"The Dogs Are Tied," Dinner with Alumni

Saturday

So its our last night in Gaborone and what we have planned is a group dinner with alumni of Case who are from the Gaborone area. Most of them we are told are from the Bolton School of Nursing or the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (MSASS); no CSE (Case School of Engineering) grads. We load up the vans, and head out. Some kids have left for the States already, so it isn't as crowded and cramped on the van. The first thing I notice after we leave the UB campus is the scorched metal frame of one of the public transportation vans just sitting off in the taxi/bus-pick up lane. Definitely happened in the last week. It was just there, a burnt husk, no tires; it had looked as it had just burned through and no one had stopped the fire.

Here are more funny things you notice while driving through Gaborone:

1. After seeing all the cattle, dogs, goats, and donkeys roaming free in the city, along highways and in the country, I finally see an animal hunker down and take a dump right in the middle of a dirt sidewalk as we drove by.

2. A road sign to entrance of a rather dusty road that says "Road Works Ahead." "Don't worry guys the road isn't broken, it's in fine working order." -John Hilty We later go down that road and the large rocks that would presumably cause problems are strangely aligned in straight lines on either side of the road, causing traffic to divert to the middle of the road.

3. Our driver tonight I don't think really knew how to drive the van. Will Cork and I thought that the person driving was actually the familiar driver's friend; the familiar faced driver was sprawled out in the passenger seat. The new guy's shifting, since all cars are manual here, was horrible. The speed bumps that are encountered throughout Gaborone, were essentially stop signs to this driver. Honestly though, in Gaborone, speed bumps get the job done, as oppose to stop signs or any other traffic signs and driving conventions do. We would literally slow down to a crawl, go over the bump with the front "tyres" (as they call them), practically stop, bring the back pair over, then start going like 15 mph in what should've been a 25 mph zone. We were going so slow that people uncomfortably close (in the U.S.) walking besides were getting places faster. Really? I shouted "Step on it!" from my back seat, but my demand was not heeded. We could've gone a bit faster over these bumps. I wanted to murder something when we came to three speed bumps, 10 meters apart. Absolute torture. Worst off, we got lost. Instead of following the explicit directions given to Dr. Sankaran by the alumna, they decided to take one of their shortcuts. Now, I'm not that easy-to-anger, but I was really hungry and super agitated with the driving. This could've been the last straw, but fortunately (for them), Dr. Sankaran had a phone number and we were there within 15 minutes.

We come to a white house with a formidable concrete wall with electric fencing atop it. We get out and are greeted by a half dozen Batswana women. After quick name exchanges and cordial handshakes, we are given beverages to keep us until a couple more alumni arrive. I had three cups: coffee, cocoa, and a mocha. Spoonfuls of sugar between them: I wanna say like ten, I lost count. Bad idea. I would later develop a bit of a headache that even plagues me now as I write this entry. A note about the weather: I guess our host wanted us to dine at 4:30, but there was a miscommunication and the earliest we could show up was at 5:30, which is what we did. The serving tables were outside. The sun sets like at 5:30 here. The temps quickly dropped soon after, which is partly the reason I was in need of those hot drinks. We waited until 7, and by that time, my mouth was going to pull a starfish maneuver, force its way out of my mouth and start engulfing anything edible in sight. But then our hosts welcomed us, and for tradition sake, the husband of the alumna welcomed us in Setswana, with Laone, a local UB student who hangs out with us, acting as the translator. The last phrase translated is a traditional saying of welcome, which initially all the Batswana laughed at, then we joined to once it was translated. "The dogs are tied."

Then we filed into lines for the food. Thinking that we're going to get some awesome home cooking and a break from the Curry Pot standard of rice-cornmeal-chicken-beef, we were eagar to say the least. That though is what preoccupied all of our minds during the afternoon and drive. The world is a terribly ironic place. They ended up having Curry Pot cater the event. And no, it wasn't of higher quality because of the event. (I actually had some delicious chocolate cake the morning of our flight to Kasane at the Curry Pot operated cafe in the airport.) It was literally the same menu we had two nights ago. But being the hungry and gracious guests, we didn't raise complaints, and I, for one, cleaned my plate. The alumni also made some of their own dishes as well; dishes of beans, peas, peanuts and other things I didn't get to try. Some went inside to eat, but I weathered the cold since I had a hoody. By the time I was done eating, everyone had moved inside and I followed suite. I quickly struck up conversation with the alumni along with Dr. Mohan and Katie. One said the thing that she missed the most about Cleveland was the snow! Yeah, turns out she loves it, and couldn't wait for the first snowfall her freshman year. Crazy. Then the power cut out leaving us in utter darkness; guess that you have to actually go to a terminal in your house and "put coins in" to keep the power going. Turns out they just forgot to in the hustle and bustle of the dinner. They came back on, and I later found myself talking the man who greeted us along with Doug, about politics, economics and crime in Botswana. Very insightful. After that, we took photos and then said our 'goodbyes' and 'go wells.' It was another beautiful night with the southern stars and wonderful evening spent with the very extensive family that is Case.

