Camping in the Kalahari Desert

 Because of the riots that happened last week school was canceled from Wednesday to Friday. A lot of the international students left to go traveling and my friend and I decided that we wanted to travel as well. So we went online and found this website called Africa Insight.  They would pick us up from school, bring us to the campsite, provide us with 2 game drives and all the equipment needed for camping. We decided that this would be perfect.  We both wanted to see the desert and to say that we went camping in the Kalahari Desert sounded pretty awesome.  The place where actually stayed was called the Kutse Game preserve in the Kalahari desert. It was about 3-4 hours away from Gaborone. The picture on the left is the vehicle that we drove around in.

These are some pictures of the animals we saw

 The male ostrich is on the left, you know because they're darker in color and have white on their back.

This was our campsite. We really were in the middle of the desert.  The only way to tell that this was an actual campsite was that there was an enclosed area for the bathroom and shower.  My friend and i slept in the bigger tent while the guide slept in the smaller one. The program provided us with everything and we got to sleep on some very comfortable beds.  During the night it got cold.  I have to use the blanket they provided.  The tent is made out of some thick material so that any animal couldn't get into our tent.  The guide did warn us that a lion or leopard may decide to grace our campsite with its presence.

This is a squirrel.  In my opinion it is a whole lot cuter than the ones in the states.

A mother ostrich wouldn't get off the road.  Her babies were too small and they couldn't walk through the tall grass yet.  We ran, not literally, into these guys  a lot. I never realized how tall ostrich's were.  The babies were adorable.

A view of the sunset.  The desert really was beautiful.  When I think of africa it was this place that i imagined.  Although it is all pretty much sand and it is pretty barren it is beautiful.  I really enjoyed it here, and I would love to go back.

Just another view of the desert. As you can see there are trees and stuff, just not a lot of it.

My friend and i enjoying the view.  This program overall was very nice.  It wasn't that expensive and it came with everything we would need.  We did, however, have to provide food for not only us but the guide as well.  Being the college students that we are we bough peanut butter, bread, apples, mangoes, chips, cookies, and drinks. We ate peanut butter sandwiches for 3 meals.  I didn't plan on being able to cook anything but when we got to the camping site it was clear that they provided all the utensils we would need for cooking.  Next time I would love to bring some pasta.  This overall though was a great experience and I had a lot of fun. I am totally considering getting a larger group and doing it again.

The Riots

So it all started Thursday. Students began gathering in the student center chanting in Setswana.  From there they took to the streets. At first it was just a strike where students would walk up and down the roads chanting and screaming.  It was a lot of people too. I was in my room and heard the commotion, so I looked out the window. There was a stream of people walking by, as more and more people joined.  The  reason for these strikes is because of a few things. For starters the university had a policy where students could retest if they got a 40-49 on their finals.  Along with this all of the pre-med students are pretty pissed as well.  This university isn't a  certified medical school, so pre-med students are going to have a really tough time getting a job.  Then things started to get out of hand. Again the students took to the streets, but this time with much more force.  Some carried sticks that they would threaten people with if they didn't join the cause. I was walking out of my dorm to go to the student center when people would start walking to the exit of the area only to run back.  Before I could ponder why, the reason became apparent.  First there was the chanting, and then a hoard of people filed into the area in front of the dorms.  I was quickly walking back to my dorm when a student with a stick approached me. He demanded that I joined the cause, all the meanwhile holding his stick up. Thankfully another much more sympathetic student saw my distress, told this student that I wasn't to be bothered and escorted me back to the dorms.  Once inside the dorm building a student told me to either stay out of my room or make sure that my room was locked because the rioters will break into the rooms.  I over heard another student say that this was the worst it's been.  

        Classes are canceled tomorrow, and so far no response has been given.  I really hope that this is all resolved soon.  I don't like having to be afraid to walk to the student center. Normally I feel very safe here, and this riot is unusual. I also hope that this is all resolved soon because I really don't want school to end later than it already is.  

Students about to enter the area in front of the dorms

    Now, I  know some people may think I am crazy for being here, but besides this riot this place is wonderful. The people are all very nice and helpful, the weather is heavenly, and the scenery is amazing.  I have enjoyed every second I've been here. I am here to experience new things, and this riot and strike is something that I have never experienced before.  

The Game Drive

 So after spending the night at the cultural lodge we went on a game drive.  It was really nice. When we first got there the guys popped us some champagne and had orange juice as well (it was 10 in the morning).  The area around the main building was beautiful.  There was  pond with a fountain, and had all of these bird nests above it where all these birds were building them.

 So below are some pictures of the animals we saw. I also saw a cheetah but was unable to take a picture of it.  Most of what we saw were some form of antelope.

 This one is one of my favorites.

 We were all very excited when we saw this giraffe. Apparently the darker the spots the older the giraffe is. So this one is pretty old.

 It's pumba from the lion king! Except not as fat.  When he was running away his tail stuck straight up in the air like a flag.

 This was the vehicle we took.  Pretty much a normal pick up truck with an extension on it so we could sit on seats.  I was so afraid that I was going to be thrown from the car. Thankfully I never did fall.  We ate lunch in this valley area next to a lake. While we were there it began down pouring so we all ran to the cars to take shelter.  Because it was raining so hard and the roads are all uphill and dirt we couldn't leave until it was nearly over.  As it is, we had to forge this river that was caused from all the rain.  The river came to just above the tail light.

Below is a picture I took of the view. We did this one loop called the world's view loop. We were right on the edge of this hill and could see for miles. It was very pretty.

The night in the cultural village

 So we spent the night at the Baurushe Cultural Lodge. It's this nice little place with huts you can stay in stuff.

 These are the people who run the place.  The woman in the brown was explaining how the chief runs the place and who each person was.  While we were there they did multiple dances for us.  At one point the boys had to dance with the chief. It was very comical to see. The dances include a lot of stepping and hops, and clapping.

 This is one of the huts they had. Inside there is a single pole going to the ceiling. It can fit about 6-8 people in it.  I did not get to actually stay in the hut. My friend Gwen and I shared a tent right outside of the hut. 

 I played this game called Mhele. The object of the game is to get all the other persons rocks. You try to get 3 of your rocks in a row and when you do you can take one of the opponents rocks. You also want to try and stop them from getting 3 in a row. It reminded me of tic tac toe, and checkers. It was fun to play and watch.  The guys would pretty much take over while other people were playing because the guys knew how to play better. Whenever an opponent got a rock taken away or was prevented from getting 3 in a row, they guys would make this farting noise.

It rains in Africa. And when I say it rains, I mean it downpours for about 10-20 minutes. Everything got soaked.  You can always tell when there is going to be a storm because it gets ridiculously windy and you can hear the thunder in the background.  So we all had to run under one of the large gathering areas and wait for it to stop raining.

 This was the large gathering area I just mentioned.  We sat in chairs in it, and the woman who introduced the place told us some more about it, after everyone told her where we were from.  We also had dinner here, which was very good. It consisted of chicken or pork, rice, pp (which is maize,it looks a lot like mashed potatoes but thicker), and some salad.

The totem for this place is the baboon.  So there are status of baboons near the entrance and they can be found around the place as well.  I have actually seen a baboon in real life, walking on the side of the road. 

The traditional Village

So this is going to be the first of a few events that happened all during the same outing. The first stop was this traditional village where we heard this guy talk about the village and how some of the stuff was done.  We went into the hota (the picture above) which is this building where most of the gatherings happen.  They hold marriage ceremonies in here as well as determining the fate of criminal. For the wedding ceremony, you could either go to the magistrate and get it certified, or do the traditional way. Pretty much for the traditional way the guy has to give the girl's family 8 goats, not  as a price, more of a "thank you for raising her" kind of thing. Then they have a celebration at the girls place then at the man's place.  The chief must inspect these 8 cows to make sure they weren't stolen or are defective.  If there is anything wrong with them, the couple can't get married.  For the criminal cases, unless it is a murder case it will be resolved in the hota. There is a jury which consists of the more uppidy people of the tribe, and once they listen to person, the chief will decide the punishment. Most times the person is offered corporeal punishment or jail time.  The punishment is often the form of lashings on the bare back. Women cannot receive this punishment. Women must also wear a dress/shirt below the knees while in the hota.  Every tribe has a totem, this tribes was the crocodile.

This is a picture of me standing in front of one of the buildings. I realized that I didn't have too many pictures with me in them so I am going to try and change that.  This is a really bad picture of me, but I don't feel like taking it off and then uploading another one, so you will just have to deal with it! I believe that this building was where the grandfather of one of the old chief's lived.





 

      The picture to the left is a picture of a wall. I thought the paintings on the wall were pretty cool.   The building behind it is a really old one.

This is a picture of one of the typical houses they live in.  The village we visited was called Kanye, yes like Kanye west. The guy who was talking to us said about 450 people live in it.  There are 8 major tribes, and the Khota, the people who live in Kanye, are one of those major tribes.


