Saturday trip

Went out today about 50 km from Gaborone.Everything is so dry. They say they should be in the rains & everything green. But the rains haven’t come & the cattle & donkeys look in a bad way. They also said many are dying, especially those pregnant.

We first went to the Livingstone memorial. The gate was closed, but not locked, so we could go in. Apparently it’s fairly normal at the end of the month (pay day) that people don’t show and this also being Saturday. Our driver (Sylvester from Zimbabwe) had been there before & is a bright guy, so he could remember a lot. There are stone outlines of the church (first in S Africa if not the whole continent) and the house where a big rock marks the treatment table.

church site

house

We also saw the graves of two white missionaries who died from eating wild berries & Livingstone’s last daughter, Elizabeth who I believe was born and died on an exploratory journey.

graves

From there we went to Bahurutshe, a cultural village where they put on dances etc but the traditional way of life no longer exists today.

 Next to a village where we saw rock paintings made by bushmen about 2000 years ago. At this place the guide had turned up for work, so we had a good tour. The medicine men would put themselves into a trance with herbs & smoke & receive visions of the animals. Some would be for the hunt, for food, and some would be symbolic omens.

rock painting giraffes

Our next stop was Livingstone’s tree that was already big and shady enough for social gatherings in the village when Livingstone arrived in 1847. There he taught (literacy and religion) treated people and; animals. There is still a nice table and seating under the shade.

 From there we went to a pottery place which reminded me of Metchosin (but at about 20% of the price) I bought a few small things & would have liked to take more if I had thought I could pack them.

Our very last stop was a crowded shopping mall exactly like those at home & which I usually avoid. I had a quick iced coffee and we left.

Tomorrow Sylvester will take me to church (bilingual service promised which will be interesting) and then to a place that does leather work and weaving.