Back when I left Zambia, it was a wetter, tropical climate. The farther towards Gaberone I have flown it has become more dry. Even at the slow speed of our turtle plane, I am able to see these huge changes within a 7-8 hour flight. I am now starting to see land that looks like it could be from the Sahara Desert. The natural beauty fascinates me. Many times I have try to memorize the topography as I go along. I want to remember it all – what the land and geography of each place was like.
Down below I notice that things are starting to looking very remote and isolated. I see a few mining locations here and there and a few ranches strewn about, but most of it is no man’s land. Communications with the air traffic controllers sometimes doesn’t even exist for hours at a time. This definitely could be an ugly situation if I were to have any technical problems. Right now, I’m thinking about how grateful I am that I was able to fuel up on quality AVGAS back in Zambia and that the plane has no more mechanical problems. Otherwise, I would make a nice lunch for our friend the Lion King.
During this flight, I have been able to fly near several different territorial airspaces. Because I did not get pre-approval to fly over Zimbabwe, I had to instead fly around their boundaries and head in a more southwest direction. At one point, I was literally in the middle of four different airspaces. Behind me lay Zambia, ahead of me Botswana. To my right was Namibia and on my left, Zimbabwe. What a strange feeling to be right in the middle of four different countries. And to top it off, not far to my right was also the Angolan airspace.
Needless to say, before touching land here in Botswana, I already feel at peace. Just knowing that I’m dealing with friendlier aviation officials makes me excited to be here. I am in love with this country already, especially with all of the knowledge that I have gained about it from local people already. I already know that I’m going to a place known for big, wild animals can be hunted for game. I know that this country is just a little bit smaller than Texas, but that it only has about half of the people that we do in Kosovo. The landscape here is very much like it would be in the New Mexico, Arizona and Texas area of the USA. The big difference of course, is that the US doesn’t have a lot of rhinos and elephants running around like they do here.
It feels good just to be able to enjoy nature up here in our plane and not have to deal with any of the details that you do on the ground. Even despite some of the suffering that our trip entails, I often stop to think just how grateful I am to be able to experience so many wonderful places and locations on this wonderful planet earth that we live. Like now – I am a few hours outside of Gaberone and spot some wildlife underneath my wings. I fly lower so that I can check it out and low and behold, I see ostriches. It surprised me to see them and I laughed out loud because here I thought that ostriches were some big bird that only lived in Australia. I never dreamed that I would see them here in Africa, but there they are, a bunch of them down there, just enjoying nature So many groups of them down there just running around wild and free all over the place.
I can already tell that I wouldn’t mind visiting here as a tourist. It’s a sad story that I can’t stay here longer to experience ‘real’ Africa. I’ll be sure to do in the next time around when I don’t have other important obligations to fulfill. The locals tell me that there are a lot of big wild animals here to hunt and I would love to see more of them. I hear that there are a lot of game reserves down here that you can pay big money to visit.
A lot of those reserves are inside the great Kalahri Desert, which is over 350 square miles large) and covers much of Botswana and even parts of Namibia and South Africa. There are some animals and plants that live inside the area because it’s not all a true desert. Surrounding the actual Kalahari is the Kalahari Basin which covers another 970,000 square miles (that’s about as big as the Sudan, or the Mediterranean Sea). That makes tons of room here for animal to roam around and not be bothered. I hear that there are also many kinds of birds and reptiles here, and things like lions, elephants, giraffes, warthogs, antelope – even animals like hyenas and camel. No wonder people have been hunting here or 20,000 years or so.
Though definitely not due to the climate, this place reminds me a lot of where I lived in Alaska when I was working as a bush pilot. Up there, you could also fly for hours and not see one single person on the ground below. Also like Alaska, there are many wild animals and people still live off of the land. Up there, it was the Eskimo cultures that existed for thousands of years and down here there are Bushmen, or San people with a similar culture of kinship.
The local tribes here still live in a very primitive way, sometimes using tools that have existed for thousands of years. The local housing is usually a hut of some sort and the most important thing in daily living is finding food and water. Like many native people, the San people have recently been asked to relocate away from the land and move into settlements. There has been a lot of disagreement about that down here and both sides have argued about the ability of the native people to hunt within land that has been deemed a reserve. The Bushmen have legally won back their right to hunt, but in 08 the United Nations Human Rights Council still criticized Botswana’s government for not allowing certain bushmen to return. On top of that, there’s also been a lot of fighting over water since the government initially prohibited access to it during the relocation. That right has also been fought for and won back in court.
Other people have also tried to exploit the rights of the local natives. A pharmecuetical company recently tried to trademark a local plant down there known as hoodia. There reason: it seems to work for weight loss. That too, has been argued in the local courts and a benefit-sharing agreement was able to be reached with the San people.
Back to our flight. I’ve been making good progress today and things have been going well. As hard as try though, I always seem to be finding myself flying after dark. Though I get up early and hurry around, by the time I finish at the airport and start my flight, I am often approaching my destination post sunset. Tonight, it feels okay though because I know that I am flying to a friendly part of the world where laws and aviation have meaning.
