and opportunity.

This being a travel blog however brings me back to the second reason for traveling to Southern Africa....to travel and to drive on the other side of the road (which was challenging....but fun). Carrie and I went on Safari in South Africa (which in hindsight we should have done in the Chobe of Botswana) but didn't see a lion....so we cheated and visited the St. Claire Lion Park to see several up close. Honestly....it was frightening. Our little VW bus that I was driving was surrounded by young lions. We drove onward heading to the top of a hill to overlook the valley and found, as if posed by Disney, a HUGE lion with his mane blowing in the wind like Mufasa. He didn't appreciate our close proximity to him...but didn't crush us like he could have.

Aside from the lions...the food was great too. There is a spice there which I cannot find in stores in the US called Peri-Peri...although I've never looked too hard. The Nando's Peri-Peri Chicken will give you something to remember....which is where I made the mistake of asking for the Hot stuff. We also saw "fatcakes" for sale...but chose to avoid them. Maybe next time. We drank some Lion and Castle beer which is locally brewed, we did eat Oxtail, (which is very good...especially with Peri-Peri) and we regularly had Rooibos Tea between meals (a holdover tradition from British occupation). I was also able to eat with a small family and enjoyed the meal of various cooked beans, vegetables and stewed beef (at least I think that's what it was)....but the traditional Botswana Achar I could have done without. Also beware of Madila, or sour milk, which is consumed alone or with porridge. Not my kind of thing I guess.

I could go on and on about travel through Botswana, the sights (like cattle crossing the highways regularly), the sounds (like the local market bustling with trade of spices, bootleg CDs and Cassettes and clothing) and smells (good food, bad sewage...take your pick)...but I'll stop here and encourage anyone to take this trip for themselves. The people, the environment and the experience make the journey well worth the hours of being stuck in tourist class on an airplane. Just be sure to avoid babies, larger than usual travellers and those who have chosen to boycott deodorant. You're going to find many of those deodorant boycotters during your African travels.