More Adventures around Gabs

Tuesday was another family outing day. First we drove out to the village of Oodi. The Oodi Weavers is a cooperative organized by some Swedes in the 70s to provide an economic base for several villages near Gabs. They do everything there: handspin and dye the wool and then weave table linens and tapestries. The Shinns hadn't gone there yet, so it was a fun adventure to navigate the road detour and find the place. I guess Tuesdays aren't a busy day because they had to open the shop for us. Good thing we took the chance to open the gate and look in the windows to see if anyone was there.

The trip was an adventure in other ways too. We found several new birds, including the most striking one so far - the Marico Sunbird. We also enjoyed watching a butterfly that would hide his beautify blue spots whenever he got spooked. When really scared, he closed up all the way and disappeared - the underside of his wings were the same color as the dirt.


Male Marico Sunbird

Traditional hut


Back in Gabs, we stopped at a shopping center that had several stores with traditional wares and ate Botswanan fast food for dinner, Nando's, known for their tasty - and hot! - peri peri sauces.

A scene near the shopping center

Wednesday and Thursday have been relaxing days at home and getting packed up for our safari trip to The Bush House in Madikwe, South Africa. We have been warned that the morning and evening game drives will be very cold - expected to be in the low 40s. We have been in mid-40s at night here and 60-70s during the day. It's certainly winter time in the desert. Mornings in this concrete block house are quite chilly, so we've been enjoying Rooibos tea (aka Bush tea, that Precious Ramotswe serves to all her clients who come to see her at the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency).