Ch-Ch-Ch-Chobe

The best thing about living in Botswana is that we have more wildlife here than anywhere else in Africa.  One of the best places to see that wildlife is in Chobe National Park.  Back in September I mentioned I visited an elephant orphanage when I was in Kenya for a conference at the same time as the terrorist attack.  The reason the baby elephants were in the orphanage was because their mothers were killed, many by poachers, before the young were old enough to care for themselves.  Africa in general has a lot of problems with poachers, but we are fortunate in Botswana that we are largely exempt from this problem.  In fact, we have the opposite problem: we have too many animals, particularly elephants.

Botswana is home to approximately half of the 400,000 elephants in Africa.  And about 100,000 of Botswana’s elephants live in Chobe National Park.  My visitors, Ashleigh and Amanda, were particularly keen to see elephants during their trip.  In an effort to satisfy their request I took them to Chobe.  We stayed at Kwalape Lodge in Kasane, which is adjacent to the park.  Since we were on a budget, and I wanted the girls to get a different experience since we stayed in a chalet previously, we opted to stay in safari tents.  They were basic, but met our needs:

While in Chobe we went on a boat cruise which is always a fun way to see the animals as they like to congregate along the shore and in the water.  I think all three of us took about a thousand pictures each, but a select few follow.  Here is a picture of Ashleigh in the boat making friends with a couple of kudu a few feet away:

And here is Amanda (before her sunglasses broke) with the elephants eating grass:

We saw hundreds of hippos:

I’m sure I am forgetting a few animals, but we saw water buffalo, kudu, impala, crocodile, monkeys, hippos, water monitor lizards, warthogs, giraffes, and of course elephants.  And since you can never have too many pictures of elephants, here is a small group, from a much larger herd, drinking on the riverbank:

We took our cruise in the late afternoon and were treated to a beautiful sunset on the ride home:

This trip reminded me how much I will miss Botswana when I leave.

The Quest for a Phone Book

When was the last time you used a phone book?  Do you even have a phone book? Chances are, if you live anywhere in the First World, whenever you need to find a phone number you look it up online.  Am I right?

Here in Africa having a phone book is actually very important.  First of all, if the electricity is out, you can’t look up the phone number you need online.  Secondly, online technology is not very readily available in many parts of Africa.  According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency World Fact Book, 11.5% of Batswana use the Internet.  This is actually below the average of 16% of the population across Africa.  In case you were curious, 81% of the U.S. population uses the Internet, which ranks 28^th in the world.  The Falkland Islands and Iceland have the highest number of Internet users at 96% of their populations.

Due to the lack of Internet users in Africa, the continent has not embraced the web.  It is excruciatingly frustrating to be a tourist in Africa because so few hotels, tour companies and even airlines have websites, and even if they do they often lack information or features which allow you to help yourself, such as making reservations or inquiries.  Instead, they rely primarily on telephone calls.  And of all the times I’ve called to speak to a customer service representative for any type of company in any country in Africa not once have I been prompted to press ‘1’ for English or anything else.  There is no such thing as automated customer service here. Hence, the importance of having a telephone book.

When I first arrived in Botswana I quickly realized the need for a telephone book and went down to BTC (Botswana Telecommunications Corporation) headquarters in an attempt to secure one.  I was told there were none available and I would have to wait until January to obtain the new 2014 book.  In mid-January I returned to BTC only to be told they had run out of 2014 phone books.  Apparently there is a run on these things immediately after the New Year.  Fortunately, I recounted my quest for a phone book to a colleague who offered me his old 2013 book, even though he hadn’t received a new one.  Here it is:

Now I can call anyone I want in the country.  Yes, that’s right, the country.  This is a country-wide phone book.  It is arranged by district, with both companies and private citizens listed together, alphabetically.  It also lists every single government office, including the Senior Private Secretary to the President.  I imagine this person to be one of the secretaries sitting outside Botswana’s version of the oval office.  I hope I am correct because I called and spoke to Mma Mogaleo and said I would like to take President Khama to lunch.  I told her I had his granddaughter in my class last semester at UB (true story) and would like to meet him.  She said she would get back to me if his schedule opens up.  Fingers crossed!

When I lived in Alaska there was a phone book for the entire state.  It was small, similar in size to a small day planner.  Each village took up about one page and not only were the names of the villagers in alphabetical order, but the numbers were consecutive.  If I remember correctly, my village of Galena was (907) 656-2112 to 2197.  And we were one of the larger villages on the Yukon River.

