Look the supermarkets in Botswana have food in them!

Mike Mcgee gave me $100 dollars before I left California and asked me to do something for some of the friends he made when he was on a Daring Journeys trip in 2002.  Although a lot of the folks he knew from then had passed away, there were a few folks still around who appreciated his kind gesture.

While we were in Botswana (Chobe National Park) before crossing into Zimbabwe, we purchased food at the supermarket in the town of Kasane.  The photos are the pictures of the butcher and his helpers…they had to help us carry the food to the counter because we had so much!

Elsie found food for her meals too!

Below are pictures of our day at the Old Folks compound in Chinotimba Township, Zimbabwe. 

The elder woman make their way to the meal

Elsie greets the elders and tells them of the future plans DJ has for them

Thanks to Paul Stickel who donated toward this meal!  It was a real treat for the elders!

The men waiting patiently for the meal

Waiting patiently for their meal...not enjoying being photographed

Olga, Elsie, Jane & Goodbye helping to serve the meal

Of course I have to get into the pictures!

Washing hands first is a must!

New 2nd hand clothing creating a big smile!

Thanks to Elsie for the donated clothing!

Elsie’s mom passes away 2 weeks before she departed for Africa and Elsie found the time to gather some of her mom’s clothing and donate them to the elders.

Heading back with a full belly and others in the background helping to clean up

The smiles and thank you's where touching!

Here are a few pictures… more can be found on my facebook page!

Very huge Baobab Tree!

Just hanging with the Ele!

Yellowbill Stork feeding

Too close for comfort!

Sucking up the Chobe River!

Hippo Pod with Yellowbill StorkElsie Ovrahim enjoying the viewsJuvenille and Female KuduJust another boring sunset in Africa!

After doing some last minute shopping in Rustenburg, we headed out of South Africa, but not before getting pulled over by the police in a small speed trap town just before the Botswana border.  The South African Police Officer politely asked me to step out of the car and come over to read the speed gun which read 98k in a 60k zone…according to his chart I would have to pay a ticket of 700 ZAR…700 Rand equivalent to $93 US dollars and I would have to go to the police station to pay the fine.  Of course I didn’t see any signs announcing the lower speed limit and apparently neither did the other 3 cars that got pulled over during my discussion with the police!  He politely informed me that there were several signs along the last kilometer.  Just as he is starting to put the ink to the pad I say “can’t you and I settle this?”  He asked me how much Rand I have and I told him I didn’t have anymore Rand (I conveniently separated my Rand in another pocket earlier…but he noticed I had Botswana Pula in my hand when I reached into my pocket.  He says “I’ll take Pula, how much do you have?”  I told him I needed my Pula when I crossed the border and would have to pay vehicle entry taxes.  I then slide a US$20 out from the roll and he looked interested, but not interested enough…I knew I had a $50 dollar bill in my wad and I didn’t want to reveal that to him!  I slide out an additional $10 bill and he seemed interested enough to talk after looking around at the other pulled over cars and the other police officers…no one was looking…no one else was getting out of their cars either…Were the other cars getting off with a notice and not I??  Or where they handing over bribes without getting out of their cars???  The polite officer took the $30 US from me and told me what the correct speed limit was when leaving the town limits.  I’m so glad I didn’t rent that sports car I was looking at in the car rental parking lot…I would have probably gotten pulled over doing twice my infraction!

Pretoria – Jacaranda City!

 A Jacaranda Tree-lined street in Pretoria, South Africa just before the trees bloom purple flowers.

Jan Celliers Park, Pretoria, South Africa

Rented a decent manual drive vehicle and we have permission to cross into Botswana, Zambia and Vic Falls, Zimbabwe…we aren’t allowed to drive the car thru Zimbabwe from South Africa…we have to go around thru Botswana and enter Zimbabwe from the North.  No biggie, we’ll stop by Gabarone, Francistown and Kasane, Botswana before crossing into Livingstone, Zambia and then dropping into Vic Falls, Zimbabwe.

Landed in Africa with all my bags this time!  Elsie, the school teacher helping me set-up Service Projects here, is new to Africa and is ear-to-ear smiles!

I’ll be in Southern Africa for two months during this Journey and will have a few friends join me along the way…there is still room if anyone is interested in joining another Daring Journey!