Morwa

People keep wondering why we live in Morwa, where the hell is Morwa, jessis, that’s in the bush! (It's not our washing, but you see our house in the background.)
Because endless bush makes a beautiful view, and stop-nonsense walls don’t. Because traffic consisting of goats, cows, dogs and people on foot is nicer then cars, cars, cars. We don’t like the baboons and vervet monkeys that ransack the yards, but even they are better then motor vehicles. Because a village is a community, and a city consists of isolated households.


By now we’ve had our first real rains, with thunder, lightning, and a lot of water. Last Saturday Zach and Jeff took Maud for a walk to the rock plateau close by to admire the fresh puddles. When we stepped out of the bush on the rocks we saw kudus! Maud always thought these stories about game like kudus living in the bush right behind our yard are make-believe… Now she wants to track down the klipspringer, hyena and warthog also.


First rains mean planting. By now the beans are popping out of the red earth already, and the basil and parsley looks promising. Maud’s mom gave us some seeds labelled as ‘exotic vegetables’ in the Netherlands. They’re planted now and we can’t wait to see what pops out!


Benni from next door in front of his English medium school. If you take the shortcut over the hill it's a 10 minutes walk.

Yacht Club

Botswana lacks a Dutch embassy, so we have to use the Zimbabwe branch. When the new second man from Harare is visiting Gaborone, the Dutch people who are based in Botswana are invited to a ‘meet & greet’ do at the Gaborone Yacht Club.
Next to having a nice time with the other Lowlanders this happening is a discovery for us. It’s a really beautiful spot, this Yacht Club, situated on a small peninsula in the Gaborone Dam. The magnificent views over all this water everywhere around you – we understand now why it is the new Dutch Friday evening hangout.

Grub

We got through our first puppy-caretakers exam: the vet said they’re nice, healthy, well socialized puppies when we brought them in for their first shots and de-worming.


We knew already they’ve got healthy appetites. It’s amazing how much food disappears into these tiny bodies!

Gabs game

Yet another expotition: breakfast in the Gaborone Game Reserve. First we drive around a bit to see the impala, kudu, wildebeest, hartebeest, ostrich, warthog, zebra, and loads of monkeys. When it started, Gabs Game reserve was well out of town, but by now the suburbs have reached its borders, and with all the people comes the sewer-system. “I need an air-freshener”, says our Phakalane-boy Max when we reach what from a distance looked like a beautiful green area with ponds and plenty of birds...


Nothing like plenty of blue-balled monkeys to inspire the boys to find a nice picnic-spot!

Lawyers

Finally a post about work: The role of Customary Law in the 21st Century: African Customary Law Revisited. This international conference, organised by the American Leitner Center, was held at the University of Botswana.


Thanks to Bram’s friend John Berger from the Cambridge University Press in the US we got an order for several conference-products, like notepads, the program, and pull-up banners.


Finalizing the production of all that requires of course that we join the lawyers for lunch and dinner at their luxury hotel.

Rhinos

Our favourite office, the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, also needed some work done – yes, making this picture is part of hours of hard work in the blazing sun! How grateful Bram is for these models.


The official opening of the sanctuary’s restaurant, donated by de US African Development Foundation, turns out to be a big do. The Chief Game Warden shot two impalas and a wildebeest, and around that game Chef Tendah created a beautiful buffet.


Our main job is to take pictures and video of all the dignitaries: the chiefs of the surrounding communities who take part in the sanctuary, the board, the new American ambassador, the minister of Environment and Wildlife, and our president’s younger brother.


The speeches are fortunately intermingled with dancing school kids from the communities and the Rhino Choir. Come see our video when we are back in Europe.


Before we pitch our tent there’s a game drive to show the big brass the rhino’s really breed like rats here. Rhino’s we’ve seen enough, but we get lucky and meet a nice herd of giraffe. Before we rush back to our puppies the next morning we stop at the Chef’s house in the nearby village Serowe for a delicious breakfast. Botswana is so scarcely populated it’s hard not to know people when you work on location…