A friend who used to work in Equatorial Guinea told me their phone book also covered the entire country.  He also mentioned that it was listed alphabetically according to FIRST name.  “Look for me under Roberto.  I’m somewhere on the 4^th page of Robertos the last time I checked.”

Now, if I could just find the number for the weather report then I would really be in luck.  When I lived in Alaska and you would call the weather hotline the report would be along the lines of, “It is -40 degrees this morning with winds at 30 miles per hour to the east.  Eight inches of snow is expected before 12pm.  Watch out for moose on the road.”  If we had a weather number here it would be excellent to hear, “It is 100 degrees and sunny today.  Load sharing will continue throughout the day, with little hope of electricity being restored before sundown.  Watch out for the elephants on Tlokweng Road east of Riverwalk Mall and beware the monkeys are biting due to the trash still not having been collected for the past month.”  Maybe if President Khama calls me back I will suggest a weather line.

TechAnnounce: The Monkeys are on a Rampage

At Texas Tech, the IT department sends out a daily email to all faculty, students, staff members and anyone else who has an account on the TTU email system.  The email is called TechAnnounce.  Anyone who belongs to TTU can post an announcement so long as it is university related and approved by the TechAnnounce gods.  Today’s TechAnnounce included 58 postings for things such as study abroad courses, opportunities to participate in research studies, a lecture from a visiting scholar, and my personal favorite: Zumba.

University of Botswana has something similar to TechAnnounce.  Nope, let me take that back.  UB has a system in place which is the antithesis of TechAnnounce.   Everyone makes fun of me because I always read TechAnnounce.  Now even more people will make fun of me since I admit I read it every day while living in Africa.  But I do appreciate it because it allows me to keep up with university news and share relevant information in my classes that may be of interest to my students.

Here at UB people use the email system as their personal communication tool.  And EVERYONE uses it.  And they send everything to EVERYONE.  And even worse, they CC EVERYONE and then hit REPLY ALL.  Sometimes we get useful information.  But UBAnnounce tends to be more along the lines of professors sending out posters about the house they are selling or soliciting new clients for their Herbalife business.  Every time someone dies a death announcement is sent out to the entire university.  Often the death announcement is followed up with five dozen emails attempting to organize transportation to the village on the edge of the Khalari Desert for anyone interested in attending.

Today there were two separate UBAnnouncements which struck me as unique, something I would never expect to see back home.  The first was an email from a professor on campus with the subject line: Nelson Mandela’s Will.  The only message was “FYI” along with a scanned copy of Nelson Mandela’s will attached, all 42 pages with signatures and everything.  I don’t know why I need this information, but I will admit I did skim it.  If anyone is interested let me know and I can forward it to you, or write a blog post bullet  pointing who got $300,000, who got $100,000, who got 100,000Rand, and how the homes were divvied up.

The other interesting UBAnnoucement was probably the most useful, but also most unusual email I’ve received since I arrived here.  Subject line: The monkeys are on a rampage.  The email went on to explain that everyone on campus needed to be extra careful to ensure their windows, doors, cars and personal belongings were “secured because the monkeys are on a rampage.” 

Now, I have had my own share of monkey problems, literately.  I absolutely appreciate a heads up that the monkeys are acting out and stealing more than usual.  But when I read that cars needed to be secured it reminded me of the scene from Jurassic Park where the old man owner says that the dinosaurs are so smart they have problem solving capabilities.  Then I flashed back to when the velociraptors were chasing the kids.  The kids hid and one said to the other, “Do you think we are safe?” The other child replied, “Yeah, as long as they don’t figure out how to open doors.”  What happened next? Yup! The velociraptor opened the door!  This made me wonder if the monkeys have learned to open car doors.

To borrow a favorite phrase of my father, here in Africa “I am often amazed but seldom surprised.”  Who knows? Maybe next time I will see the monkeys driving cars they have stolen.  I will keep you posted.

An example of TechAnnounce for anyone interested:

Not Cereal Mom, SERIAL Mom

In the early 1990s the movie Serial Mom was released in theaters.  The movie depicted Kathleen Turner as a suburban housewife and mother who protected her family without fail, going so far as to murder anyone who wronged her children.  I don’t believe my mother has ever broken the law for her kids- though I wouldn’t totally put it past her- but she is about as close to Kathleen Turner’s character as one can get.  Of course, I also think that is an innate maternal trait.

