Today we journeyed beyond Botswana to South Africa. We took the 630 am bus, and after about 5 and a half hours through very sparse countryside (and a couple stops along the way), we arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa. The trip was very exciting. At the border, we actually had to get off the bus and walk across the border (through immigration, etc) and then reload the bus.
Although Johannesburg is not the safest place (don't worry, we are staying far from the center of it), it sure is very huge and pretty at night from what I can see from here. Our lodge (or hostel really) is situated on a hill opposite the city, giving usa view of the whole city from a safe distance. We only arrived around 2pm here, but we went to dinner with the owners of the hostel and their driver, as well as 2 other UB international students. We went to an authentic german restaurant (and actually met and spoke with the owners beforehand and at the restaurant). The food was excellent and I had a bratwurst with mash. Kelly ordered Schnitzel, which was actually bigger than the plate and very good. All the food was very delicious, and the atmosphere was even better. Hopefully this is a sign for good times to come here.
Tomorrow we are leaving early again to go to Lion Park where we can go for a game drive and hopefully play with some (tame) lion cubs after and get some great pictures. After a trip there we are heading to the Apartheid Museum, which is supposed to be absolutely amazing. It'll be a long day of travelling around, but I think the sights will be well worth it. ALso, we are hoping to figure out how to get to Lesotho on Sunday. Right now it looks like we have to take a minibus for the approx. 6 hour drive, which will most definately be interesting, so we will see. What the one really nice thing is the exchange rate. Right now, 10 South African Rand are equal to 1 USD. Our lodging per night is 105 Rand per night, or $10.50! It's really basic, but very clean and very nice. Let me know if anyone wants to know anymore? Have a good weekend!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
South Africa?
The last week has been absolutely ridiculous. As you may know, the student body was on strike over allowances from the Ministry of Education. Well, on Wednesday, things really got worse. People were throwing rocks and got violent. I was even hit by one and the back windshield of a car next to me was shattered by another rock. Anyways, we were safe since we were whisked immediately off-campus. However, later that day the University was completely shut down and will remain so for all of next week. It seems I will not be having any classes for awhile now...
On a lighter note, that means I can get out and see other parts of Africa. On a whim, Kelly and I decided to book bus tickets to Johannesburg, South Africa for tomorrow morning. Luckily, some other international students here also want to head that way and are on our same bus. The bus from Gaborone to Johannesburg is only about $30(!) which is cheap for an international bus ride. We will be staying for (at least) 2 nights outside of Jo'burg. We want to visit the Apartheid Museum and visit Saweto, where Nelson Mandela did some of his work. After that, we really want to head into the Kingdom of Lesotho, a tiny enclave country hidden in South Africa. It's supposed to be an absolutely beautiful country as I have said before, and what one thinks of as "Africa" with witchdoctors and truly villager lifestyles. From there, we do not know where our journey may take us, but the people going with us are thinking of also visiting Swaziland, which we will join them if they travel there. It will be a very interesting (and probably) exhausting week. I will try to update as much as possible from the road. I will of course take many pictures of all we see. And most of all, I will stay safe, so don't worry.
Hope you all have a great weekend. Feel free to e-mail me, although I cannot promise to respond expediently. School is set to re-open 16 February. Let's hope things have calmed down by then. If not, who knows what will happen. Wheaton Global Ed, in conjunction with the Provost, have told us that no matter what, we will get the credits we need regardless of what it takes. Clearly, the cultural experiences we are having are enough for a class itself!
PS: There were 28 broken windows on just one-side of the dining hall!!
On a lighter note, that means I can get out and see other parts of Africa. On a whim, Kelly and I decided to book bus tickets to Johannesburg, South Africa for tomorrow morning. Luckily, some other international students here also want to head that way and are on our same bus. The bus from Gaborone to Johannesburg is only about $30(!) which is cheap for an international bus ride. We will be staying for (at least) 2 nights outside of Jo'burg. We want to visit the Apartheid Museum and visit Saweto, where Nelson Mandela did some of his work. After that, we really want to head into the Kingdom of Lesotho, a tiny enclave country hidden in South Africa. It's supposed to be an absolutely beautiful country as I have said before, and what one thinks of as "Africa" with witchdoctors and truly villager lifestyles. From there, we do not know where our journey may take us, but the people going with us are thinking of also visiting Swaziland, which we will join them if they travel there. It will be a very interesting (and probably) exhausting week. I will try to update as much as possible from the road. I will of course take many pictures of all we see. And most of all, I will stay safe, so don't worry.
Hope you all have a great weekend. Feel free to e-mail me, although I cannot promise to respond expediently. School is set to re-open 16 February. Let's hope things have calmed down by then. If not, who knows what will happen. Wheaton Global Ed, in conjunction with the Provost, have told us that no matter what, we will get the credits we need regardless of what it takes. Clearly, the cultural experiences we are having are enough for a class itself!
PS: There were 28 broken windows on just one-side of the dining hall!!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Protests!
So, the school is now on strike. I don't have much time at the internet cafe, but essentially students were really angry and did some not so good things on campus yesterday. UNC-Greensboro already sent their students home, and we are currently staying at a hotel for the weekend (until Monday) and hoping things will calm down. As of now, all classes are cancelled indefinately, which is until the strike ends. I have some good stories from it (slightly frightening some are) but we are safe and fine now, so no worries. We are staying at the Gaborone Sun Hotel and Casino for the weekend. I will update again soon with further status of when we go back to classes.
Hopefully this all ends soon so we don't have to take more action. Wheaton has been helpful on this end. Hope you all have a good weekend!
Hopefully this all ends soon so we don't have to take more action. Wheaton has been helpful on this end. Hope you all have a good weekend!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Holy Rain!
This morning I woke up to thunderous amounts of rain pouring down so hard that I could barely see the street behind my dorm. This all started around 645 am and with a class at 8 am, I severly contemplated whether or not I should attempt walking to it, since it's a good 15-20 min walk. But, it started to slow down around 730, so I began the trek to Abstract Algebra through ankle deep puddles and more. However, once I got to class, only 7 people showed up (out of about 35-40) and the professor showed up completely soaked, so he said class wasn't worth it today. Really should have stayed in my room longer I suppose.
This week has gone by fairly well. Not much new has happened besides me trying to plan what to do for spring break, and thus what to do on other weekends. Originally I wanted to go to the Okavango Delta and Victoria Falls, however that is seeming to be longer trip than anticipated and a little costly. Right now I am looking into possibly going to Lesotho for the week. All UB sports go to Lesotho every year (as well as universities in Namibia and South Africa, among others) to compete in tournaments. Other UB students can join by, from what I hear, only paying for transportation, which amounts to about $65 round trip. Lesotho is probably the poorest country in the SADC (South African Development Community, I believe) and thus the most "backwards" of countries. They are sitll very "african" as people would think, with witch doctors and all. It is also the only country in the world whose entire country is 1000m above sea level. It's supposed to be a really gorgeous country. You can take pony rides through the highlands for only about $20 per day. So we will see what options that root.
If anyone has any other cool ideas about places to visit in the immediate area (Botswana, South Africa, etc) let me know! I know Kruger National Park is nearby, as well as Chobe National Park.
Not too much else went on this week, but I will update before the weekend.
This week has gone by fairly well. Not much new has happened besides me trying to plan what to do for spring break, and thus what to do on other weekends. Originally I wanted to go to the Okavango Delta and Victoria Falls, however that is seeming to be longer trip than anticipated and a little costly. Right now I am looking into possibly going to Lesotho for the week. All UB sports go to Lesotho every year (as well as universities in Namibia and South Africa, among others) to compete in tournaments. Other UB students can join by, from what I hear, only paying for transportation, which amounts to about $65 round trip. Lesotho is probably the poorest country in the SADC (South African Development Community, I believe) and thus the most "backwards" of countries. They are sitll very "african" as people would think, with witch doctors and all. It is also the only country in the world whose entire country is 1000m above sea level. It's supposed to be a really gorgeous country. You can take pony rides through the highlands for only about $20 per day. So we will see what options that root.
If anyone has any other cool ideas about places to visit in the immediate area (Botswana, South Africa, etc) let me know! I know Kruger National Park is nearby, as well as Chobe National Park.
Not too much else went on this week, but I will update before the weekend.
Friday, January 23, 2009
More Info
Hi guys
I posted some pictures and I plan on posting some more later today since I have class fairly soon. Kelly is also doing a blog, and she writes a lot better about what we do at each place than me. Her blog is http://www.kellyinbotswana.blogspot.com/.
If you click on the pictures, they will enlarge nicely because of the new camera I have! So be sure to check that out, since it can be hard to see at the size they are posted as.
I posted some pictures and I plan on posting some more later today since I have class fairly soon. Kelly is also doing a blog, and she writes a lot better about what we do at each place than me. Her blog is http://www.kellyinbotswana.blogspot.com/.
If you click on the pictures, they will enlarge nicely because of the new camera I have! So be sure to check that out, since it can be hard to see at the size they are posted as.
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