Old Palaype

This weekend I found a small paradise of rippling water and greenery within Botswana!  

On Saturday morning I left Gaborone with three other girls on a cramped bus, holding my backpack, bound for Palapye.  After a three hour bus ride, that really wasn’t too bad we landed in palapye.  We walked across the street from the bus rank to the tourism office.  The lady there was very nice and she helped us choose between going to Moremi or Malaka.   We headed for Malaka which is a small village about twenty minutes away from Palapye.  From Malaka you can access old palapye.  It contains ruins, springs, and gorges!

We went back to the bus rank and found out where we could catch a combi to Malaka.  While waiting for the combi we bought a watermelon and broke in to it! It was delicious.   We didn’t make it on the first combi but we did successfully push our way onto the second combi.  The combi blared lil’wayne the whole way.  You never know what kind of music you’ll here in Africa.   We arrived in Malka, a small rural village and started asking around for Cisco.  Cisco was to be our guide around old Palapye.  People quickly helped us and sent us with a teenage boy to the “depot” where Cisco was.  The depot consisted of a small building with many men standing around outside drinking.  Cisco was very nice but very shy.  We worked out with him that we would camp at the old church tonight and he would meet us there in the morning.  We could then walk around the ruins and see the gorge.  With that settled, we walked back through the village, stopping to talk to two women and several children.  We left the village and walked a bit down the road where we ate lunch under a tree.  After sharing our food we continued a couple kilometers to the turn off to the trail.  We walked the trail and arrived at the old LMS church ruins.  It was really pretty.   

 

Lunch! 

After exploring a small amount we split up so that two people could set up tents and the other two could go find the water.  Audrey and I set off on the small path to the river.  We finally found the river bed but there was no water. The area itself was beautiful!  It was a gorge area with greenery!!!  There was green grass and green plants!  It was wonderful!  We started following the river bed and kept hoping for water.  The ground started to get muddier, and then we saw small streams of water.  Yet, the water was really dirty and you could tell cows walked through it often.  (There were cows all around the trials, just wandering around.  A few had cow bells; you could usually hear cow bells somewhere in the distance.)  Audrey and I were about to give up because we didn’t want to run out of daylight, when BOOM we walked into an area with a small pool of water and water coming from the rocks!  WOOO HOOO!  After a small celebratory dance we filled up all our water bottles by holding them up to the water coming from the rocks.  We added chlorine tablets to make them safe to drink.  Locals drank the water straight but after being sick for so long I was a bit paranoid.

 Camp Site!

 our water supply

After getting back to camp we lit our small cook stove and made cous cous.  It was delicious!  We added pepper, raisins, peanuts, seasoning, and a sauce packet. After stuffing ourselves with cous cous, we made bush hot chocolate.  We laid in the remains of the church, drank our hot chocolate, and looked at the stars.  Is felt great to be in the middle of nowhere, away from the hustle and bustle.   We were lucky to have a semi chili night and I was able to snuggle down in the sleeping bag when going to sleep.  We were in bed by 9pm so we must have been tired from all the walking done that day.

The next morning we got up around six am and headed to refill our water.  At the gorge, we explored a little more.  It was a great view!  After playing for a bit longer than planned, we hurried back to camp.  We ate sorghum porridge for breakfast and quickly packed up as our guide Cisco arrived.  At 9:30 we left our camp and continued to walk 300miles.  He he okay.  Not really, but we did in fact do a ton of walking that day.  We were able to see more ruins, a natural spring, and another gorge.  The sites were breath taking.   The greenery was such a nice change. We kept joking that we had left Botswana.  (In Botswana’s defense, it has been dry season here so everything has been dead.  Now that the rain has come, things are becoming green!)   We had to have walked at least 10km; I’d say a bit more.  Maybe it felt like more because we had our packs and we were walking through loose sand.  Our hike ended back in Malaka Village.  We thanked our guide profusely and jumped on a combi to head back to old Palapye.   The guides are provided free of charge.  I think he is paid by the government of Botswana to lead around tourist.  The hills that we hiked are considered sacred by the people there and it is believed that the ancestors are still in the hills.  I think the guide keeps people from getting lost but also ensures that the hills will be respected. 

Spring near our campsite

 Cool Plant!

Refilling our water supply on our hike

 GRASS!

This is what most of our trail looked like!  Sand, Sand, Sand! 

In Palaype we went to the grocery store and bought cold drinks and ice cream!  It was refreshing.  We debated on the idea of staying at a hostel that night in Palapye or heading back to gabs.  In the end we decided to be responsible and head back to Gabs so that we could attend class Monday morning.  The bus ride back to Gabs was interesting.  It was one of the nicest buses I’ve been on.  We watched two movies and I had plenty of leg room.  Still, when we got to gabs I was more than ready to get off the bus!  We took a taxi back to UB and went to Michelle's room to cook dinner.  We used our small cook stove to fix pasta.  We added soy mince, pasta sauce, and feta cheese.  YUM!    I stumbled back to my room, took a long shower, and was asleep by 10!  

