Author: kamiel79

March 1. Burj Al-Arab.
The burj al Arab or burj Khalifa is visible from the sky. They have erected a boys dream in the desert. Wow. On a good day, it reaches beyond the smog.

We touch down in the desert state and hop on the newly constructed metro that takes us to all the ugly concrete highrises. ...
February 28. Goodbye Africa.
Our flight to Dubai is late at night, so we use the day to do some writing in the same seventh street we remember from our last visit to Joburg. We have a delicious lunch in a French place and I write a few dull paragraphs.
And then we say goodbye to Etienne and Abi, ...
February 26-27. Soweto.
Soweto was just a word associated with danger and death. I've heard many warnings not to enter there and I expect the corresponding danger. Soweto! But it's not dangerous at-all. We take a bus to Nelson Mandela's place, a boring concrete museum, and ask for some NGO operating in the area. They send us to ...
February 25. Swampridden.
It is raining and we are - again - confined to sitting inside. We find our way to the café where we used to work in another era - three exciting weeks ago. It still offers great coffee and great smiles. I am writing here, but absent-mindedly. Have I ever written anything, "ever", and "any" ...
February 24. Guy the beekeeper.
Dobermann puppies cuddle on the couches as we enjoy a "farm" breakfast in the guesthouse. It will keep us going for a while and we walk back to the main road. The 15-minutes rule does apply today: Guy the beekeeper picks us up and takes us to Johannesburg via Pretoria. We go shopping for equipment ...
February 23. Guesthouse Goedehoop.
We leave Gaborone today, after a lazy morning and a warm goodbye to Sheldon and Gudrun. Up on the main road with thumbs in the air and some smiling policemen take care of us. Our remaining Pulas bring us neatly to the border. Stamping and re-entering the RSA is a whistle of a cent, but ...
February 20-22. Women’s Shelter, Mozart, Quaker meeting.

The women's shelter is a nice place. It is hidden away because the abusive men have a tendency to get back to their victims. We see a nice plot of land with a fence around it and some converted sea containers serving as housing. A German NGO has constructed a nice bricked and plastered ...
February 19. A nice couple.
From a Gaborone gas station we find transport into town and to the house of our hosts, Mr. Weeks and his wife. From the minibus taxi, we get a glimpse of Gaborone, not yet knowing that there isn't much more than a glimpse to that city, before we knock on the door of our host. ...
February 18. Hitching it off.
Charles is driving a big truck all the way down to Gaborone. The Chinese-built road cuts sharply through the endless arid plains of Botswana. He spots some elephants trotting along the road with an intense crimson sunset in the background. He arrives in Gaborone ahead of schedule, as early as 3:50 in the morning. He ...