J & J's Final Post (sniff sniff)

Hard to believe but the month has come and gone. We leave for the airport in about 3 hours. What an amazing trip this has been. We can’t thank our friends enough for letting us become part of their family. We now consider ourselves honorary Shinns (as we consider ourselves honorary Ogles and honorary Patersons and . . . – such a blessing to have so many deep friendships). If you’ve known Jon or me for any length of time, you know we love seeing connections (or ‘convergences’ as one of our friends calls it) – when the same message is being told in many ways from many sources. Like when the sermon is on the same subject that your personal readings have been about, or when you rent 3 random movies and the same minor actor is in each of them. I bring this up because a sci fi movie we watched the other night had a line in it that sums up what we’ve been experiencing this whole month and in fact all our lives. The quote was “A place is only as good as the people you know in it.” We consider Botswana a very good place indeed.

Speaking of quotes, as we already mentioned, we have enjoyed trying different brands of pinotage while here. Since we didn’t know any better, the criterion we used to select the brand was how pretty or creative the label was. Our all-time favorite (in fact favorite sign we’ve ever seen in all our travels) was the warning label on a bottle of Arabella. It reads “Don’t drink and walk on the road, you may be killed.” We laugh anew every time we say it! It has become a catch phrase, like the one our guide used on our day walks in the Okavango Delta when he told us a safe location for "the calling of the nature."

Let’s see, since our trip to KRST (Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust), we have hosted 20 people for dinner – we grilled veggies and corn on the cob and chicken for the missions group from the Shinns home church. As I was cutting veggies I realized I’d be doing this again with my family in less than a week! We have also done a bit more shopping and sightseeing in Gabs. And packing - what fun to try to package our treasures so the airport baggage crew doesn’t destroy them.

Today is an exciting day for the youngest Shinn. She’s having a slumber party birthday party tonight. We are sorry to miss out on that (though we haven’t been told whether we would have been invited if we were still in town, smile), but we have been able to help prep for it. Jon’s creativity is in full use right now as they create an army themed birthday cake for the confirmed tom boy (a child after my own heart).

Thanks to all for following our tremendous adventure. For those who follow the actual owners of this blog, thanks for sharing, and stay tuned, I’m sure they’ll be back from ‘holiday’ soon. God’s peace and blessings to all, J & J.

At our final lunch out. A coffee shop and cafe called Fegos.

Someone came out to say goodbye to us.
He appeared on the kitchen ceiling last night.

Decorating the front door in preparation for her guests this evening.

Our home sweet home away from home in Gabs.

Khama Rhino Sanctuary

It’s sad to think that our time in Botswana is almost over for now. I say ‘for now’ because I hope that Julie and I have the opportunity to return some day. It is a beautiful country and we have met some amazing people who in the short time we have been here have helped us see a lot of the beautiful country. Speaking of amazing, Julie and I ventured out into the great wide open Monday and Tuesday and drove northeast of Gaborone about three hours to the Khama Rhino Sanctuary. We took the eldest Shinn child with us, who was as we have dubbed her ‘the greatest tour guide on the planet.’ Along the way we got to drive across the Tropic of Capricorn. Can’t say that I have done that before. Established in the 1990s to help save the African White and Black Rhinos from extinction, the sanctuary is home to some thirty to forty white rhinos, two black rhinos and a wide variety of other African wildlife. As usual, our trip around the reserve did not disappoint.

On this trip we got to drive ourselves around the park. Our friends’ four wheel drive Toyota did quite well in the soft desert sand. We started our tour Monday at about 1:00 pm and managed to drive most of the north end of the park before sunset at 6:00 pm. Right at the start eagle-eyed Julie spotted a large gray tent up ahead so we approached with caution. The large gray tent turned out to be a male white rhino. His four to six thousand pounds looked quite impressive. Just on the other side of the road we stirred up three ostriches. It was nice to get a good look at these birds up close as well. We did not get a great look at them when we ventured down south to Madikwe Game Reserve. We also saw lots of zebra, wildebeest, impala, springbok, warthogs, and birds.

After dinner at the restaurant in the sanctuary and a good night’s sleep in Chalet F, we drove around the sanctuary Tuesday morning before breakfast and getting back to Gabs in time for tennis and piano lessons. Unfortunately the morning drive wasn’t very fruitful – perhaps on this day, the shortest day of the year, all the animals needed a little longer to warm up and get going after overnight temps in the 40s. It was cold sleeping for us in the unheated chalet with openings between walls and roof (well, chicken wire only, to keep out the critters) and thus a cold downdraft on the head all night, but there were lots of blankets. Highlight of the drive up and back was seeing a total of 82 lilac breasted rollers along the A-1 and A-14 highways!

