Top 11 Moments in 2011: Number 1

Family Visit!

There is nothing better than seeing loved ones after you haven't for a really long time. The feeling that bubbles up inside you as you anticipate their arrival. The ecstatic joy you feel once you finally get to be in their presence again. This is just some of what I felt when my family stepped off the plane and began their African Adventure here in Botswana. 

One of the toughest things about coming to Botswana was leaving all my family and friends for such a long time. Peace Corps Volunteer service has periods of loneliness and homesickness. It's just a reality of living in a foreign country by yourself. There have been times I have felt more alone and homesick than I ever have in my life. Being able to have people who knows, loves, and understands you come and spend some time with you is a gift of so much relief, joy, and happiness. It had been over a year since I had seen my family and I was about to embark on 2 weeks of traveling in and around Botswana with my entire intermediate family. Something that is a rarity now that us kids are older. I couldn't have been any happier! I am pretty sure the people around me thought I was crazy as I had to suppress my excitement and tears waiting for them to come through the gate.

It was great to be able to show them around the country and show them a little bit of what I experience here in Botswana. They got  to see my village, meet all the people I work along side, try some of the foods I eat, and see how I live day to day. This was awesome because now I have family members who have experienced a little bit of what I have over my time of service and this will breed an understanding that no words or pictures could ever do.

After spending a few days in my village, we headed out to experience all the wonderful things the country of Botswana has to offer. We spent a lot of time in the car driving all over the country but it was worth it. Guess all those family roads trips we had growing up really paid off cause being in a car with my whole family for long hours at a time was no big deal. It was good to joke and laugh and just be around the family. We got to see everything from animals on safaris and boat cruises, to the Salt Pans in Nata, to Victoria Falls, to petting cheetahs. It was a great trip and something I will always cherish and remember.

If you want to hear more about the details of our trip you can check out my post here.

Thanks for following along and I hope you enjoyed the countdown! 

African Snipe Hunt

You know what a snipe hunt is right? You know where you go out at night with your paper bag and a flash light and try to catch snipes. Wait what's a snipe, you say? They are these kind of birds that run around in fields and mostly near woods but they hate the light. Hence why you need a flashlight. You go to a field and sweep your flashlight back and forth so you can spot them. Then you catch them in your paper bag. It's a great past time and if you have never been on one I will take you when I get back to the states.

When my family was here we went and visited my friends Len and Marina at their farm. After eating a wonderful meal they started talking about how we were all going to load up into the Land Cruisers and catch the Botswana Baby Kangaroos. They told us to bundle up and grab some drinks. My family and I just looked at each other as we thought to ourselves are they taking us on a snipe hunt? Then Marina proceed to describe these "baby kangaroos". She said they are small, hop around, have long tails and are super cute. Once again we just thought sure they are….

Regardless of what we thought we played along with this "Baby Kangaroo" hunt and loaded up into the vehicles. So here my parents, brothers, Lennie, his cousin Dankie*, and me are all piled in the back of the cruiser with Jolandie driving. Lennie has this huge spot light that he is sweeping across the fields. After a little while they say they spot one and next thing we know Dankie is out of the vehicle running through the bush and we are chasing after him with the vehicle. I don't see what he is chasing after, but because I still think we are on a snipe hunt, I assume it's nothing. He doesn't catch anything, of course; gets back in the vehicle and we drive some more.

A few more minutes pass and once again they say they spot something. So Dankie jumps out of the vehicle and the vehicle chases after him. As we get closer, I look at where the spotlight is shining and what do I see? First I see some blue eyes. Then I see that the eyes are attached to something that is small, hopping, and has a long tail! Wait so these things really do exist??? Crazy!! Marina and the rest of them weren't pulling our legs. Once again Dankie doesn't catch it so we drive on.

At this point I am amazed that these "baby kangaroos" actually exist, but I am still a little skeptical that you can actually catch them. They hop fast and through big thorn bushes. I keep thinking there is no way you can catch one. Lennie spots one again and this time hands the spotlight over to my brother and jumps out of the vehicle to help Dankie try to catch it. After they run around for a little bit Lennie jumps into a bush and says he caught it! He brings it up close to the vehicle so we could have a look. It was the craziest looking thing ever! It looked like a rabbit but had huge hind legs, huge claws, and a long tail like a raccoon. Later I would find out that these "baby kangaroos" are actually called spring hares. I was amazed that you actually could catch one. Apparently after you catch one you are supposed to mark it by biting a little piece of it's ear off to mark it. Yummy...

For the next couple hours we drove around the farm trying to spot and catch the hares. Both my brothers tried to catch them. I would have tried but was feeling a little under the weather, so I was on spotlight duty. It was hilarious watching them run after these things. You would see them running and then disappear (because they wouldn't be in the spotlight anymore) and out of nowhere they would pop back into the light and maybe fall (because they hit a hole or a bush or something) or dive into a thorn bush. One time my brother, Dankie, and Lennie were chasing after one and all three of them tripped on something and fell at the same time. It was soo funny! They didn't end up catching another one, but we sure had a great time.

Once we got back and showered my brothers were showing off all their scrapes and scratches from diving into thorn bushes. They hadn’t dressed appropriately because we had no idea what they were taking us on. The next morning they were pretty sore and had lots of battle bruises! I was a little glad I didn't try to catch one. 

If you ever find yourself in the bush of Botswana at night and have a flashlight on you look for the Botswana Baby Kangaroo and maybe you might be quick enough to catch it!

*Lennie's cousin's real name is Heinrich. When we were out on our game drive earlier in the day Heinrich was driving. Every once in a while Lennie would yell down directions to him and then say dankie (which means thank-you in Afrikaans). My mom thought Lennie was saying "donkey" and after the 4th or 5th time of Lennie saying dankie she asked him "why do you keep calling him 'Donkey'?" So the rest of the time that’s what my family called him and it kind of stuck. 

The Warners Take Over Botswana!

Back at the end of June I was fortunate to have my family come to visit . When I say my family, I mean my WHOLE family;  my Mom, Dad and two Brothers. I was very excited for this trip. We started planning for it back in January. Since then I had been preparing and eagerly anticipating their arrival. Ever since I was young my family has gone on trips together. We've been a lot of places all over the US. Each trip in itself brings back many memories of camping, long car rides, seeing great sights, and experiencing awesome things. Unfortunately we haven't had a full family vacation since 2003. This has been due to me and my older brother, getting older and moving on with our lives and not really having the time or money to go on vacation with the family. But this year that would change. This year would embark the trip of a lifetime. The best family vacation ever to Botswana!

As my Mom and I planned the trip over the months, I became quiet nervous and stressed. Originally we were supposed to spend a week in Botswana and the fly up to Egypt, but because of the turmoil in Egypt the flight tickets became cancelled, and now we would be spending the entire two weeks in and around Botswana. Botswana is a great place to travel, but expensive. Being a Peace Corps Volunteer I have a little bit of inside knowledge on things to do and people to use that is a little more affordable. This meant most of the trip planning and trip booking fell into my hands. I was able to get everything booked and set to go, but was still worried things wouldn't go so smoothly. This would be the first time my family had been out of the country. My parents have been to Mexico for a cruise before, but that isn't the same as traveling on your own in a foreign country. They were going to be in for a real adventure and I was super excited to show them a little bit of what I have been doing and experiencing this past year.

I got to the airport nice and early to make sure I was there when their plane landed. Gaborone airport has had some upgraded renovations since I had been there when I landed here in Botswana back in April 2010. It was looking pretty snazzy. As I was waiting for my family's flight to arrive, I got to watch Mrs. Obama board the Air Force One. She had been to South Africa and Botswana one vacation with the two girls the past week. It was an exciting time for Botswana. It was cool to watch all the security vehicles drive out to the plane and watch the plane take off. There was much commotion in the airport during this time.

Air Force One!!!

Finally my family's plane arrived! I got up and went to the window to see them get off the plane. I was ecstatic and basically controlling myself from jumping up and down out of joy. I am sure the people around me thought I was insane. Once they came through the gate I greeted them all with big hugs and tears were shed all around. It's a weird feeling to be with someone you love after you have been away from the for soo long. They were finally here in person and our trip together was about to begin.

The family getting off the plane :)

After picking up our rented car and exchanging some of the family's money into Pula we headed to the  Bahurutshe Cultural Lodge. I had been here during training and thought it would be a cool way for my family to learn a little bit about the Botswana culture. We got there a little later than planned due to the fact that it took longer to get our vehicle, but it all worked out. On the drive there the family was surprised to see goats and other cattle life crossing the roads, even main highways, wherever and whenever they liked. They also commented on how I talk funny due to my Setswanaized English. I had to  remind myself that I was talking to Americans and not Batswana. Lol! Once at the lodge my family really enjoyed the show and had many laughs, when they were told to participate. Afterwards we were fed some traditional food which they all enjoyed. Then we were off to stay at the Mokolodi Backpackers for some much needed R & R.

Mom smashing up some mebele

Learning how to shift mebele

The next day we headed to my village. On the way my we passed a few signs that would have a picture of a tree with a bench and say 5 km. They asked what that was and I told them it was a rest stop. They thought that was interesting and sure enough the next one we came to they had to get out and take pictures. In Mahalapye we stopped for lunch and groceries. We met up with a few other volunteers in the area and once again had some traditional food. My brothers really enjoyed the huge madombi, which are steamed dumplings. Then we were off to Machaneng. I cooked them pizza the first night, which they also enjoyed. The next day I showed them around the village and we went to the preschool to play with the kids a little bit. We also went to the Primary and Jr. Secondary Schools to drop off some boxes of books from the Botswana Book Project. I also had them try some megwinya (fat cakes) which they throughly enjoyed. In the evening there was a braii at my house. I invited all the people I worked with in the village. There was tons of food, because all the people from the clinic brought traditional dishes for my family to try. In Botswana fashion all the food was gone fairly quickly. Luckily my family got to dish themselves first so they were able to try a little bit of everything, even the mopane worm! They were also very surprised and thankful for the many gifts the clinic staff got for my family. Of course they had to make speeches afterwards, which was funny to watch. My younger brother doesn't like to get up and talk in front of people but he did well.

