rising floods, energetic 80 year old, a parrot eating soup

Things are just plotting along here as usual in Maun. Our typical day includes a dust filled, donkey dodging ride into work where Paul makes maps, coordinates safari itineraries, and does a variety of things during his crazy day. It is a bit chaotic as he jumps from one thing to the next. I try to keep my nose in a book and focus on my own work but I also keep a running list of all the things he’s committed to in an attempt to keep track of what’s on his ever growing “to do” list. It’s a bit like herding cats.

As for me, I’m reading and preparing for my fall classes and also trying to cultivate research relationships with some well known sociologists currently working in Malawi (on HIV/AIDS, gender, marriage issues) hoping to branch out to Botswana (I’m trying to convince them that I’m the Sociologist they need to assist ;o)

When we’re not in the office, we fill our time with a variety of activities. In addition to our morning weight lifting we’ve been trying to add some aerobic activity by walking before the sun goes down after work. The deep sand walking does a number on my ankle (it’s been years since my ankle surgery but the twisting and turning in the sand still gets to it).

The rising flood water are another diversion. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the combination of a wet rainy season and high flood waters have caused water to be rising in places it hasn’t been in years. The prediction is that the ostrich farm we live on will be an island when all the water actually comes down (from Angola). Yesterday we had a new pond to contend with on the ride home.  Completely dry the day before, now a fairly good size pond in the middle of our path, interesting. We can still drive around it but the same can’t be said for some other locations. On the main road to Ghanzi, the Toteng bridge is now under water (see photo of the swirling waters). Drivers currently have the option of taking the “old bridge” which is still above water (if they are traveling in a light enough vehicle) or completely rerouting their trip in the opposite direction.

The biggest news in Maun regarding flood waters was the recent activities at Island Safari Lodge. A couple weeks back we dashed out of the office to see the big event as a “bund” (barrier of sand) was pulled down to release some of the flood waters under a newly constructed bridge thus making “Island Safari” back into an island. It was an interesting series of events.

Day 1 – we heard about the “new bridge” and went over to have a look. At the time there was simply a trickle of water coming through a small break in the bund. The owners explained that they would not purposefully break the bund for fear of being sued by people downstream (who would likely get flooded).

Day 2 – we get an urgent call to come see as the bund is pulled down with a big earth mover (guess he changed his mind from the day before). We dash out of work and gather with a large group of onlookers to watch the big event (this is exciting stuff for Maun)!

Day 3 – we stop back on the way to work because we’ve gotten word that the new bridge has actually collapsed under the pressure of the water and they are rebuilding the bund to deter the water (“collapse” was a slight exaggeration – the culverts under the dirt bridge have filled with sand so they were not really doing much good at getting the water from one side to another). We also stop at a bed and breakfast downstream to find the empty sand pits we visited on day 1 have now turned into lake front property!  Fun stuff, I’m telling you – mud, water, collapsing bridges…it’s all the talk of the town.

We also had the opportunity to celebrate Georgette’s 80th birthday (Paul’s business partner Eddy’s mother  from Belgium). It was quite a fun event. Eddy’s wife Mano cooked up a feast. Mazoe especially enjoyed the soup (you may remember Mazoe was the parrot that Paul and I bird sat for a while but Eddy and Mano have now taken in permanently – you’ll see from the photos, I think she’s found a good home). Georgette enjoyed her two birthday cakes – how else do you fit on 80 candles? And the best part of the night was Georgette’s tribal dance in full out Bushman gear. You can't really see too well from the picture but she is dressed in skins with a bow and arrow and feathers and quills in her hair dancing and singing "Pula, pula!" Which means rain (and money) signifying good luck. I only hope I have that much spunk and energy when I’m 80!

We also had a chance to visit the crocodile farm the other day. I was checking it out to see if it would be worth visiting when my students are in town. The crocodiles are arranged in pens according to their age. The one year olds. The two year olds. Up to the five year olds which are horribly crowded in the final pen which serves as their final destination before they are killed, skinned and made into belts and shoes. I’m not sure I need to go there again although it was impressive to see the size of the big ones (they are HUGE, up over 12 feet long!) and to hear the other ones actively making their way around the pens (crawling over each other). It sounds as if someone is dragging a leather purse across cement…over and over again…

We’ve also been cooking quite a bit. I know, I know who knew it would take me moving to Botswana to start cooking?! Banana pancakes, broccoli salad with homemade dressing, Portuguese chicken, blue cheese polenta cakes, and this fabulous dessert with crushed ginger cookies, caramel pudding, and apple sauce. It didn’t look great but it was delicious! Our friend Mike seemed to enjoy the "pudding" (that is dessert).

Off to the bush for a few days on Thursday! Hoping to celebrate our second anniversary (on Sunday) somewhere fun!