It was a wonderful weekend!  I’m so glad that I got to explore for a bit. It’s always a nice change to get out of the city.  We didn’t have to pay much either.  We paid 58pula for the bus each way, 8pula for the combi each way, and then we tipped our guide.   Not including food, we only spent around 132 pula which is just above 20 bucks!  Woo Hoo. 

Hope you all had a great weekend too!  I’m sorry for not posting more often! 

Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday!

Today is not only Halloween but it is also the birthday of one of the most amazing people I know!  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSIE CALHOUN!!

I had the luck of meeting this hard-working, determined, wonderful woman when I was ten years old while doing volunteer work.  She's been my friend, family, mentor, employer, cheerleader, hero, and inspiration for the past many years.  Thanks to her, countless numbers of dogs and cats have found new homes.  She also has quite a way with people and caring for them.  If I can be even half as amazing as her one day, I'll be satisfied!  You know those people who come into your life and shape you and make you a better person?  Well, for me she's it!  I could easily write an essay about this woman and how important she is to me (believe me, I've done it more than once) but I'll stop here. 

So cheers to you Rosie! I love you so much and am so grateful to have you in my life!  

I hope you have a wonderful Birthday! Here's to great year ahead! 

Living the Good Life

Well Folks,

 I've had another great weekend here in Gabs! It's hard not to have a good time when you've got time to do whatever your heart desires.  I think that's one of the great things about being here.  I don't have many commitments or responsibilities.  No job, not much school work, no club responsibilities.  If I want to volunteer at the vet clinic, I go.  If I want to sit and talk with a roomful of people, I do it.  If I want to just walk somewhere, I can.   I know what you are thinking... "Well isn't that nice, she's getting spoiled and that's not the real world.  In the real world you have jobs and responsibilities and you can't always do what you want."  Well, I agree.  I'm spoiling myself. I'm making the most of my time here. I'm learning and experiencing all that I can.  I have no problem going home to my life and my responsibilities, but I can go back with a fresh perspective now!

There are some people in the study abroad program who really aren't enjoying their time.  They don't like gabs, they don't like their classes, and they just aren't enjoying their time here.  This is just sad to me.  I feel like you should make the best of what you have.  This is such a good opportunity and there is so much you could do here.  If you don't like your classes, fine.  I understand, but get involved with other stuff.  Don't just sit in your room and sulk about it!!  I feel like it's about your perspective and attitude.  If you believe that this city is boring and horrible, then it will be.  I of course understand that everyone gets a little homesick and misses certain things.  I mean shoot, I would love Starbucks right now!  (Yes, that's a bit embarrassing to admit but just thinking of those pumpkin lattes... yummmmm)  Yet, what about all the things you won't have when you go back home? For example, papatas and pap and combis!     

Okay, Okay.  That was a side vent.  I guess what I'm saying is you need to enjoy where you are, when you are there.  Life's too short not to.  Open your eyes and realize all the stuff you do in fact have! 

As for my weekend...... Awesome!

Nora and I went to the vet Saturday morning.  It was pretty busy and we got to see quite a bit.  A dog came in with a dog bite on his leg.  It was all swollen and infected and we had to rinse it out.  Lot's of nasty fluid and even one maggot!  Interesting indeed! (Don't worry, my roommate wasn't as excited about this either.  You are allowed to scrunch your nose.)  We left around one and went to main mall, where Nora got a fish sandwich from Bimbo's.  It is a little fast food place with yucky, greasy food.  It's open 24hours so really I think it's popular for party people who want a snack after drinking. 

That afternoon, I took a two hour nap, played on my computer, and went for a run.  My run was okay but kind of pathetic compared to what I was running before I got sick.  It was amazing how much difference I could feel.  Sigh.  oh well.  Just jump back on the horse.  I took a shower and then got to skype my mom and cat!  B- LITTLEEEEE!!!  He's such a NICE cat.  I miss him!  And of course, it was great to talk to my beautiful, smart, amazing mother.  ;P 

I then went off to watch a movie.  We watched Step Up 2.  Oh what a quality film.  he he okay maybe not.  But it was the right movie to watch before going out.  I was ready to go take on some dance competition where I could show off my mad dance skills.  Oh yes,  my dance moves are really quite something.....  I met up with a group in the dorms and then we all headed to Bull and Bush.  We were met by a surprise... a LIVE alternative rock band!   They were actually pretty good!  There were people around the stage doing the typical head banging motion.  It was great, so entertaining.  I had to join in.  It felt so out of place in Africa.  After the band ended, another band that was purely instrumental played for a bit.  They weren't my favorite.  It was heavy metal and no singing.  I want someone to serenade me!  Finally, the typical dj started and we were able to dance for a good hour before the place closed.   I again got to enjoy watching people dance.  I think I'm getting their typical leg movement down.  But who knows....  It's fun, never less.

Sunday,  I awoke early and met a group to head to BSPCA.  It was fun because three new people came!  Fresh meat!  At the shelter we walked dogs, socialized a pen full of dogs, played with kittens, and snuggled puppies. There were even more kittens than last time.  SOOO many.  I wonder how they adopt them all out.  Today, was a bit sad because I noticed a lot of health issues.  Many of the dogs had bloody ears from where flies bite them and then they scratch at their ears.  The puppies were crawling with lice.  The kittens had an array of problems from suspicious ringworm looking spots to infectious eyes.  I hate to call the shelter out.  I know they do great work and I also know running a shelter on a limited budget is an extremely hard job.  Yet, it's important to realize and see problems shelters face.  Hopefully, these things will work themselves out for the best.   I got a good dose of pet love and felt refreshed! 

We started our walk back to BBM mall from the shelter as the BSPCA van was parked and showing no signs of leaving anytime soon. Yet, our dependable BSPCA van driver came along and picked us up not long into our walk.  I informed him he was quickly becoming one of our favorite people because he has given us a ride the last several times.  He laughed us off and told us his name was the old man.  Well old man, we sure are appreciative!!  (This is again just another example of how I keep meeting wonderful people!)

From BBM mall, we took two combis to game city.  We met up with a study group at Mugg and Bean. I had a delicious meal and read a few magazines instead of studying.  It was awesome.  From Mugg and Bean, we hit the grocery store and then headed to the graduate dorms.  We made a big salad and baked cookies.  The peanut butter cookies were pretty good but our chocolate chip cookies turned out a bit odd tasting.  The good news is we aren't picky!  Our classmate Zim, made us a type of flat bread.  I can't recall the name of it.  It was delicious.  Next time we decided we are going to buy hummus and make a meal out of it! Sadly, our baking time came to an end and we headed back to our dorms to be productive. 

We'll this is me being productive!  I'm updating you guys!  I hope you find all my rambling somewhat entertaining.  I've got two and a half weeks of of classes, two more days at Mokolodi, and around five weeks left in my dorm.  Tick tock, tick tock.  I'm living it up!

Love you all! 
Keep living the good life. 
 

Fun Filled Friday

Today was a great day!

This morning in french we decided the test should be in two weeks instead of one!  YAY!

My ecology lab got out early! woo hoo!

I spent my lunch time stalking, I mean reading, blogs from people currently in vet school.

I then attempted to go to the pool but it was closed so I had to settle for chatting with friends.  I know, I know.  It's been a difficult day.

Around three I headed to main mall with Nora.  We picked up a new pair of flip flops for her and a lollipop for me.  We actually had a younger boy ask us for money at main mall.  Occasionally, you do have people who ask you for money.  I believe it's the color of our skin.  It's so hard to tell them no, especially when they just saw me buy a lollipop.  Yet, if we gave them money we'd be reinforcing the idea that white people have lots of money.  I keep meaning to write a post on my experiences with this. 

Next stop was the vet clinic.  It was a pretty slow afternoon so we spent most of the time socializing with the vets and assistants. I did help to clean microscope slides, cages, and messy puppies.  I wasn't completely useless!  Have I mentioned how much I like this place?

Around six thirty, Nora and I headed out.  We had plans to see a movie at riverwalk at 8:00/8:30 so we decided to just head there and eat before the movie.  We went to the combi stop where taxi's frequently hang out.  After haggling the price from 40 pula to 30 pula, we took a taxi to riverwalk.  We ate at Nando's and I had a pineapple chicken sandwich and spinach.  This was the first time I'd had meat in a longggg time and actually the first time I've had veggies in quite a bit too.  It was one of my first real meals I've had since being sick.  Very satisfying!  I went to the grocery store and picked up a couple of groceries and snacks for the movie.  I had to get bananas and peanut butter because I was out and those are my staples!   I also may have picked up some sour gummy worms for the movie.  :)  Finally, we met several other girls and headed in to see Taken 2. The movie was pretty good.  It's definitely a "shoot em up, bang, bang" kind of movie as my mom would say. It cost 40 pula (which is about 5/6 dollars). 

Now, I'm laying in bed about to crash.  I indeed spoiled myself today and it was great.  I've actually finally began to miss certain things from home (LIKE PANERA BREAD) so it was refreshing to get food out and go to a movie.  In the morning I'm headed back to the vet clinic!  Can't wait!

Life is good
Peace and Love! 

(Oh and just a side note.  I procrastinated most of yesterday and finally started working on a lab report in the evening.  Just as I was getting to my discussion and needed to do some research, the internet went out.   I simply went to bed and got up at 6am.  The internet was still out.  I then just made up stuff the best I could and turned in my paper today.   Reason #384 why it's bad to procrastinate.  Times like these makes me more appreciative of my reliable, fast internet at home! )

As time flies

Dear Africa, you never cease to entertain me.  Dear new mokolodi volunteer, it was great talking to you.  I always enjoy sharing stories. I'm still being amazed by the people I'm meeting here.   Dear butternut squash soup, you may have been the best part of my day.  It's been awhile since I've had something so delicious.  Dear Rebecca, thanks for making me walk from Railpark to UB.  It's always a great walk.  Dear hot shower, you felt amazing after an unusually cold day.  Dear Africa, have I mentioned lately how glad I am to be here?

Sorry!

Hi There!

I'm touching base!  I know it's been awhile.  I've been down and out with some kind of bug since last Monday.  Turns out it wasn't food poisoning.  I finally went to the doctor yesterday.  You may wonder why I waited a week to go to the doctor, well I'm a bit of an odd ball.  I really prefer not to take medicine if I can help it.

Regardless, I went to the med clinic on campus yesterday and it turned out to be a disaster.  I had to rip apart a school notebook because they required a clean notebook to write in.   I waited 3.5 hours in "line" to see someone.  I then saw a "doctor."  This doctor did not understand me when I told him I drank unfiltered water over break and I thought I had some kind of parasite.  Nor, did he quite grasp that I was taking malaria medication that I brought from home.  After examining me, which required lifting my shirt up several times, he decided my malaria medicine was the root of all my problems and that I should stop taking it.  No worries, I "probably" wouldn't get malaria.  He prescribed me antibiotics for my cough (which is minimal) and allergy medicine for my runny nose.  My head cold is the least of my worries.  It jumped on me because my immune system has been down.  Eish!!  It was very frustrating.  When I left there, it was the closet I've been to breaking down while here in Botswana.  I went back to my room, had a cup of hot chocolate, talked to my mom, and took a nap.  You can't get a much better cure for frustration than that.   Now, I am taking the ciproflaxin that my doctor from home prescribed me. I really wanted to save it in case I needed it for my month travels after school, but oh well.  Hopefully now I can get better and eat normal without feeling like I want to throw everything back up!  The fun parts of traveling........

So please forgive me for not keeping my blog updated well.  I've been sleeping at least 12 hours a day.  Since I've updated last, I've stayed on my regular routine.  I went to the vet clinic on Friday and Monday.  I enjoyed it as always.  I spent my weekend studying for my test that I had last night.   It was two short answer questions and one essay.  I felt pretty good about it, but I worry because her grading is so tricky! 

As far as weather goes, it is getting pretty toasty here but storms quite frequently.  The thunderstorms here are magnificent.  They produce loud rolling thunder and large lighting.  When it rains, it pours!  Luckily, it tends to storm in the afternoon so I am usually already in my dorm.  Although today I got caught running through the rain.  It was refreshing at least! 

The mosquitos have moved in at full force.  It's been especially bad the last couple nights. I've got mosquito bites up and down my arms and legs.  Last night, I broke down and put on bug spray.  I feel that is going to be part of my common routine now. 

I found out my exam schedule.  I have four exams but they are spaced from the beginning to the end.  Therefore, I can't travel during those two weeks.  Darn!  I will be starting my traveling on November 30th.  I can't wait!!!

I hope you all are well!

Food Poisoning

Yep Folks,
It's true.  I finally got caught by food poisoning.  I guess that every foreigner needs to run into it at some point.  It's the unavoidable. 

I'm choosing to blame the sketchy pizza I ate at spar on Sunday, although really it could have been anything.  But, no more pizza for Kaylee. 

I've been sick enough to stay in bed all Monday and Tuesday. I think I've slept over half of the last 60ish hours.   I'm feeling better today but still not quite 100% so I didn't venture to Mokolodi.  Boo!  I crawled out of bed this morning to sneak into the laundry facilities.  I heard they opened at 7:30, so when I arrived at 7:30 I felt for sure there would be a machine open.  NOPE!  I had to hop in line and hope for the best.  Luckily, I picked the right machines and had my clothes washed pretty quick. Now my room and the common area are covered with my clothes as they air dry. 

Yesterday, I did drop off my passport at the international office.  I now officially have a residency waiver.  They can't kick me out! Yay!  The only issue I can see is that it runs out December 20th.  I hope they let me back into the country so I can fly out on January 9th!  Oh Boy!

I'm going to continue to chill out today and hopefully start studying for my test Monday.  There is a lot of stuff I need to memorize.  No bueno. 

I'll end with a picture of some really good looking friends of mine.  Oh yeah....That's nice.

Pepperoni, Blackjack, and Bashful