Another thing I find particularly funny about moms is their competitive streak.  And I don’t mean about themselves, I mean that in regard to their kids.  I remember when I told my mom I was moving to Africa.  She was happy about it because I was happy, but in reality her response was kind of a mopey, “I know, I’ll just really miss you.”  My brother and I sort of laughed about it and said, “Are you kidding me? This gives you bragging rights amongst all the other moms for the next year.  When all you moms get together and compare who has the cooler kids you will always win, hands down.  And you know you moms do it, don’t even try and deny it.”

This is how I imagine water cooler talk at my mother’s office:

Mom #1: My daughter just bought her first house, at the age of only 23.
Mom #2: I will see your new home-owning daughter and raise you my son, a Navy Seal who swam across the Mediterranean without equipment and then single-handedly rescued five civilians from almost certain death.
KVP’s Mom: I recommend you all fold now.  My daughter is currently in Africa where she is overseeing the Botswana Defense Force and the police.  On the weekends she is training monkeys how to build power plants in order to supply electricity and water to locals.  In her free time she is either in Zimbabwe teaching President Mugabe how to balance the budget and mint a new stabilized currency or instructing Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airlines how to provide customer service and deliver passengers’ luggage within a reasonable (i.e. less than 24 hour) timeframe. BOOM! That’s right! My* daughter is awesome!

*MY daughter is used to convey pride and claim credit.  This is in juxtaposition with YOUR (i.e. my father’s) daughter when I demonstrate some sort of shortcoming.

Today when I was on the UB campus I realized mothers are the same everywhere.  They may speak different languages, or interact with their children differently, but they protect and promote their kids to the end.  As I entered the corridor where my office is located I saw three female staff members speaking in a very animated manner about their offspring.  By the way, animated is a relative term.  Think of me being animated.  Now imagine me sick, with a couple of broken ribs and strep throat.  THAT is animated in Botswana.  Nevertheless, you could still recognize that there was a distinct sense of pride and one-upsmanship in their conversation.  Made me a little bit homesick for a minute.  All I could think was that my mom would fit right in.  She would also take gold and make sure those other moms KNEW whose kid was #1.

Lions and Leopards and Cheetahs, oh my!

Since we don’t have tigers or bears here in Africa, I had to alter the title slightly.  But I since lions, leopards and cheetahs are some of the most difficult animals to spot in Africa I consider myself very fortunate that I got to see all three in one day during my camping trip.

As I mentioned previously, I took last week off from blogging out of necessity.  I was camping in Namibia and didn’t have daily access to Internet during my trip, hence my temporary silence.  However, now that I am back online and took a record 2148 pictures during my 10-day camping trip, I will spend the next few days catching you up on my adventure.

I booked the camping trip with Wild Dog Safaris and they did ensure a wild ride.  Our tour guide and driver, George, along with our camp assistant, Manfred, took 7 of us (2 Germans, 1 Brit, 1 French girl, an American couple that is currently living in Bangladesh, and me) on a 3,000 kilometer trip around the northern half of the country.

I haven’t been camping in a few years but was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it this time around.  We departed from Windhoek on Friday, December 20^th and headed north to Etosha National Park.  Etosha is the largest national park in Namibia; it is three times the size of Holland.  It was given its name because the Etosha Pan is located almost entirely within the park.  The pan makes the park unique compared to many of the other national parks I’ve visited in Africa.  Most of the national parks I’ve seen have the brush and mopane and baobab trees, but because of the salt pans Etosha looked quite different.  Believe it or not the pelicans and flamingos are particularly attracted to the salt pans, but we saw plenty of other animals wondering around as well.  Here you can see one of the salt pans which seems to extend forever:

While on our way north we saw plenty of the typical animals which I’ve already mentioned before: baboons, monkeys, impala, kudu, eland, oryx, giraffe, elephants.  But there were a couple of animals I was VERY excited to see.  I’ve seen lions before, but we saw three females hunting a wildebeest.  I’ve never seen lions hunt before in real life and it was awesome.  In the end the wildebeest got away, but we spent about 20 minutes watching with baited breath:

Later that same evening we found two male lions roaring, calling the females over:

We also saw a leopard that had just made a kill.  It was interesting that he took the meat, jumped up into a tree nearby and then began to eat it.  Given the fact he is licking his lips here, I’m guessing it tasted pretty good:

The good thing about seeing a leopard and cheetahs in the same day is that I now can visually tell them apart.  Prior to seeing both of them almost back to back I couldn’t distinguish the difference.  But as you can see here, cheetahs have solid black spots (as opposed to the leopard’s multicolored spots) and black stripes down the front of their faces.  I’m sure there are many other differences that I don’t know yet, but at least now I will be able to tell what I am looking at, a leopard or a cheetah:

I have plenty of other fun pictures from Etosha, but I will save them for another day.

