Our First Trip Out of Shakawe

Dumela!

How is everyone one on this Monday morning/very early morning, depening on where you are when you are reading this.

Walking across the 'Old Bridge'

It has been a little while since I have blogged so I will start with updates from last weekend ( Nov 2-4).  Heather and I travelled to Maun as our first real trip out of Shakawe. It was a nice change of scenery and it was nice to be able to go to a restaurant and have a sit down meal. We stayed at Old Bridge Backpackers; it was a very nice place to stay. I bought a tent before I came to Botswana so we camped while we were there. Although the ground was a little hard, it saved us a lot of money which is always good.  I am going to look into a foam pad when we are in Maun next because that would make the sleep much better.

My very own tent! : )

By coincidence we met up with three other Canadian volunteers who came through WUSC and who did the orientation at the same time as us in Gabs.  It was a nice surprise and it was nice to catch up with them and to see how their first two months of placement has gone.

On Friday we walked around Maun and looked in some Craft Shops and looked at some local vendors along the road. There were a lot of nice things, and if I didn’t have to think about how I would get it home in 6 months I might have purchased a few more items. I got a really cool painted fabric that I now have hanging on my wall at home; it gives my room a little colour.

Notice the Giraffe in the Background

Saturday was nice, we read by the river, walked around Maun a little more and then we went on a horseback ride. It was a really awesome experience! We got within 3 metres of lots of different animals, the most exciting being the family of giraffes. Because we were on horseback, the giraffes weren’t as scared of us. We also saw springboks, gemsboks, kudu, ostriches and a few others. It was a really nice activity and we did it just before sunset so it was a nice setting too.

Enjoying a Local Botswana Beer - 'St. Louis Export'

Sunday we hung out and had breakfast and then Heather and I went to this little market called Mosana. Although it was clearly targeted to the ex-pat and the tourist community, it was very nice. There was a little farmers market outside and an assortment of stores inside.  I had breakfast and a chocolate milkshake: both were delicious.

From there we went back to the hostel, packed up our stuff and headed to the bus station. We did not know when the bus was leaving, but we got there and a bus left ten or so minutes later so it was perfect timing.  The bus ride from Maun to Shakawe was about 6 and a half hours so needless to say we were very hot and tired by the time we arrived home.

It was a nice weekend out of Shakawe but it also felt nice when we got back to our houses, showered and got into bed. Guess this place is starting to feel like home after all.