The Real World Gaborone...installment one.

This is the true story of five strangers, picked to live in a house, work together and have their lives taped, to find out what happens when people stop being polite... and start getting real. This is the Real World, Gaborone.

Any MTV Real World Fans out there? Cause sometimes I feel like I’m living the tv show in real life, minus the tv cameras…although if MTV is reading, you really should consider us…

We’ve got all the right characters (names have been changed to protect their privacy).

Jr. – a mid-20’s Toronto boy, born and bred. Accountant by trade. On this project to travel and try something different. Nurse/student girlfriend at home.

Trevor – an early 30’s guy from the Caribbean. Completed a number of these types of projects before in different countries. Single

Tina – a late 30’s/early 40’s Caribbean woman who has lived and worked with Trevor on projects in different countries. Single

Jenny – a late 30’s/early 40’s woman from Vancouver. Common-law Life partner at home.

And me. LuckyCdnGirl. Accustomed to travel but never been to Africa.

For those of you who don’t know The Real World series, what basically happens is 7 strangers get thrown into an amazing location and are given a job. They live together for approximately 4 months. In our situation, none of us knew each other except for Trevor and Tina who worked together previously, we are all on the project for various lengths of time. We also have two other houses of people but “Real world Gaborone” will focus only on “Casa Maria” as we call our house (named after the owner of the house we’re renting).

This morning at Casa Maria…

After a run and yoga or a morning swim and shower, I come down the stairs and into the kitchen. I am met by Trevor and Tina who have just arrived from the gym.

“Hey LuckyCdnGirl!”, Trevor says, “I’ve got photographic evidence!”

I lean in and take a look at Trevor’s phone.

He’s got a photo of Tina being chatted up by the cute Chinese restaurant owner guy that she’s been interested in but will do nothing about.

Teasing of Tina ensues!

This only to be stopped by Jr’s arrival in the kitchen.

“My milk smells bad,” he says as he takes his cereal into the dining room.

Trevor and I continue teasing Tina, asking her if she’ll invite him to join us for the Valentine’s dinner we are having at Chinese guy’s family restaurant.

Jr. returns to the kitchen.

“Expletive! Expletive! Expletive! My milk is bad. There goes breakfast!”, he says as he throws the cereal in the trash and asks, “Why doesn’t milk last long in this country?”

Trevor pipes up something about the lack of preservatives while Jr. mentions how he keeps milk in his fridge at home for a month…(a month??? Where is he buying his milk?)

Cut to the arrival of Winnie. Our maid. She tidies our home on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. She cleans our rooms on a rotation and while she does have a salary, we give her extra money to do our laundry. Today is my day and Tina’s day to get our rooms cleaned and laundry done.

“So, really Jenny, you really let Winnie wash your delicate unmentionables?”, I ask, (til now I’ve been taking them to a local laundry mat).

“Yes. There is no problem. Winnie does a good job on them.”

“Okay…thanks…” I respond.

“…but, you never know, maybe she let’s Curtis play with them!”

“What?!”

Curtis is our “house boy.” He comes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to deal with the outside of the house, the plants, the grass, the pool. He is the cutest Motswana (singular for a person from Botswana) you’ve ever seen.

Just yesterday after work, I was considering jumping in the pool for a cool down.

Jr. was laying out by the pool reading (as usual) and sipping on a g&t (our regular drink – gin & tonic, mostly because someone said the quinine in the tonic fights malaria…not that Gaborone is a malaria area…). I went back in the house and chatted with Jenny…when Jr. came in saying it was a good I hadn’t yet jumped in the pool because Curtis had shocked it this afternoon and it wasn’t going to be ready for 5 days…5 days?! No way! I ran out to find Curtis…

“Curtis! Curtis!” I called.

Curtis appeared in only his shorts, arms crossed, covering his bare chest.

“Hi Miss LuckyCdnGirl.”

“Curtis, can we really NOT use the pool for 5 days?!”

“Not 5 days mma (how you address women in Setswana, kind of like saying miss). I put chemicals in the pool today.”

“So can I swim tomorrow morning?”

“…maybe no…”

“So tomorrow after work?”

“…I think maybe Friday.”

“Okay Curtis. Thank you! Have a good night.”

I think the best part of that interaction was Curtis standing there, with his arms crossed in front of him. Poor guy. I shoulda just let him dress and go home in peace…

And so ends this installment of the Real World Gaborone. Stay tuned for more.

I would definitely appreciate comments!

Thanks friends!

Peculiarities of Living in Botswana

A perfect Sunday evening sunset...

