Mike McGee provides food for his Zimbabwean friends

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!

Sharing a Meal at the Old Folks Home

Financial Donations to Daring Journeys help to make this event possible.  While in Livingstone, Zambia, we did some shopping for the food for this meal.  You can’t readily find everything you need when shopping for food in Zimbabwe, so it’s best to pick up the things you need in Botswana or Zambia before crossing the border.  Zambia is a little more….hmmm…a lot more expensive than Botswana, but we couldn’t take the risk of not getting what we needed in Zimbabwe.

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!

Chobe National Park

Upon arriving in Kasane, Botswana I arranged for accommodations at the lovely Chobe Marina Lodge.  http://www.chobemarinalodge.com/gallery/photos/ as well as a river boat safari cruise on the grand Chobe River through Chobe National Park.  http://www.chobe-national-park.com/

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!

Gaborone to Kasane, Botswana

Besides the incredibly insane potholes that filled the road like landmines from Nata to Kasane,  the drive up through Botswana,  from Gaborone to Kasane,  was pretty uneventful.  Having to drive real slow to weave the potholes gave use an excellent opportunity to capitalize on wildlife sightings. 

Road from Nata to Kasane, Botswana

Wildlife sighted along my drive to Kasane, Botswana

Another wildlife sighting on the road to Kasane!

Joburg to Kasane

Joburg , South Africa to Kasane, Botswana would be a long journey… 

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, South Africa

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

A beautiful park in Pretoria for having lunch!