So that concludes this post. It's getting late and I still have stuff to do. If you want to know anything in particular about my adventures thus far, just leave a comment and I will try my best to answer them. THANKS!

Pictures

 So, until I go on my next excursion and take a lot more pictures, you can enjoy some of the pictures that I haven't included in my previous posts. I will try to provide a description if i can.

This picture is of me and two of my friends from our international program. We're about to try the worms for the first, and last time.

This picture is the view i have from my window. It's really nice, although it  gets really bright in my room in the mornings because it's right where the sun comes up.

 This is a picture of one of the signs on the outside of our dorm room. It makes me laugh, a lot.  These kind of signs can be found everywhere. They have one about AIDS somewhere, one about health, and some others as well.  

 In every dorm building these can be found. As well in the changing room for the pool.   So you are never far  away from one.  Oddly enough the one in my dorm is empty. 

One of the first pictures I took when I left the Botswana airport. Aren't they beautiful? The second i walked out the door it was like i was transported to paradise. The sun was shinning, it was warm, butterflies were flying around, the flowers were in full bloom, and there was color everywhere

Things I dislike about this place

Now, nothing is perfect and UB is not an exception.  There a few things about this place that piss me off a little bit. In no particular order here they are
1: The disorganization.
    Registration is by hand. I  filled out a form and handed to my international adviser. I saw it in a binder in his office. However, when I went to pick up a print out of my schedule it was no longer there. The adviser lost it, so he had to register me all over again.  You get an Id card here. Once you get this card you must go over to the ID office and activate it. Even when it's activated you can't use the internet until you register you're computer with you're department. I am technically under the Dept. of Science, however, I'm registered as being under the Dept. of Humanities.  So, i had to go first to the Dept. of Science, only to learn that I had to register with humanities. The buildings here are randomly numbered.  239 is in fact, not next to, or even near 240.
2: The rooms
    I live on the top  floor and there is no elevator.  It gets so hot sometimes.  This I am ok with. It's the fact that there aren't any drawers that kind of frustrates me.  My stuff is just kind of randomly thrown about the place.  You need to lock your belongings in your closest everytime you leave, and to have to unplug everything and put it in there before i leave, is annoying.  My internet jack on my side of the room also doesn't work.  The internet cable works fine. It's the internet jack that is the problem. Anytime I want to use the internet I have to borrow my roommates, or go somewhere where there is wifi.
3: The beds
   Primarily, my mattress. It is very comfortable, however, I am 85% sure that I do in fact have bed bugs. I do not like waking up covered in bug bites, and while they don't itch, they are everywhere on my body giving me the appearance of someone with chicken pox.
4: The pool
    You need to wear a swimming cap. I don't understand why, but apparently it's a rule here. In my opinion a very stupid role.
5:The way information gets around.
    Everything is by word of mouth, and tends to be slightly unreliable.  I was told by who i thought to be a reliable source that there was no school on monday. However, it turns out that classes did meet that day, but most teachers ended class early.  So i ended up missing all of my monday classes.  You aren't told anything until the very last second.  For example, if you need to pick up your schedule, you'll only find out that they don't have it once you get there.  Most of the time I have no idea what is going on here.  If something is going on, they way i find out is by someone asking me if I am going to that event or whatnot.
6: Manners
   Where I come from, you wait until people are done walking through the door, and then you go through the door. Here, everyone shoves their way through the door, regardless whether or not someone is trying to come through the opposite direction.  The cars here, do not believe in the yield for pedestrian thing.  They WILL run you over if you are crossing the street in front of them.  I was walking with some friends and if i didn't side step into my friend I would've hit the side view mirror of the oncoming car.  When in the food court, here you don't wait your turn to order. Here you form a big mob and try to be the first one to order by forcing you way through the crowd.

I really do like this place, however it does have flaws. Maybe this is part of culture shock and I'll get over it, or maybe this will always bug me. Only time will tell.

Random Cool Stuff

This post is going to be about the stuff that didn't really fit in with any of the other blogs. First i shall talk just a little about the food I've had so far.  The very first meal I had at UB consisted of rice with sauce and chicken. I would quickly learn that rice is served a lot!!

On my second day here, we went and took a tour of the city.  We went and saw the monument for the 1st president as well as a monument for the 3 founders.  Pretty much Botswana was formed by these three guys.  There is a statue at UB that shows a man with a cow.  This represents the fact that Botswana formed out farmers and tribes.

After a tour of the city we went and had a traditional African Meal. I decided to try a little bit of everything, and that was hard.  My plate had forms of vegetables, tripe, ground up goat, worms, and other stuff. Most of it was pretty good, but the worm was crunchy, and I had a hard time swallowing it. If i hadn't known it was a worm I probably would have liked it. However, it is simply fried and you can see it's legs and stuff.  I felt as if i was eating its bones and stuff.

So the next day we went to go see a professional soccer game.  The Botswana Zebra's were playing Zimbabwe. It was really cool.  The game ended in a tie, though we totally should have won.

The crowd was very enthusiastic.  Whenever the Zebras stole the ball from the other team, kept it from going out of bounds, or almost scored a goal they would erupt into applause and cheers.  They would also use their long blue horns to show their appreciation.  People on top of the seats would sing songs and clap a beat. It was very cool to see.  Everyone is also wearing white, blue, and black which are the colors.

On the way back to the dorms I almost stepped on a huge bug. I looked at it again and discovered it was in fact a chameleon!! This was the first wildlife i've seen so far. All the international kids took plenty of pictures while the locals all looked at us like we were stupid.  I held it, it was very light and smoothish.

The money they use here is the pula. It is very colorful. They have Thebe which is the equivalent of our cents. Then they have pula in coin form up to 5 pula. Then 10 20 50 and what not.  I love the way this money looks. It's so much cooler than the american dollar.

The University..Campus

The school i attend is the University of Botswana. About 15,500 students call this place their school.  The campus has a gate surrounding the entire campus however it is considered open to the public.  The school opened in 1964.  

The motto of the school is Thuto Ke Thebe. It means, Education is a shield. I disagree with this statement, but I do like the saying.  The picture on the left is the old crest. The new crest is on the sign above.

The university doesn't have a lot of real grass. The fake grass is visibly fake, but it gives the university a nice touch.  The campus also kind of reminds me of a maze. Because of the heat, there are paths that have roofs over them so you can walk in the shade for a little while. There isn't a lot of natural shade, so any chance to get away from the sun is nice.  The buildings often form squares, and are numbered. For instance, I have a class in Block 252 room C116.  You'd think that because of this they would be numbered in accordance to each other. This is not the case. My dorm is block 480 and block 479 is on the opposite side of campus. I am thinking that they are numbered in the order they were made.

The ground primarily is made up of dirt/sand. My feet are always really dirty once I get back to my room because i wear flip flops and the sand always gets in them.  The majority of the trees aren't oak trees and don't offer a lot of protection from the sun.  



           Below are just some pictures from around campus, with a quick description of the buildings i know

This is the business building, where business students take their classes. TADA

     This is the student center, I call it the Student Union. Inside is 2 places to get food (Food Town, and another place I forgot the name of), a souvenir shop ( you can buy UB shirts and stuff), a bookstore, a convenience store, and a bunch of other stuff including the International office, where I spent an 1 hour and 1/2 waiting for a print out of my schedule.

I don't know what this building is. But it is pretty!







Lastly, I will leave you with this picture of the sunset that I took!

The University...My Room

 So to start describing the university I am going to start with my room. All the international students live in a dorm called Las Vegas.  The dorm is split up into buildings, A1 A2 A3,B1 B2 B3, C1 C2 C4, and D1 D2 D3. The girls live in A-B and the guys C-D. I live on the top floor of one of the A buildings and there is no elevator so I had to lug all my stuff up 3 flights of stairs.  There are stairs outside the building as well as inside the building.

 Pretty much you enter the common area that has a sink in it and a door to the outside stairs. Then you enter your bedroom. You must put a lock of some sort on your bedroom door, because they don't have a key system here.  Once you open the door the room is divided into two halves for each roommate. This wall doesn't go all the way so that you can walk to your roommates side without having to open another door. In the room there is a bed with 4 shelves and a bar to hang stuff. Above that is another shelve, but it is so high that the only thing I

 there is the extra pillow and pillow case they gave me. You get 2 sheets,2 blankets, 1 pillow and case for  your bed. Every thursday the staff replaces those...I think.  There is also a desk that has two shelves above it. Again one is so high that the only thing I put on the top one is extra wires and stuff.  There are two windows next to the bed, and I keep them open all the time.  There is no screen there though so bugs do enter, but it hasn't been too bad.  On the closet you have to keep another lock, so that you can lock up your valuables when you leave your room.  It took me forever to find a chain that would fit through the handles, but eventually I found one.

There are two bathrooms. One has a sink, toilet, and a bathtub. The next has 3 toilets, 3 sinks, and 1 shower.  On my floor there are 5 other rooms all of which have 2 people living in them.