The air traffic controllers are friendly already, checking in with me every 10-15 minutes or so as I’m approach an hour or so outside of Gaberone. I’m impressed to learn that my progress is being tracked by radar. And just to be nice, the controllers also point out some obstacles that I may encounter next to the airport upon landing. What a treat to be well taken care of my friends.
After my nearly 8 hour flight, I have landed safely on the ground and secured the airplane. In less than 10 minutes (record time), I am out of the airport and on my way to the hotel. The customs people were fantastic and I already am starting to get the warm, comforting feeling of good old customer service. It’s been so long since I’ve experienced it down here where everyone would like to get your money immediately and send you on your way.
The airport looked great. Very clean and new looking, functional, high ceilings, electricity and my favorite part: a functional air conditioning system. If you remember, when I landed in Bangu, Central African Republic it was shocking to know that I had landed in the country’s capital airport and there was no electricity or air conditioning, with only half of the runway lights working on top of it. I’m pretty grateful right now that Gaberone doesn’t have the electricity shortage that they had, as I am basking in the coolness of the air conditioning.
The taxi ride from the airport was a joy. I had a strong sense of being in a place like my home in El Paso because of the sights and sounds that I was experiencing. Since I had heard that the hotels are a bit more expensive here, I opted to head towards a bed and breakfast instead. It turned out to be an excellent place, very nice looking, secure and comfortable with a great team. I am again impressed with the focus on customer service.
I needed a good night’s rest before starting work first thing in the morning and I slept like a baby my friends as I fell asleep to the natural sounds of the crickets and birds singing their nightly songs. What a joy to wake up to as well. After a great breakfast I was ready to tackle a full day of hard work.
One of the lodge workers had volunteered to drive me around for the day which was very kind of him. We drove directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that I could hand deliver Vlora’s letter. The office team was very friendly and radiated this wonderful energy throughout the entire building. I was guided toward Mr. Tshepo Mogotsi, the private secretary of the Minister. He had a wonderful personality and is very down to earth. For being in his early 30’s, I am quite surprised by his knowledge about the world and our country. He knew our history very well and reports being approached many times already about recognizing our independence. It was such a pleasure to meet with him, especially knowing that his country has been taking our situation very seriously. We spent over thirty minutes deeply discussing the details of my country.
It’s the second day that I feel great about being in this country. The people that I meet continue to be wonderful, they are all so happy and willing to help out with a smile. I was not disappointed with this when I went to the media. What an amazing feeling to be in such a liberal country after being in so many of them recently who don’t allow their media to express what they would like without government interference. Here, the journalists are able to do their job and utilize their knowledge and expertise.
The wonderful team at Gabz radio, 96.2 FM were a happy crowd. Ms. Tshepo Ntshole and Mr. Thebe Mogapi were able to do a live interview with me, which is always a treat. Another live interview that I will never forget was with radion Yarona, 106.6 FM. They were very professional and the team had a lot of energy. Thank you to the boss, Mr. Uyapo Khupe, the “Big Duke” who authorized my interview with “Ms. B”, Bonolo Seone and “Dollar Mac”, Kgosi Kgosidintsi. I will remember those two for a long time to come.
The team at Mmegi newspaper were all awesome. Mr. Titus Mbuya was the managing editor who authorized my interview with another editor and journalist Mr. Tshireletso Motlogelwa and Mr. Ephraim Keoreng. At the government newspaper The Botswana Daily News, Ms. Amogelang Makgabenyana and Mr. Thamani Shabani were both wonderful. Thanks also to the editor at Echo Newspaper, Tomeletso Sereets. He authorized my interview with their reporter Mr. Tshwarelo Motsomi. Mr. Joseph Tononoka Whande was very knowledgeable about Kosovo at the Sunday Standard newspaper and he assigned news editor Mr. Botlhale Koothupile, who gave me a great and in-depth interview. Finally, the team at ‘BG’, Botswana Guardian, Mr. Lawrence Tsondai and Ms. Phemelo Ramasu were also quite nice.
It was also a pleasure for me to see the booming construction that is going on in this country. Though this country is also rich in things like diamonds and minerals (similar to the last few countries that I’ve visited), it is currently trying to broaden it’s focus into becoming a tourist destination and the next innovation hub of Africa. Unlike some of the other countries with the same type of natural wealth, Botswana has actually chose to help out its people rather than put the profits from those resources into the pockets of its elite. Instead of all of the money going into an account somewhere in Switzerland or France, half of the mining industry here is owned by the government and they are actually using some of the money to work towards things like conserving the land and address the substantial drought and desertification that the country is currently facing.
Botswana, you have won my heart with your friendly, hard working and service oriented culture. I have to admit that this is actually the first country since I’ve left Northern Africa where making sure that the customer is taken care of actually has meaning instead of just worrying about getting paid. This is a remarkable country and one in which I actually wouldn’t mind living for awhile. God Bless you all.
The next country for me will be Namibia.
Mmegi online
Mmegi PDF
was just listening to your interview on YaronaFM and I’m impressed. Thanks for recognizing Botswana and stopping by. You are so brave. Goodluck James