Penetrating the Impenetrable Forest

Last Christmas when I was back in Baltimore visiting my parents and agonizing over whether or not I would be awarded the Fulbright Fellowship I spent one sleepless night looking at the top tourist destinations and experiences in Africa.  I figured I might as well hope for the best and daydream about some related trips in case I received the Fulbright.  Fortunately the Fulbright came through, and I am now crossing things off that list.

One of the most highly recommended “things to do” in Africa was to take a trip to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda to track mountain gorillas.  This is what I’ve been doing for the last few days. There are several reasons this is such a sought after trip.  First of all, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest survived the last Ice Age, when practically all of Africa’s other forests disappeared. It is also a rainforest, and because it survived so long the diversity of flora and fauna is greater here than elsewhere, even by normal rainforest standards.  But, while rainforest is great, the primary reason I came here was to track mountain gorillas.

There are fewer than 800 mountain gorillas alive.  Typically when you go to the zoo or see gorillas in captivity they are lowland gorillas.

The mountain gorillas live only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda; about half the population is in Uganda.  Due to the fact there are so few mountain gorillas there are a lot of measures in place to protect them.  For instance, you can’t just wander into the forest looking for them.  You must apply for a permit through the Ugandan government.  The permit is $500 and that’s just for permission to go into the forest.  It doesn’t include the money you pay for your travel to get there, your accommodations, trackers or guides.  Since the government doesn’t want too many people in the forest, only 24 permits are granted each day.  And there is a long waiting list to get your permit.  I put my name on the waiting list back in January and got the call in late September that there was a spot available.

I know I sometimes talk about seeing monkeys and other animals with such frequency that it seems as if they are just hanging around waiting for people to look at them.  And sometimes they are, especially in the case of the vervet monkeys who aren’t just “hanging around” my neighborhood, but also trying to become my new roommates.  But this is not the case with the mountain gorillas.  You have to work hard to see the gorillas.

On Saturday Catherine (a woman from the UK with whom I booked the trip through the safari company) and I were driven about 12 hours from Kampala (the capital of Uganda) to Bwindi, which is the southwestern most point in the country, right across the border from DRC.  The first 8 hours of the drive weren’t bad, but the last 4 hours was hellacious as it was over rocky, dirt roads, and it is rainy season, so there was lots of mud.

The next morning we assembled at the park headquarters for our briefing and assignment.  We were assigned to the Habinyanta gorilla family which consists of about 19 members, including about 3 babies.   The “trackers,” who work for the park service, had left an hour previously and were searching for the gorillas based upon where they had last been spotted the evening before.  Catherine and I were put into a group with 6 others, which is policy, as they do not allow groups of more than 8 to track for a given family.  We were then driven, along with the rest of the group, about an hour away (also through rocky, muddy, dirt roads) to the area from which we would start our hike.

As we began our hike we were advised to rent walking sticks and hire porters so they could “push you and pull you and carry you if you have a hard time.” I didn’t think I really had any need for a porter, but James was my savior. A lot of the terrain was steep and slippery, so it was good to have someone else to help with balance and climbing over fallen tree trunks, etc.  By the time we finished the two hour hike to the point where the trackers had found the gorillas we were dripping in sweat.

But it was totally worth it, because when we arrived this is what we saw:

The gorillas were relatively comfortable with humans, as you can see here; I was probably about 8-10 feet away:

Once I finish editing the 600+ pictures I took of the gorillas, I will post some more for you to see.  Sadly, the pictures don’t convey the experience at all, but they are a great memory of something very few people ever get to do.