Random Blackouts

We lost power at some point last night, which, has been a rather usual situation. (In the time I’ve been here, we’ve experienced about half a dozen to a dozen blackouts). The house we live in does not have central air, it has a water cooling system, which kind of cools the house a bit, but is in no way like having air conditioning! I purchased a fan to keep my bedroom cool, so that was my only indication that we had lost power in the middle of the night. I think what woke me was a little bird outside my window who was trying to get in!

Anyway- by 6am, the power was still out. Luckily on my “workout” schedule, I had already planned to go for a swim this morning, which was nice, because when there’s no power in the house, there’s no water (pump doesn’t run!). My housemates went to the gym as usual, probably thinking that they could get showers there – no such luck, the power was out at the gym also! Luckily, power came back on just in time for breakfast!

You know how this story ends right? We get to work at our regular time and – sure enough, the power goes out! I have less than an hour of time left on my laptop battery. And as I write this, there is no internet connectivity (hope it comes back soon!).

"Oh you know, just taking the family out for a
Sunday afternoon shop at the grocery store"

Road Traffic Accidents

So before you start to worry – I am fine. My colleagues are all fine. We are ok!

On Monday this week, we were involved in an RTA as they are referred to here in Gaborone. We were literally moments away from the office when we heard a big crash behind us, followed by us being hit.It was quite a hard impact, but luckily we are fine and there was only minimal damage to the car. The entire experience was more a shock to our system than anything. And the follow up process in dealing with the local authorities was something that is still on-going two days later.

You know how at home you ensure everyone is ok, then start taking down information for everyone involved, then go on your way to file the paperwork? Not here. Here the police arrive, talk to everyone, take notes and try and understand what happened. Then you go to the police station, wait for everyone involved to get there, then you all take your vehicles to another location to get a thorough check. (The accident happened at about 830am, by the time the vehicle inspection was complete it was about 1230pm). Next you go back to the police station to “hash out” with everyone involved what exactly happened. Then the police officers take time to deliberate and finally, return to read the verdict to everyone. By the time all the paperwork was signed it was about 3:30pm.

We were not at fault. We were hit by a car who was hit by a car who was trying to change lanes…That made a truck, who was trying to evade colliding with the lane changing car, to hit another car and end up in oncoming traffic! We were very lucky no one was hurt!

We are the white car in front of the blue Ford. The red car is the one that caused the RTA by trying to change lanes.

Safari Time! (Madikwe Reserve, South Africa)

Super Excited to be on Safari!!!

The LION KING! :)

Approaching Madikwe Game Reserve

UPDATE: Want to see more pix? Check out my Flipagram at Cherrie's Safari pix in 30 seconds! 

Have you ever been lucky enough to go on safari?

It is the most incredible experience!

Being upclose and personal with the animals – Totally indescribable…but I will try.

We stayed at Tau Lodge in the Madikwe Reserve in South Africa.

Madikwe is 75000 hectares big!

It's one of the largest game reserves in South Africa and they have both the "Big 5" and the "Magnificient 7".

The Big 5 are: the lion, rhino, leopard, elephant and buffalo... 

And the wild dog and cheetah and you've got the magnificent 7.

(We got to see the magnificent 7 minus the leopard...which apparently is the hardest to find.)

While at the lodge, our stay included two game drives daily. One early in the morning and one in the evening.

Each day worked like this:

5am - wake up call

5am-530am - tea/coffee/muffins

530- 9am - game drive

9am - breakfast

1pm - lunch

430pm - afternoon tea

5 - 8pm - game drive

8pm - dinner

They look like busy days - but you have the FULL day between game drives to go back to sleep, go to the spa, go to the pool...etc. 

Tau had amazing huts/chalets that we stayed in.

All of the "huts" backed a watering hole where animals come by to drink.

There were tons of waterbuck antelope and zebras that went by - but one of the afternoons I also saw three wort hogs! That was so cool!

I was eye to eye with these animals, probably about 20 ft apart…

The only thing that separates us is an electrified fence.

My amazing room...those steps lead to a hot tub!

While we were on game drive we had the same ranger every time. Ours was named Patrick and he was amazing. He was able to look in the road for paw/hoof marks and figure out where to go - he'd also look at the different "poop" in the road to see if it was 'fresh' and if we should follow it! Then when we found animals - Patrick would make sure we had optimal viewing. If there was another truck, he'd circle around the animals to get a better vantage point!

Some of my animal highlights...

 - The first time we saw lions - lying lazily under a tree...they totally didn't care we were there. Turns out, we found out later, that had just feasted on a kill earlier in the day.