Diamonds are Forever

Wednesday. Another 5:45 departure. Miserable. We're visiting a diamond mine today, Jwaneng, the richest diamond mine in the world by value. Pretty crazy. We load up the vans, and stop at fueling station as they call it, to grab, you guess it, fuel, and people go inside to grab snacks. I didn't, I was too tired. I probably should've gone in at the time seeing as at the time we weren't getting a breakfast from the school and its like a two hour drive from Gaborone to Jwaneng. But it turned out for the better since we took like a 45 minute detour to backtrack and pick up food from the dining hall that they had prepared for us. I grab a cup of joe as well. During the ride, we decided that we couldn't wait any longer, so we broke into the provisions. Doug had bought jerky and leechi fruit juice at the fueling station and he offered those to the meal. Juice, jerky and eggs. It was mouthwatering indeed. The unexpectedly spicy and really tough jerky was perfectly framed atop a base of egg white. The pink leechi juice was wonderfully sweet and cooled my taste buds. I am going to have to find some leechi juice in the States. I then proceeded to fall asleep for the next hour or so to the mine.

We arrive at the gate that protects the road leading up to the mine. The group disembarks our two buses, crosses over and walks 100 meters to get onto large charter bus. We travel for less than a minute and enter this reception building where we are ushered into a conference room. From there we watched a short intro video to the Jwaneng mine. Next came the security measures. We can't bring any mobile phones. Cameras are fine, but it would be that some of my comrades decided that if a mobile phone was your camera then it would be alright. Secondly, no lip gloss, or lip balms, whether they come in a stick or can form. No weapons allowed. And the most importantly rule: if you drop something, DO NOT bend over and pick it up, or even anything else off the ground; inform one of the men who work for the mine that you dropped something. Yeah, they're intense. I deduce that they don't want you picking up any diamonds that may have fallen onto the ground off one of the 300-ton ore trucks, and that should you have found one, that you didn't smoosh it into you lip balm concealing it.

After that, we got dressed in the protective gear they provided for us: hardhats, safety vests, pigmented safety glasses, and boots. Then it was back on the charter bus where we ate our breakfast: fruit, bread, boiled eggs and beans. Once we got cleared to enter the mining station proper, which took like 10 to 20 minutes, we drive for literally 30 seconds and got out again. The truck went around to take like the vehicle entrance, and we moved through revolving metal door and into a covered and enclosed walkway. The walkway was decorated with these very interesting paintings done by presumably elementary aged children. Many depicted safety topics related to touring the mining operations. One in particular was rather dreadful and had the phrase "Your safety is mine!" painted above a scene of rather disturbing looking figures. We find our bus near the exit of the hallway, and we embark yet again onto our steel steed.

This time though we are driven for more than a minute, probably closer to ten, as our huge vehicle tottered up and over the dirt slopes surrounding the open pit where mining operations are conducted. There's an observation deck on the far side of pit where we disembark to take pictures and what not. It's huge. It's a huge ovoid maw opening up into the gullet of the earth. 2000 meters at its widest and 1000 meters across. 350 meters deep. The walls of the pit are cut in approximately 15 meter steps. That's just the pit proper. Surrounding the pit are mountains and mountains of pile high rocks; rejected Kimberlite ore and the intervening rocks that they had to dig out to get to the Kimberlite. Kimberlite is the ore which diamonds are found. And they're expanding the pit another 1000 meters into the rock face, which will also result in even bigger mountains of rock. They're work around the clock 24-7, 365 days. A really brisk morning breeze is biting into us on the observation deck. Deep into the pit, I see tiny shapes of huge tankers and 300-ton trucks going about their routines. In the above pictures, I zoom in onto one of those massive trucks going up the opposite slopes, see if you can spot it from the widest shot. Little tiny men were going about some mounds in the bottom of the pit. Those mounds were explosives. Unfortunately, they weren't blasting today. The guide kept bragging about how Jwaneng is the richest by value, which he proceeded to back up by saying out of the 300 tons of ore brought up by the trucks, you'll yield probably approximately 6-8 carats of diamonds. Absolutely ridiculous when you think about it. And ludicrous to think how much these little stones are worth. There are 4,535,923.7 carats in one ton (2,000lbs). That's approximately a yield of 5E-9%. What a business.

After our photo op was done, we took a bus ride over to where several of the huge trucks were parked. Nostalgia filled me as I recalled my childhood name that I dubbed any kind of construction vehicles: "dig-dirts." I climbed atop them, and took photos while other trucks cast huge shadows while driving past us. If only the kids from high school could see the trucks I was around now, they're would be no doubt of my coolness on the 'size of truck scale.' As we were getting onto the bus, we were delayed since someone got their iPhone confiscated after they were taking pictures of the trucks. Once everyone was back on the bus, he asked again if we had any mobile devices, which again no one answered his call. There were at least two other kids who I knew were still using their camera phones. Whatever, its their fault, whatever happens to them for breaking the rules of this organization who so graciously let us take a tour of their facilities. From there we take our bus back up to the enclosed hallway. Before we disembark, our guide says that we won't be needing cameras where we're going. We set down the covered hallway, past the disturbing finger paintings, off to another hallway, where we waited outside some steel fence gates. After about 10 more minutes of waiting, we proceed through the gate and around the corner all to face a thick 8 inch door, made of steel, with circular bars retracted into the door proper; a vault. We entered the tiny vault-room which was adorned with with pictures about diamonds and the mine. Some were clearly dated. In the midst of the vault were two pedestals, each topped with a pyramidal glass case. One held a big chunk of Kimberlite ore. The other, where our guide was standing and where we subsequently stood around, contained rough diamonds. He would ramble on about more facts, about how Jwaneng yields so many jewelry quality diamonds as opposed to the smaller amounts of industrial-use diamonds. He also stressed the "cleanliness" of diamonds that they must keep so that consumers are not purchasing unethically mined diamonds, i.e. the stereotypical blood diamonds. For example, while we there, two vehicles came screaming out of the mine, sirens blazing. They're were carrying diamonds straight to the airport so that they could be flown to Gaborone HQ. After several questions concerning blood diamonds arose, he gave answers about all that he knew about them came from the movie "Blood Diamond." Though this may be true, I felt like he knew more than what he was letting onto. We left the vault and once it was secured again, we kept down the hallway to an atrium. Security, to make sure we weren't smuggling any diamonds out. There was a lofted ceiling above us so that a second floor landing with one way mirrors could peer down at us as we waited in line for 8 separate doors. The women formed one line for one door, while we the men, waited for our turn to step into one of the other seven doors. Aaron Lin stepped out of line thinking he was going to be in big trouble for still having his cell phone on him. I was told to just follow the green light above the doors. Kinda apprehensive I did as I was told and opened up my door from the seven initially, and let it shut behind me. I found myself in a room a little larger than a closet. There were two doors in front of me, each with a unlit light bulb above it. A security camera looked me over. I stood there forever. Then all of sudden, a green light appeared on the right door. I opened it to find myself in hallway that had three steps then veered off to the left. I counted two more cameras, and three more doors. One was marked, security staff only, so I guess I had to go into one of the other two. But there were no green lights, or sign of lights. I tried one of the doors. It was locked. Great. But shortly after, I heard a voice on the other side apologizing and then he opened the door for me. There was a middle aged man in the next room, asked me questions about my reasons for visiting the mine. I told him that I was a student studying for 3 weeks...yada, yada. He asked to see my passport, though he said that he had never seen a U.S. passport before and wanted to look at one. He commented that it was a really nice passport. After a quick pat down and retrieving my scanned effects, I bit the man farewell and proceeded through the door and onto a landing. As I took the stairs down to lot, I found my group. Turns out not everyone was searched, it was either random or profiling, dunno, but had I gone through the left door and down another hallway, I would've come out under the balcony, a free man.

So, in five, ten, fifteen years; whenever I get married and buy my lady a ring, I'll see whether or not the diamond(s) came from the Jwaneng Mine or not. Wouldn't that bring it full circle.

P.S. And no, I was not able to find and smuggle a diamond out.

From Kasane to Mokolodi

By 5:30 in the evening on Wednesday we were back in Gaborone. We landed on the tarmac, and it was cold. Like really cold since we had just come from Kasane which, when we left was probably 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Not anymore. Winter has set in. On our way back from the airport, we stopped at a local grocery store chain, Spar, to get some snacks and stuff. There was so much bustling about, and the architecture of the nearby buildings and alleyways made me feel like I was hiding out in some less-than-upscale city like in a spy movie. Akin to scenes like in the new James Bond films, Bourne trilogy, or Inception. The grocery store was writhing with people. Scrabbling were scrabbling to grab the bread too, I noticed. It was also unsliced; there was an actual bread slicer that shoppers were using themselves to slice their own bread. I grabbed chocolates and water and headed back to the vans to wait. We get back to campus, and I am the first to walk back into our suite. I discover a "new" roommate of ours. His name is Jurgan ("Yeur-gan") which is how I think you spell his name, and he's German, and I would imagine his late 20's. It turns out he was just gone for the first half of our stay here, out on holiday or something. His been here since January studying, though I'm not sure what. Bed shortly thereafter.

We start having class with Dr. Sankaran on Thursday. He's teaching us more of actual thermo, rather than just fluid mechanics. He wanted to have us all out to eat at this Indian restaurant called Moghul that he says is really good; he either went there last time he was here, or heard that was really good. It was delicious though we had to wait for seventy minutes since our group was so large. It was such an awakening from the dining hall, which we were served the same stuff basically over and over. The garlic naan, samoosas, butter chicken, masala, paneer saagwala, and tandoori dishes were all delicious (I have a menu in front of me; they handed each of us one on the way out. Ironic). I'm going to to have to find an Indian restaurant nearby once I get back to satisfy my cravings. After the fulfilling meal, I get back to the dorms and find that our suite has even more new faces than before. Not only is there my non-Case suite-mates Jurgan and Ashton, (Ashton got here like 3 or 4 days after us, he's doing research and is from the U. of Texas, if I recall correctly) but there are another half dozen people, standing and sitting, all of them drinking that I don't recognize. Jurgan quickly gets up, says hello, and says that these are all his German, Canadian and Dutch friends. After some quick and hasty hellos, hallos and a bonjour, I drop my coat in my room and stand at my doorway to try to be social and not appear that rude. I ended up striking a conversation with Lawrence, if I recall his name correctly, the White guy who said bonjour to me. I start off by asking if he lives in Quebec, since he said bonjour to me. He says, "No, I live in Toronto,"

"Oh, so you're Canadian,"

"No, I'm from Zimbabwe"

{Pause} "Really? I actually just came from there, visited Vic Falls and all"

"Oh yeah? How'd did you like spending American dollars there, eh?"

Looking back, I chuckle to myself, such a goofy little chat.

Saturday, we got up and went to this place called Botswanacraft, a locale for tourists to purchase things. Their main cultural items are their woven baskets, made with materials in the Okavanga Delta region in the Northwest of Botswana. I picked me up a few of those, and two sets of dancing rattles that the traditional dancers wear in Botswana. Remember the safari lodge? Yeah, totally the same kind of rattles they were using. We were suppose to have a really good lunch there at Botswanacraft, but we showed up during this one big event apparently and couldn't get lunch accommodations, so we headed down to the Riverwalk Mall and I had pizza with Doug, Katie and Dr. Sankaran. On our way back on foot to the university we came across this one fella, name Larry. I was the first in the line walking towards him, and when I pass he starts saying hello and what have you in fluent Setswana. He came to Dr. Sankaran at the back of our caravan and shouted "Hi Mohan! Didn't expect to catch you here." They exchanged friendly words, evidently they had shared a plane ride over here from Joburg. Turns out he's been coming here to UB for quite sometime, doing research and has learned and mastered the local language. After meeting him, I'm just was lazy and turned in for the night.

Sunday was uneventful, I studied. Monday we had an exam. Tuesday though was really exciting since we got to go on another game drive (safari). We traveled the short distance to Mokolodi Nature Reserve which is 15km from Gaborone. We got there and while we waited for the game drive to start, they served us mimosas. Ha. We get on the drive, with all of us in one big truck this time. He tells us that they have rhinos, zebra, wildebeests, leopards, ostrich, hippos, giraffes, and even penned up hyena and cheetah. Our guide said not expect seeing any leopards since they're the most elusive in the park. I was so excited to see a rhinoceros though, the last puzzle piece in the Big Five. They didn't have buffalo, elephants or lions because of the dangers they present since Mokolodi is part educational facility and host programmes for children. In fact as we were leaving the main compound, we drove past a group of elementary school kids who subsequently waved and shouted Ni hao to us (Chinese for 'hello').

Gotta love the innocence of children. Not 5 minutes into the drive and we encountered a beautiful specimen of a male ostrich. The males have black feathers whereas the females are brown, and we were told that they had tons of ostrich in the reserve. After getting a hearty eyeful we drove off. It took a little bit before we saw another large animal. Katie, the TA who had been to Mokolodi before in November, pointed out a now barren location where they had seen rhinos before. Regrettably they weren't there. Nearby to that we came close to more kudu, who are still massive animals. Impala were also around, as were warthogs. Mokolodi was mostly comprised of bushes and the intermittent trees were probably no taller than 10 meters in height. There was an ostrich up ahead on the trail, and the truck scared it into a run. Those birds have such a goofy running style, from behind it looks like they 'waddle' and alternate their weight onto the foot that's planted. Next up were baboons, but they got skiddish and didn't come anywhere near as close as the ones in Chobe did. It felt as if the ostrich was going to be the only prize to take away from this trip but then we came to a small watering hole. There we found a pair of wildebeests and a small herd of four to six zebra. The didn't hang out for long, they were on their way out when we arrived at the watering hole and after half dozen or so pictures of them, they vanished into the bush. Zebras are the national animal symbol of Botswana, appearing on their coat of arms and their 1 Pula coin and 200 Pula bill. With some of my hunger for wildlife sated, we continued along the dirt path and came across one tall giraffe. It was older, which could be told by the much darker color of its coat and spots. Then slowly other giraffes came out of the brush, a small group, five or six in total. Our driver said we were lucky to see them. We then set off, and I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of rhino, but we arrived at the lake and there wasn't a single inkling of rhinoceros anywhere. Very upsetting. They ended up feeding us at this picnic area on the shores of the lake, which supposedly held crocs and hippos but we never saw them. It was a large lake to their credit. The food was delicious though. A cucumber enhanced slaw, wondering salad dressing and steak that just melted in your mouth, really tender. Fun fact: Botswana is the leading exporter of European beef. After our lunch, our actual game drive was over but I still hoped to see rhino on the way back. Nope. Instead when we got back to the main building, we had the opportunity to sign up and pay to pet the cheetahs, who we had passed eating in their pen on the way back from the lake. I decided I would do it, thinking that I still might be able to glimpse a rhinoceros, and when am I ever gonna get a chance to pet a cheetah again?

Drive to the Cheetah Enclosure, no rhino. There are two cheetahs, twin males who had arrived at the reserve when their mother was killed. They were raised by humans and didn't distress when we entered their cages; they're about 15 years old, our new guide had said. The reason that they're fenced is because the habitat that Mokolodi resides in is not their natural open savannah habitats, and since they have been raised since cubs by humans, they don't really have the skills to hunt. The cheetah chases down its pray, trips it at high speeds, then latches onto its throat and suffocates it. We walk into the pen, and I get this eerie feeling of Jurassic Park, minus the electrified fencing, since we opened into a precautionary antechamber. We follow a worn dirt path probably 30 meters before spotting the first of the twins. He was lying in the shade of the brush, maybe 8 meters from the path. Our guide decides to look for the other, and we all cautiously walk behind him, huddled in a group. Then we spot the other gemini, who was just lazily laying in open grass. We follow our guide and form a semi circle near the cheetah, nothing but whispers amongst us. He pets the cheetah first and then we notice the almost constant purring of the big cat. Honestly, it resembled a really lazy cat, just very lithe and spotted. But we were without a doubt all very wary of it. Our guide came up to me, grabbed my camera and beckoned me forward to pet the cheetah, Letotse, first. I approached cautiously, then committed to it. And I pet its head like I would bet any other cat, its purring very audible. I must've had such an elated smile on my face. After a minute, I got up and the next person went. We were only allowed to pet it on its head, no where else, and we couldn't lie down next to it at all, wouldn't want an accident to happen. There were several times when one of us approached him, he would look around and up at the petter, roll over to face them and swing/stretch their paws out. The guide advised us to stand back and wait for him to get situated again. The problem with going first is that I had to wait for the other eighteen to pet the cheetah. Once everyone was done, we set out back on the path and our guide stopped to check up on the first cheetah, Duma. I look back and saw that several of my compatriots who had lingered to take more photos of Letotse after the initial petting, were now following behind the cheetah who had set off down the path after us in the lead group. Letotse walked right by me, not paying the slightest attention, found his brother in the bush then set off a short ways to lie down. Pretty crazy stuff. We made way for the exit, I myself relieved and proud to have pet a cheetah.

P.S. I saw a hyena too, they share a fence in the neighboring pen, although it was through the bush and was rather hard to make out. No pictures unfortunately.

P.S.S. No rhino sightings on the way back from the cheetahs. Turns out that this time of year, they're even harder to find. Still the only missing in my Big Five crown.

P.S.S.S. I had a dream on the following Friday night that I did see rhinoceroses at Mokolodi while everyone else went to pet the cheetahs. I woke up, really questioning whether or not I did see rhinos, but then I realized I couldn't have tracked down rhinoceros with Bren, and my brother, since neither of them are here.