Family with the Machaneng Clinic Staff

The rest of the family and the rest of the clinic staff

Playing with balloons at the preschool

Hanging out on the stoop

All the wonderful presents including the "Adventure Hats!"

Mmmm Mopane worms!

The next morning we drove over to Matlhako to see the library where I help out at and to deliver the rest of the books I had picked up from the Botswana Book Project. Then we headed over to Len and Marina's farm. They took us out on a couple game drives and fed us really yummy steak and potatoes. We all got to have steaming hot showers and sleep in nice warm beds.

Limpopo River

Waterbucks

The next day we were off to Nata to see the Makgadikdadi Salt Pans. We stopped in Francistown to eat some meat pies for lunch. We got to Nata Lodge in the afternoon, just in time to get on a sunset drive out on the salt pans. The view was breath taking and we got to see soo many flamingos that were bright shades of pink! The chalets we stayed in were very nice and apparently had really hot showers, but I didn't get to enjoy it because my brothers had used up all the hot water by the time I went to shower :(

Then we were off to Kasane. My Dad had been driving this whole time, doing a very good job staying on the left side of the road. Once you get past Nata the road to Kasane becomes a little rough. This is where my Dad decided to take a break and let my older brother try to drive. He also did a very good job driving. One in Kasane we had a little trouble finding the Serendipity Self Catering Lodge we were staying at. We finally found it and checked in to our rooms. The place was gorgeous and the lady who owned it was super nice. Then we got lunch at this really good pizza place and headed out for a sunset cruise out on the Chobe River. Originally we were supposed to be going with a different guide but I couldn't get a hold of him, luckily the owner at Serendipity had some contacts for other guides and we were able to get on a cruise at last minute. We got to see lots of animals, elephants, giraffees, steenbok, impala, crocodiles, water buffalo, and hippos among other things. The sunset was beautiful and my family really enjoyed it. Once home we cooked up some food. My dad really likes how they build their "grills" here, and he kept saying he wants to build one back in the states.

Fields of sunflowers on the way up to Kasane

Serendipity Self Catering

The next day we got up bright and early to head over to see Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwean side. Getting through the boarder was pretty crowded and crazy but we made it. It took us a little over an hour to walk around the falls. It was still high water season so we got pretty wet but the views were great when the mist cleared. After wards we went and had a yummy lunch at the Victoria Falls Hotel. My Dad and older Brother tried crocodile meat, Mom ate some warthog meat, while I had some ostrich. My younger brother wasn't as adventurous and stuck with the chicken. After lunch we headed over to the craft market. It was pretty crazy how aggressive the stall owners are at trying to get you to buy their stuff. They like to haggle the price and trade. They wanted everything from hair ties on my wrist to the shoes off my feet. My Mom and older Brother were great at bargaining and ended up with a lot of crafts and paying very little. David even traded one of his shirts off his back for something! Once back in Kasane we headed over to the Old House Restaurant for some yummy food.

Traditional Dancers

Victoria Falls Hotel

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Huge Hippo at the Craft Market...wonder how long it took to carve that?

Disinfecting our shoes to prevent the spread of Foot and Mouth Disease

The next morning we got up and were picked up by our safari guide to start our 3 day, two night safari from Kasane to Maun. We headed through the Chobe Safari, Savuti and Moremi Game Reserves. We did a lot of driving in those 3 days but we saw a lot of animals. We got to see zebra, giraffes, impala, various antelope, lions, bat eared foxes, jackals, lions, wild dogs, and a leopard! It was a true bush experience, not your typical high end safari, but sleeping in tents and cooking over a fire. On the first night as we were waiting for dinner to be ready we heard some noise and looked across the river to see an elephant chopping on some tree limbs. It was great entertainment for the night. The second night we got to listen to some lions bark and my Dad and two Brothers all tried some Chibuku (home brewed beer made out of maize). My Dad thought it was ok, but my Brothers both said it was disgusting. 

The elephant across from our campsite

Carnage from the lions

Bush pigs

Checking out the rock paintings

Yummy Chibuku!

Once in Maun we stayed at the Old Bridge Backpackers Lodge. Got some much needed hot showers and relaxed. The next day we had a long day of driving back to Gabs. We stayed at the Big 5 Lodge, where I stayed when I first arrived to Botswana. It was a little weird being back there again probably because now I have a different perspective on things then when I first arrived in Botswana. The following day we went and petted the cheetahs at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve and saw some hyenas. Then we ate lunch and caught the new Pirates movie at the cinema. I was pretty excited to see it!

Dad had to have a picture at the Tropic Of Capricorn Line

The next morning we packed up and my family dropped me off at the bus rank before they headed to the airport. It was sad to see them go and I had to fight off tears. All in all the trip went very smoothly. We only had a few blunders but it was all part of the experience. It was great to be able to spend so much time with them and I look forward to seeing them again in 9 months. I have missed them very much and am very fortunate to have been able to share this experience with them. I know they had a good time and will always have the memories we share from this trip.

Thanks for bearing through this incredibly long post! I need to learn how to either shorten my post or break them up into multiple posts....nahhhhh! haha

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine