Sunrise on Kgale Hill

Got up before dawn this morning to catch the sunrise on Kgale Hill. Below are some of the highlight views and beautiful sunrise colours (although the views are much more amazing in person than in photos!):

...and some post climb smoothies and baboons that were hanging out on the side of the road:

 

Khama Rhino Sanctuary

Last weekend, I took a trip up to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary (about four hours away from Gaborone) and went on my first safari drive. I shared my accommodation (a super cute little house / hut) with a mouse:

 

I didn't manage to get a picture (my camera ran out of battery) but the stars were amazingly bright since it was so far out from a city. On the Sunday morning, I got up before dawn to for rhino tracking. It took about three hours but we found a small rhino family (mother, father and calf).

My best photo of the weekend (taken on the safari drive) - a couple of rhinos hanging out in the sunset:

Local food

Since the start of this week (my third week in Botswana!), I've been regularly eating local food for lunch. It's delicious and cheap (just 25-30 pula, equivalent to $2.5-$3 USD, for home cooked goodness). Apparently, it's not that common for foreigners / expats to be eating from the local food stalls - which I think is a real shame! During lunchtime, you'll see many temporary stalls set up by women like this:

And this is what some of my lunches have looked like (standard carb, protein, veggies):

Some of the more traditional food I've been eating include:

• Morogo: A type of African spinach - super delicious when cooked.
• Pap: Often described as a porridge, but it is much thicker and less liquidy than porridge. I'd say it has a mashed potato texture but without the taste. 
• Samp: Made from grains (sometimes with beans added as well) and has a mushy rice like texture. 

Spots in Gaborone

My daily life in Gaborone is pretty limited to a few areas. Work is only a 10 minute walk away from my apartment so on the weekdays, I don't travel too far. The office is based in the Main Mall, which I first thought was a shopping centre but it's actually mostly outdoors and operates like a market:

In between my apartment and work, is probably the most modern cafe in Gaborone - the Daily Grind. Their avocado on toast is pretty great (even if it's not Melbourne standard). 

 

On Wednesday evening, I was taken to one of the best spots in Gabs for a view - the Yatch Club overlooking the dam. The sunset was stunning. I'm told that the dam isn't always full of water though depending on the rainfall. 

First trip to Orapa / Lethakane

The beginning of week two in Botswana took me to Orapa, where the largest diamond mine is based. This is what a diamond mine looks like - it's the hill thing behind the trees:

One of my clients is a supplier of fabrications that will be installed inside the mine. They were kind enough to show me the workshop and space where the magic happens:

With the food options being either fried chicken & chips or local food, I tried some local food for the first time - which was delicious! I was not brave enough to eat worms, but here they are:

While working in Orapa, I stayed overnight in the small town of Lethakane. Most of the town looked something like this - dusty roads and modest residential houses:

I didn't manage to catch any in a photo but occasionally, you'd see donkeys, goats and stray dogs wandering around as well.

Animal count:

• Cats: 3 
• Dogs: 4 (mostly strays sadly)
• Donkeys: Maybe 4-5
• Goats: 20+
• Cows & bulls: 20+
• Warthogs: 3. They live right beside the diamond mine (past the security gates where there are no predators) and were very cute running around! I am scheduled to visit Orapa around once every month so I look forward to seeing them again. 

First impressions

After about 20+ hours of travel, I made it to my little apartment in Botswana on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, my suitcase was MIA - not the greatest welcoming gift but luckily, I managed to retrieve it today. My driver was very patient in waiting for me at the airport and was a great guide during the ride (he was quite knowledgeable about politics in Botswana).

My first observations of Gabarone is that it is very modern - the roads are in great condition, the supermarkets are well stocked, the buildings are quite modern (compared to other developing countries) and I hear that pretty much everyone owns a car. On the other hand, I've come across many small things that aren't quite right. Some of the mini struggles I've faced include: no sliced bread in the supermarket, having to boil water in a pot (no kettle provided at my accommodation although I get my apartment cleaned everyday) and having no viable options to satisfy chocolate cravings at 7pm (though this is probably a good thing).

Life is much slower here but I'm really enjoying it so far. It's certainly nice to get away from the busyness of New York city for a while.

Fun fact of the day - 'pula' is the local currency but also means rain because rain is so rare that it is considered a blessing.