•  The first and second time we saw giraffes. They were so tall and beautiful and elegant. The next time we saw giraffes, zebras came by and they all just "hung out" together.
•  Seeing the white rhinos! They were adolescent boys and literally walked in front of us while they were playing... it was crazy! 
•  The first time we saw mane lions! The lion king! There were two big guys... Again, they totally didn't care we were around. It was so strange!
•  The first time we saw elephants. They are so huge but so quiet. And one night we even came upon like 20 of them! They literally stood between us and the gate to our lodge.

 

One of five white Rhino's that walked past our truck

And in every case we also saw babies! We are in summer now so the baby animals we saw were all just born this past spring! I'd never seen soooo many cute baby elephants! It was pretty amazing.

The food…OMG the food was incredible at the lodge – and plentiful. I am certain that I gained 7 lbs over the weekend.

We also got to experience some local game – like ostrich carpaccio, grilled eland, impala pie! It was all delicious!

On each game drive we also stopped for refreshments, hard liquor, pop, juice and water along with dried nuts, fruit, jerky, meat pies and cookies. So as you can see, we were well nourished.

I dream of returning to this spa...

One other thing! Did I tell you about the spa??? Yup – Tau also had a full spa. On one occasion I enjoyed a hot stone massage and on the second a moisturizing and revitalizing facial.

So – Safari life…if you get the opportunity – do it!

It is incredible! :)

…Now…back to work! 

Patrick, our Game Driver, setting up our coffee and tea on a morning drive.

Me, thinking, "This is ABSOLUTELY insane! Those are zebras!"

Our Game Drive Truck

Sunset at Madikwe

Work Days...

Let me start with, we don’t leave the house until around 0800 to go to the office…which is heaven compared to 0530 wake ups at home! It’s like the weekend every day! :)

The Puma Building on Botswana Road, (where we work)

We work in medium sized building in downtown Gaborone.

It’s right across the street from “Main Mall” where you can find lots of local delights at lunch time, a hardware store (for our never ending need of adaptor plugs), the grocery store (for our chocolate needs), etc.  Have you read the novel, The No.1Ladies Detective Agency? The tea shop the main character frequents is also located in Main Mall.

A square in Main Mall

I must admit, I’ve yet to try real local delights at lunch. In fact those who know me will be surprised to hear that I’ve brought my lunch to work EVERY day this week! Truly it’s because I’ve been bringing dinner leftovers (that one of my housemates has cooked)!

But next week I’ve got three places lined up to try –

Pie City – which sells meat patty type pies in many different varieties

Chesa Nayama – a chicken and chips like fast food place

Melodie’s – a place for curry chicken and fun local sides, including one that looks just like mac and cheese but isn’t...

And…Much to everyone’s dismay – I will totally work my gastro system to be ready for local street food…

Now work…

Remember in biz school when they made us work in groups

And we hated it?

Especially when they picked groups for us?

This is LIFE

Our shady grouping of adapters and plugs

And this is definitely life in Botswana.

With every team there are regular challenges and as all my biz school friends know, the regular progression of a team.

And on this project we have four workstreams, therefore, four teams, not to mention there are three houses so three “other” teams. And of course there’s the overall team dynamics!

That’s a lot of “forming, storming, norming, performing” (a la Bruce Tuckman).

But after one week – we’re doing well.

First deliverables are being sent to the client and we’re good!

Tomorrow we’re all headed off to South Africa for our first Safari.

Interested in seeing where we’re staying?

Check out Tau Game Lodge!

Have a great weekend friends!

Botswana's 1Gov project...the one we're working on!

FINALLY here!

(Sorry about the sideways views of some of the photos - I am still trying to workout how to rotate them!)

After hours in transit…I am home, well, at least home for the next while.

I’ve tried to write this entry numerous times since I arrived 48 hours ago – but have been interrupted by things like, sunshine, the pool, going out for dinner, drinks…so far, life in Botswana has been awesome.

Now to complete the story of my 40 hours, 4 planes, 3 calendar days journey here –

After another amazing flight on Qatar Airways, once again filled with champagne, delicious food, and a good amount of sleep in their fully horizontal seats, we arrive in Johannesburg/Jo-Burg. 

Landing in South Africa

We meet this sweet couple (wife is Canadian, husband is British) who are on their way home to Swaziland. We chat in the immigration line about travels around Africa and they invite us to their home, giving us all their contact information.

Now the hard part. After about what feels like an hour in low to no air conditioning, we make it through immigration, find our bags and look for the departures level. We successfully check ourselves in using one of those “self check-in” kiosks, then on to drop our bags. We are met by a woman who weighs our bags. I am, of course, overweight…well, my bags are...