The Human Zoo

It has probably been about 20 years since I’ve been to a zoo.  I doubt I will ever go to one again.  After living in Africa and seeing all kinds of animals in the wild, and often interacting with them voluntarily or against your will, it is hard to imagine garnering any joy from looking at animals in cages.  When I was in Zambezi National Park in Zimbabwe I saw hyenas and vultures eating a cape buffalo which had been killed by lions the previous night.  You don’t get that kind of education in a zoo.

But today I thought about zoos and the fact that to a certain extent I feel as if I am in one.  Recently I was lying on the couch in my living room reading and suddenly felt as if someone was watching me.  I slowly lowered my book and turned my head to look out onto my porch.  Hanging from the bars on the sliding windows were two small monkeys peering down at me.  I looked at them, they looked at me, they looked at one another, perhaps to say, “Wow! Look at that giant human.”  It’s interesting to consider how the tables have turned; now I’m the one inside the cage and the monkeys are peering in from outside.  I went back to reading and the monkeys and their friends eventually lost interest in me and returned to playing.

Another day I was sitting at my dining room table and again felt the presence of a peeping Tom.  First it was just one.  As you can see here he is while his friends are wrestling with one another:

 

But I guess after a while curiosity got the best of them and they all decided to stop by for a look:

Yesterday I had an encounter which reminded me that there are cages in zoos for a reason: to keep the animals in and the “others” out.  My bathroom toilet stopped working and I had a plumber over at my house working on the repairs.  The plumbing assistant went back and forth between the house and his truck several times to collect parts.  It was daytime and I was in the kitchen anyway, so I told him he could leave the front door open and unlocked so he could easily come and go.  While this permitted him easy access to the house, two monkeys also wandered in. I heard a noise in the dining room and went to see what it was, discovering a lone monkey.  As I stood there looking at the monkey, trying to figure out my best course of action, out of the corner of my eye I saw a second monkey jump onto the front door and launch himself into the hallway where I was standing.  My first thought was, “I really hope they don’t bite me.”

After what seemed like hours, but I’m sure it was only a few minutes, of dancing around with the monkeys, balance had been restored.  I was locked back inside my cage, and the monkeys were outside, able to wander around and look at the other tenants in The Human Zoo.

Robbed by a one-armed bandit

By definition, a bandit is “a robber, especially one who robs at gunpoint; an outlaw; a gangster; one who cheats or exploits others.”  Or if you consult a picture dictionary a bandit would probably look something like this:

The mask, gun and bag of money does not quite describe my situation.  First of all my bandit only had one arm.

A one arm bandit is actually another term used to describe a slot machine.  As far as I’m concerned though, the slot machine/one arm bandit is also a kind of robber.  As a former employee of the Vegas casinos I should never admit that view, but it is true.  Personally, I’m not a big fan of gambling because every time I do it I feel as if I’ve been robbed. Whenever friends would come visit me in Vegas I would grudgingly agree to go with them to the casino.  Of course, when I lost five dollars on my first hand I would get all bent out of shape and think to myself, “I could have just bought lunch with that money!”  That’s probably why they don’t call it gambling anymore.  Now it’s referred to as gaming.  Gambling has a negative connotation and suggests it is a vice.  By contrast, gaming refers to recreation, entertainment and amusement.

Either way, this was not my one arm bandit:

THIS was my one arm bandit:

If you couldn’t tell, look closely at his left arm.  See, no hand, and only half of that arm.

And I’m pretty sure I know how he got that way.  He stole something from someone and they chopped it off as a punishment.  However, he did not learn his lesson because he broke into my place and stole from me too!  Granted, it was an apple, but still.

Here he is escaping:

This took place in my hotel in Zim last week.  I was eating an apple, put it on the table, walked into the bathroom, came back and he was sitting on the table eating the apple.  He escaped without the apple when I showed up, but I felt bad for him, so I tossed the apple out to him so he could finish it.  I know you aren’t supposed to feed the animals, but he had already started into it, so I figured I might as well let him enjoy it.

The hotel where I was staying had at least half a dozen one-armed monkeys.  I asked around the staff and they told me there were two reasons.  Either the monkey had gotten attacked by a crocodile, of which there were many on the property and apparently this happens quite often.  Or the monkey had indeed been caught stealing and was punished for it with the loss of an arm.

Regardless of the method by which the monkeys lost their arms, they had no problem climbing trees and getting around.  They say that nature finds a way, and I think this just proves that sentiment is true.

Elephant Hills Hotel

As should be expected with travel in Africa, my trip from Gaborone to Victoria Falls was a little more exciting than I would have preferred. First the computer system at the Gaborone Airport was down, so our tickets had to be written by hand.  This wouldn’t have been such a problem except for the fact I did not have a direct flight to Zimbabwe.  I had to connect in Johannesburg, South Africa which meant when I got there I had to go through customs, exit the airport, pick up my checked bag, reenter the airport and check in separately for my connecting flight, and then go through customs and security again.

Fortunately when I arrived in Zim passport control was expecting us, so those of us here for the UNWTO conference were expedited through customs.  I think it was barely five minutes from the time I exited the plane until I was on the shuttle to my hotel. Now that is service!

I’m staying at the host hotel on the Zimbabwe side which is convenient.  Not that it makes a huge difference because about half the events are on the Zambia side, plus most of the social events are at other venues.  But being at the host hotel is nice because I don’t have to travel off-site for the first three days and I was able to register here.

Unfortunately when I tried to register for the conference there was some confusion over who I am and why I am here.  Apparently they forgot they gave me a special permit to attend, and the person who granted me that permission was not here to verify it.  Lucky for me, my charming personality went a long way and they quickly gave me credentials.  So I am in business.

Meetings start tomorrow which I’m looking forward to, but since I had some free time late this afternoon I wandered around my hotel for a bit.  My room overlooks the golf course and I saw there was a walking path, so I figured I would head in that direction.  One of the caddies approached me and asked if I wanted him to show me the animals on the course.  I figured, why not? 

On the course I saw impala and monkeys:

 Kudu:

Warthogs:

Guinea fowl:

Crocodiles:

And Waterpaks?  At least this is what my friend Vincent called them. I’m still not sure this is the correct name of this animal, but it appears to be a cross between a moose and a deer:

 

It certainly wasn’t the prettiest golf course I’ve ever seen, but it was reasonable given the environment.  Of course, there were additional obstacles here you probably wouldn’t see elsewhere.  For instance, the warthogs really like to dig up the grass, so you see these large areas of mud provide golfers with the same challenges as a sand trap, only messier.

And then of course there are the monkeys.  I watched this poor guy hit a ball, it landed, and then a monkey ran off with it.  Then the guy throws his club on the ground and shouts, “Not again!”

I suppose it could have been worse.  There could have been elephants on the course here at the Elephant Hills Hotel.

The Honeymoon

Everything has a honeymoon period, whether it is a relationship, a job or a new toy.  My honeymoon with Botswana is definitely in full swing. I actually thought to myself today, “This place is awesome.  I could stay here forever!”

I have to say, the University of Botswana really has it’s act together.  This morning I went to campus, where I met several of my colleagues in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management (THM).  THM is in the Faculty of Business (FOB).  The FOB is equivalent to a College of Business in the U.S., just a slight difference in terminology.

After my meet and greet I was taken to my new home, which IS an ACTUAL home.  I have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 story house with a backyard.  It’s much more than I expected.  And the best part is that it’s comfortable enough to accommodate guests.  Now I just need to start recruiting guests.  “GUESTS!”

The house was furnished and had most of the essentials, like plates and utensils, but was still missing a few things I needed, so we went to the mall.  The mall excursion included registering for utilities and water, as well as purchasing a few necessities, such as pillows and linens.  While at the mall we also ran in to another Fulbright professor and his wife (Phil and Brenda), both of whom have been here since January.  I was so happy to meet them as I’ve been emailing Phil with questions for a few months now and his help and advice has been invaluable.

The rest of the day included completing more paperwork, applying for my residence permit, etc.  But!  One of the highlights of my day was seeing a monkey cross the road on campus about 10 feet in front of me.  I was so shocked by this I didn’t have time to take a picture, not that I was prepared to do so anyway, but it looked similar to this:

 

All in all, I would say my first day was excellent.  Everyone has been so hospitable and welcoming.  Apparently my arrival has generated considerable excitement, interest or great pleasure, thus prompting an exclamation of surprise or wonder.  The reason I say this is because the vast majority of people who met me today greeted me and then said, “Wow.”  That reaction was very unexpected.  I’m not sure whether the definition of “wow” here in Botswana adheres to the dictionary’s meaning, but until I am told otherwise, I am content making that assumption.  Plus, I figure this just shows Botswana is having similar honeymoon-type feelings.  As Rick said to Louie in Casablanca, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”