Trip to Botswana - March 25th 2010

Our indefatigable cousin Jane picked us up to go on a trip to Botswana. Left on Thursday and stayed over the weekend till Monday. We stayed with Jane's friends Joy and Willie Crosbie in their lovely home near Gaborone. We also met their daughters Amy and Alice. Amy had just returned fom a period in the UK and Alice came home on Uni break.

The drive up there was interesting as we went on a secondary road through villages. We did take the scenic route, meaning that we made a wrong turn and saw a bit more of the country, which was good for us as we didn't mind the drive. Saw4 donkeys harnessed up to pull a cart, many goats grazing on the side of the road, circular mud houses with thatched roof, and fences made with stripped branches.

Joy and Willie were very welcoming and live right near the Mokolodi game park, just outside Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana. It is a fabulous double story house with a thatched roof and they have a well established lovely garden which is a combination of English/ African.The second day there, Joy took us on a tour of the district and we saw where David Livingstone had originally had his house and church. We also saw the church which was built to commemorate Joys Father, Dr Alfred Merriweather, who had come to Botswana as a medical missionary from Scotland, in 1944 (see the book - Desert Doctor Remembers) He was amedical Doctor and he established a clinic then a hospital in the township of Molepolole (about 65 km NW of Gaborone) Mary, his wife also started a school there in 1986 (The Shepherd English Medium School.She started with 5 students at first, but it has grown over the years and now the school has over 500 students, plus 60 Pre-schoolers. . We were able to have a tour of the school and met many of the lively and interested students as we walked around to different classrooms. The kids had a great time playing up to us and the teachers were very gracious even though we were obviously interrupting their lessons. Trees separated the classrooms and made the whole area very attractive as well as adding shade. They had a good computer lab where we met two students and a teacher. We also saw them practising a performance of an Easter play.Mary was very welcoming and invited us to have lunch with her in her lovely home which is next to the school grounds. She is still runs the school with the assistance of her foster daughter Ella who is married to Tinto a helicopter pilot and PC 7 Pilot in the Botswana Defence Force. Jack had a good chat to Tinto who is a very experienced pilot and Instructor. The whole school had a lovely atmosphere.

That night Joy and Willie had invited many of their friend to dinner so we had another lovely social occasion and a chance to meet more locals. It happened to be World Environment Day so at 9.00pm we had all lights out and just went with candles for the hour that it was to be around the world. The following day, Willie and Joy, took us into the game park for a drive in the late afternoon. We stood up on the back of their 4x4 ute truck holding on the crash bar and went looking for animals in the park. We saw Wilderbeast, Antler ,Cheetah, Wart Hogs, Hippos, who make suchweird noises,guinea fowl,Kudu, and the neck of a giraffe.It was also a beautiful sunset.I had to keep pinching myself as it did not seem real.

The following day we went to a luncheon with many of the friends, for a birthday brunch at the Ladies No1 Detective AgencyRestaurant, ( for those who have read the book set in Botswana) which was set under big spreading trees. Really delightful.

Then home for a swim and relax beside the pool. What a weekend.

The final day ended with a special treat for Jack as we went into Gabarone to Willie's business. He had arranged for Jack to drive an excavator as he hasa business dealing with huge earth moving equipment.It really was boys' toys. So Jack had one of his bucket list things of driving an excavator fulfilled.