Oh and there was also their strange thing about South African airways wanting to wrap everyone’s bags in plastic wrap…Odd…

So anyway, I leave my travel partner at the desk and go to pay the charge. There are only two people in line in front of me and two people helping them. Still, the entire process takes close to half an hour.  This is Africa I remind myself, all the efficiencies of North America no longer exist. Deep yogic cleansing breaths in and out…But truly – you cannot get upset. The woman who helped me was sweet and friendly. She wanted to know where in Canada I was from and what the weather was like. She wanted to know what I thought of Africa and she wholeheartedly welcomed me. Paying the fine at this point was negligible.

After a quick picture with a beaded Mandela, we are finally on our last plane of the trip to Gaborone. This flight is quick, literally in the air for forty minutes. Of course, the process of going through security, queuing to get on the bus, waiting on the tarmac to board the plane and settling in takes longer, but hey, we got to Gaborone, Botswana!

The landscape is flat and green. And as we flew in, I half expected to see herds of animals across the plains. To my dismay, I didn’t. Where are all these safari animals that people speak of?! (I cannot wait to see giraffes and hippos!)

After a quick pass through immigration and picking up our bags, we are met by our colleagues. We are happy, tired and yet somewhat energized.

I am only all too eager for my life in Botswana to begin! 

Life in Transit...

It’s almost 11pm in Doha.
Just where is Doha you ask? In the state of Qatar.
Where?
Admittedly I had no idea where Doha was either, until I learned I had a 7 hour layover here. Doha is the capital city of the State of Qatar, a sovereign Arab state, located in between Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, a tiny offshoot of land attached to Saudi Arabia.

landing in Doha

As some of you know, I am here because I’m headed to Africa on a work assignment…(more on that next time),  for now, here’s a little bit of life in transit…
My colleague and I are flying Qatar Airways for our two long-haul flights. Montreal to Doha and then Doha to Johannesburg. And long flights they are – the first was over 10,000km to Doha and from here we flight another 6500km! We left home on Wednesday evening and we will arrive at our final destination on Friday afternoon!

Flying business class is a complete luxury, especially on QA. The seats are very roomy, tons of leg room (not that I need it) and service extraordinaire. The flight attendant assigned to us “Shri” was absolutely sweet and literally tended to our every need. We were welcomed with champagne, had two huge meals (with white table cloths!), and Shri even offered to make our beds for us! It was luxury…wait - did I mention the seats vibrated? They were massage chairs too!

Instructions on how to operate your seat!

 

The business class cabin not even close to being full

Once in Doha, we realized we had SO much time, we decided to explore. Getting visas on the spot is a piece of cake (at least for Canadians it was), approximately $20 USD, a look into their camera and our passports were stamped! Once outside of the terminal we negotiated with a taxi driver to take us for a ride all over the city. We got to see the new and the old and a whole lot of construction. Google “Qatar” and learn that it is an absolute monarchy ruled by the Al Thani family. Qatar was a British protectorate until 1971 and has the world’s third largest natural gas reserves…AND as we saw with all the high end shopping malls, Qatar is the world’s richest country per capita! There’s a lot of money in Qatar. Doha is the capital city and will be home to the 2022 FIFA World Cup (there are ads EVERYWHERE already!).

"New Doha" skyline

Doha Museum

Hanging out at the “Premium Terminal” – no seriously, they have an airport terminal dedicated to their First and Business Class passengers! (my kinda airport!) There is a ton of food here, two buffets, a deli counter and dessert and drink stations sprinkled throughout. So far I’ve managed to only have one meal of foods including: seafood thermador, butter chicken, mulligatawny soup, and a delicious dessert of chocolate mousse and baklava.

  

There are lounge-y type chairs and tables but no beds…There are, however, showers with L’Occitane products! And this is just on the Business Class side! Apparently there is a spa for the first class passengers…maybe next time! :) Apparently the duty free is pretty good here, but I’ve yet to check that out (I know…that’s SO not me!). I still have another hour or so before boarding for our next flight.
This is just the beginning of what I’m sure will be an experience of a lifetime…stay tuned and enjoy it with me!

Travel is on the radar...

Guess who's on the move?!
Well - it's temporary...
I'm headed to Botswana (Africa) for work for 9.5 weeks. (Hey, that's the title of a movie, isn't it?!)

9.5 weeks.
A little over two months.
A little less than three months.
66 days.

Botswana is a long way from home.
So long it takes about 2 days...or in my case 3 calendar days to get there...

It's a long way from my family, my puppy and my friends.
But it's the chance of a lifetime to...
...see another part of the world
...immerse myself in a new culture
...try new foods
...try new things
...drive on the other side of the road
...go on safari!!! (lions and tigers and...GIRAFFES!)

When you look at it that way, 9.5 weeks isn't nearly enough time...
 But of course, I will take this time and embrace it!

Looking forward to all that Botswana brings me.
 The adventure begins shortly...stay tuned!