The first days in Gaborone

The first days in Gaborone were relatively chilled. On the first afternoon/evening, I walked around the city center a bit, but since it was Sunday, almost everything was closed. Among other things, I passed by a Spar market that had a restaurant on its roof. The restaurant looked very interesting, but where was the entrance? Not in the Spar market, right!? No, there was a narrow alley between the Spar market and the neighboring building, and there was a small inconspicuous door in the Spar market building, almost like a back entrance for the employees or something. Through that door, you can directly access a narrow staircase, and at the end of it is the 'Main Deck', a really cool trendy bar with good food! I took a table on the terrace and had chicken wraps. Soon after, a small group of young friends took a table next to mine. They were visibly having fun and seemed to have something to celebrate. When they wanted to take a group photo, I offered to take it for them. And just like that, we started talking! 😃 It was a group of friends from Kenya and Zimbabwe who had met in Gaborone because two of them are getting married soon. 😊 The groom was actually from Kenya but lives and works in China, and he traveled to Gaborone to meet his girlfriend and future bride and his friends from China, as well as the others from Kenya and Zimbabwe. Eventually, the friends of the couple started giving short speeches, and I was promptly invited to say something too! 🙈😅 Well, um... We've only known each other for half an hour, but I wish you all the best for your marriage and lots of wonderful children and blah and blupp! 😅
The next day consisted of exploring the city a bit more, this time on a Monday and during opening hours! 😄 There are, among other things, two larger shopping malls that are relatively close to each other. Nothing special at first... But in between them is a mixture of a bus and taxi station and a marketplace. And now it's starting to look like Africa as you imagine it! 😄 The buses (mainly old dilapidated minibusses that wouldn't pass any inspection in Germany anymore! 🙈) and taxis (mainly Honda Yaris, called Honda Fit here, in the same condition!) drive back and forth across the square, trying to catch customers. In between, under folding pavilions, fruits, vegetables, clothes, shoes, souvenirs, and all sorts of other stuff are being sold. People charge their phones, get their hair cut, and play billiards! There's jubilation and excitement everywhere, and everyone is shouting. 😄
One thing that stands out is that it seems to be trendy for women to have their hair at least as long as their buttocks! The longest I've seen reached the knees! And many people here in Gaborone still walk around wearing masks. Almost like in the first month after Germany lifted the mask requirement, and some people still had to get used to the fact that you can now walk around without one! Nowhere else in Botswana was it like this, not even in Namibia, only in Gaborone. 🤷‍♂️
On Tuesday, among other things, I went to the 'Three Dikgosi Monument', a statue of three chiefs from different tribes who traveled to Great Britain in 1885 to request Botswana's independence from GB. Botswana didn't become independent until 1966, 81 years later, but this was the beginning of it! Then I went to Kgale Hill, a hill in the south of the city, from where you have a beautiful view over it. You can only reach the summit on foot, but first, you have to find the way there! 🙈😅 First, you drive into the deepest industrial area and arrive at a place called 'Kgale Hill Car Park', which is actually nothing more than a sandy area between all the companies, with many trucks standing around and construction workers walking in between. I switched my navigation to 'pedestrian mode', had it show me the route to the summit, and started walking. Before that, I asked someone if it was correct to walk that way. Yes, yes, that's right! Nothing to find there except fences, bushes, rocks, and signs saying 'Attention, blasting today!'... So I turned back. No, no, you can walk that way! Go in between the fence and the bushes! The signs are old, nothing is happening today! Well, let's see! And indeed, I walked through between the fence and the bushes, and there was a path! 😅 It didn't take long until I met someone coming from the opposite direction. And he was very talkative! 🙈 He comes here regularly and is a priest. He asked if I also believe in Jesus and the great Lord. Yes, sure! He invited me to come to his church on Sunday. Oh, what a pity, I'm flying on Saturday! 😄 Where am I from? Germany? Cool! What language do you speak there? German? Wow! You have your own language? 🤩 Here we speak English! (Well, it's not like English is the only language spoken in Botswana, alongside Setswana, and almost everyone here speaks Setswana privately! 🙈😅) Luckily, I eventually managed to extricate myself from him and keep walking! 😅 It was a rocky and narrow path uphill, and occasionally, I actually encountered more people. Eventually, I couldn't really see where exactly the path was supposed to go, so I looked at the navigation again. Hmm, according to that, I'm about 10-15 meters off the path now, but besides the one I followed, I didn't find any others... 🤷‍♂️ Over there is the summit, and where I am now is like a kind of smaller summit in front of it, from which it goes down a bit more and then up to the main summit. But this one already offered a great view of the city, and it was too hot to climb any further! 🥵 The hill I was on now was enough for me! 😅 And off I went back down! Just before the end, I encountered some baboons on the path and kept my distance until they were gone. Then I went to Phakalane, a fancy residential area north of Gaborone! Really fancy villas are standing here! One more luxurious than the other! And some areas (like Phakalane Golf Estate) are fenced off, and you can only enter as a resident or with prior permission. And most of these houses, with large plots of land, a pool, and security, cost just as much as a 2-3 room apartment in a multi-family residential building in Germany! 🙈😅 We must be doing something wrong! 😅
In the afternoon, I just sat by the pool at the hotel. Unfortunately, the water was too cold to go swimming! 🥶 But it was still relaxing! 😊😄 The owner of the hotel came by and chatted with me for a long time. Her daughter, who lives in the USA, was also visiting and joined us. They recommended that I go to Mokolodi Nature Reserve, which I then decided to visit the next day! 👍😉