Here also is a picture of the ‘main mall’ in Gabs (Mike, this is for you; have more pix we’ll share when we get back). We stopped by there on Sunday before going to a cookout (called ‘braai’) with a group from the Shinns church in the US – about 10 from their church arrived last week to work with churches in some neighboring villages. They will head back to the US on Saturday.

The big gray tent, errr, rhino.

Our tour guide informed us this is a male ostrich.
Females have brown feathers.

Chalet F at Khama Rhino Sanctuary

The main mall in Gabs. The hotel overlooking the mall is now called the Cresta.

Back in Gabs

After a low key Tuesday morning, Jon and Julie got to go see where Mr S works and then watch the girls have their tennis lessons. They take lessons at a local private primary school, so it was fun to see the grounds and the school. Students typically get to school around 7am and have academic classes until about 2pm. Then they have activities until about 5pm. Their school year starts in January and ends in December, with 2 midterm breaks during the year. Primary school is basically equivalent to our K thru 7 and secondary school is grade 8 thru 12.

Wednesday morning a friend took J&J bird watching. The birds were a bit elusive, but we still had a nice time walking through the brush and trails (I think it was public land that some people allow their cattle to range through), and the coffee and “biscuits” were wonderful (English shortbread, even better than Lorna Doones! Mom, I put that in there just for you!). And it was fun to get to know someone who has lived in Africa for about 40 years, and one of the marine wives who has been in Gabs for just about a year.

Thursday was a very exciting day! We got to pet cheetahs! (no, not a chia pet, pet cheetahs). At Mokolodi Game Reserve near Gabs they have 2 cheetah brothers that have been in captivity since their mom was killed in 1996 by a farmer when they were just a few months old. Cheetahs are often blamed (and thus killed) for the livestock killings that leopards and hyenas do, so that’s one reason their numbers are so low. It was so cool to see the one animal I (Julie) really wanted to see while here. Though not in the wild, it was so neat to be so close. They purr (loudly!) constantly.

Friday Jon, Julie and Mrs S got to tour a diamond mine. It’s about 2 hours from Gabs, in Jwaneng. It is owned by Debswana, an organization formed by De Beers and the Botswana gov’t when diamonds were first discovered in the country in the late 70s. The mine at Jwaneng is considered the richest in the world in regards to value. Other mines produce more volume, but this mine produces high quality diamonds and thus is the richest in regards to value. The pit is about 1.5 km in diameter and 450meters deep.

btw, if you’d like to see some pictures of our accommodations while in northern Botswana, check out these websites: Oddballs Camp (Okavango Delta) http://lodgesofbotswana.com/camps_lodges/oddballs. Chobe Safari Lodge http://www.chobesafarilodge.com/. No webcams on them like Bush House has, but still interesting pix of the grounds and buildings.

Letoatse (Setswana for cheetah) wasn't in the mood to be petted.
He got up and walked away as soon as we approached.

But his brother Duma (Swahili for cheetah) was willing.

Looking down on the action. Each scoop contains about 36 tons of diamond ore.

These huge trucks carry 240 tons each!

We got to get up close to one of the trucks.

Had to climb a full flight of stairs on the front of the truck to get up to the cab.
Mrs S insisted on driving even though it was leftside drive!

In Awesome Wonder, Part 2

As has often happened when we’ve traveled to see amazing wildlife or to accomplish a certain goal (eg, bike across a state or do a triathlon), we (Jon and Julie that is; unfortunately, the Shinn family had to stay in Gabs) once again discovered that one of our favorite parts of northern Botswana was meeting so many interesting people. On our trip to northern Botswana, we talked with many of the Batswana (that’s the name of the people of Botswana) of course, and so enjoyed how much they appreciated and knew about their lands and inhabitants. We also had wonderful conversations with South Africans, Americans, Belgians, Germans, British, Scottish, and even some Univ. of Georgia students (they were on a sightseeing tour after studying for a month in South Africa).

And on the wildlife front, we just couldn’t help but think that God was having a blast showing off for us. Each awesome sight was trumped by another. On our last morning at Oddballs, not only did we get a great view of the fish eagle (looks very much like our bald eagle) but the lilac breasted roller (the Botswana national bird) flitted into a clearing just as we were returning to the camp to gather our things to leave. Sooooo beautiful (see below). Then on our plane ride from the Delta to Kasane, we flew at about 500 feet and could see for miles. I even saw some hippos walking under water along the main channel of the swamps (bummed we didn’t get that on camera).

On our first game drive in Chobe National Park, we saw scads of animals at the river front. Our guide said that it was unusual to see so many species all together at one time. Then we got to see a couple lion cubs wrestling. They had been left alone while momma went hunting (that was the guide’s guess). And to top off the evening, we came upon some wild dogs just hanging out at river’s edge. The guide told us that it was quite unusual to see them for longer than just a few moments as they ran into the bush. But these guys were just hanging out, playing a bit, and enjoying the sunset. Unfortunately we had to leave before they did because the park closes at 6:30 and we had to get to the gate before it closed.

The rest of our time at Chobe Safari Lodge was very nice. The meals were wonderful (we can now say we have eaten many game animals including kudu, impala, wildebeest, warthog and crocodile) and it was nice to have a real bed and shower again. Our activities included a second game drive (saw a pride of about 10 lions on that one!), 2 morning private boat tours (saw many birds, including Julie’s favorite so far, the malachite kingfisher), and an afternoon boat tour (see sunset below). And we had a delightful time on Sunday morning attending a church we had found while roaming Kasane the day before. We were welcomed heartily and even invited to tea afterwards. And it was quite fun the next day to have people drive by who knew us as we walked up the hill to the Biodiversity Center (saw all the poisonous snakes of the region and several other critters).

Best of all however, were the familiar faces that greeted us when we returned to Gabs. More confirmation that it’s wonderful to visit very cool places, but what really makes it meaningful is the people we get to share our lives with while we’re there.

Lilac Breasted Roller

Our transportation out of the delta (on “Delta Air”); the newest plane in the fleet!

Runway in the Okavango Delta. Our camp was 300 yards away from the runway.

Wild dog!

Sunset on the riverboat cruise.

In Awesome Wonder, Part 1

“Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the works thy hands have made.” That pretty much sums up our wonderful week in northern Botswana. We are back and rested from our trip and boy do we have some tales to tell. We are still hoping for a better view of the elusive leopard, but we have seen just about all the other big species that frequent Botswana. We have also managed to see just over a hundred species of birds thus far and we are still counting. Wow!

Our trip north started with four days in the Okavango River Delta. Oddballs Camp, see the picture below, is one of several remote camps located in the Okavango Delta that caters to a wide variety of guests. We chose to do away with “some” of the creature comforts of home and slept in a large tent on a tent platform with an outdoor toilet and shower heated by solar panels. The camp and others like it are accessible by small plane and boats during the wet season and each arrival brings in the needed supplies for the guests and the workers.

Our home sweet home away from home.

Although we did away with some comforts we did not do away with great food and awesome service on behalf of the Oddballs staff. Every morning started with a full breakfast served to your order, followed by an all day outing by mokoro, a canoe made by hand from the trunk of a Sausage Tree, and by foot.

Jon and Julie in a mokoro with Phillimon our guide.

Moving through the delta this way allows you to see the wildlife much like you can imagine it has been done for centuries. Although you can’t get quite as close to the animals as you can in one of the big national parks you can see so much of the small details that make the remoteness worth the effort. During our four day trip several things stood out as worth mentioning (although just about everything was remarkable). First we managed to find ourselves running after lions in order to see them more closely. Yes that’s right. We chased lions through the Okavango Delta. Because they are not habituated to the presence of all the jeep traffic, as they are in the big parks, lions are very shy and tend to move away quickly from anyone coming close. In order to see them you must track them through the open dry islands that are scattered throughout the delta. We managed a few quick glances and even fewer pictures but did get a chance to see a small pride relaxing, until we stirred them up a bit, in the shade of some small thorn trees.

You can just see one of the female lions running away as we get close.

Next on our list of highlights would be coming across a submerged hippo resting in the shallow water away from the main channel. Large bulls will kill any young hippos that are not their own if given the chance so the females hide them in the shallow water during the day to avoid being found by the males as they spend the day in the deep water. One morning as we were just getting started, a young hippo rose out of the water not more than ten feet from our mokoro and ran off in search of its mother in the deeper channel. The resulting wave of water washed into our boat and managed to spook even our guide who quickly turned us around to safely observe the herd of hippos from a new spot on the river. Standing up in the mokoro we did manage to see the females giving us the eye from deeper water as they checked on their little baby. The best description I have of the experience is that it was like being next to a submarine when it surfaces. Close to 1500 pounds coming out of the water next to your canoe can be quite the thrill.

I think the poor thing was more scared than we were.

Finally, we had to hide behind some fallen trees to keep from being the main attention of an elephant that we came across walking through the bush. We have been closer to elephants on our trip several times but that was from the safety of a large Land Cruiser. It is quite a different experience to be within twenty five yards or so of an elephant when you are on foot in the wild. You really learn to trust your guides as they help you consider not only your safety but the safety of the animals you experience at every turn.

So big to be so close.

We hope the pictures help convey a little of our experiences. Our next post will tell you about the Chobe River portion of our trip.

So long for now.