This is Part 2 of our trip to Botswana in December 2011. Part 1 is in the post before this.
It was fun to take it all in, truly fascinating and interesting....
A mud hut - apparently this type of roof is now expensive to make. Inside it is cool (cool, as in temperature. Well, cool as in awesome, too!) In the winter, around May - July, it is warm.
Wild flowers bloom nonchalantly here and there making a pretty picture in the midst of savannah scrub, Botswana's natural vegetation (geez, I'm beginning to sound like something on National Geographic).
Wha_?? Yes, THE Livingstone Memorial. Can you believe this? (However, I am not sure if this is the only memorial set up for Dr David Livingstone.)
"Britain wanted the body to give it a proper ceremony, but the tribe would not give his body to them. Finally they relented, but cut the heart out and put a note on the body that said, "You can have his body, but his heart belongs in Africa!" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Livingstone#Death
We only passed by this spot but had we lingered here, I would have shed tears just at the thought of one person's sacrifice for a nation. And yes, we should take our hat off, Paul!
It seems like African guys usually have their hair cropped very short, while the ladies, even young girls, seem to place a lot of emphasis on their hair. In the town, you could find make-shift hairdressing spots with just chairs and tools set up under trees. There, several hairdressers will be busily braiding away!
Here's a family friend's young daughter who had hers done at home...this is art, I'm tellin' ya!
BFFs - my husband Paul, and Boago's father, Mr Matshuba - don't they look like brothers separated when young, discovering each other, and finally being reconciled across the continents! (I know, I have quite an imagination.) They are togged up like this for Christmas service in church. (Africans seem to dress up much more formally than we Malaysians do when attending church, and all the more at Christmas. So we followed suit. Geddit, geddit, followed suit? Sometimes I'm so funny I actually make myself laugh!)
We Malaysians are such a multi-racial bunch, our costumes are now such a (con-)fusion of everything. My daughter goes Chinese while I go Indian because we are both and neither at the same time.
The Matshubas. Esther (orange)is in a traditional African costume. I'm blinded by those flashin' teeth!
The stage backdrop of the church we attended (took about an hour to arrive in the town church) on Christmas day. These are pieces of cloth pulled taut and tied down.
Pizza joint in town for Christmas lunch!
Here are some other photos that I thought might interest you....
What did we eat in Botswana?
Look out for the next post!
If you have enjoyed this account of our trip, do write comments at the bottom of this blog post. I'd love to know what you think, and I do try to answer every one of them! (It takes me forever to upload photos/videos by the way.) Several of you have mentioned having problems getting your comments through, in which case, you can send me your comment through facebook or email and I will copy it here.
gemsforlife@gmail.com
facebook: Valerene Matthews
It was fun to take it all in, truly fascinating and interesting....
A mud hut - apparently this type of roof is now expensive to make. Inside it is cool (cool, as in temperature. Well, cool as in awesome, too!) In the winter, around May - July, it is warm.
Wild flowers bloom nonchalantly here and there making a pretty picture in the midst of savannah scrub, Botswana's natural vegetation (geez, I'm beginning to sound like something on National Geographic).
Wha_?? Yes, THE Livingstone Memorial. Can you believe this? (However, I am not sure if this is the only memorial set up for Dr David Livingstone.)
"Britain wanted the body to give it a proper ceremony, but the tribe would not give his body to them. Finally they relented, but cut the heart out and put a note on the body that said, "You can have his body, but his heart belongs in Africa!" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Livingstone#DeathWe only passed by this spot but had we lingered here, I would have shed tears just at the thought of one person's sacrifice for a nation. And yes, we should take our hat off, Paul!
It seems like African guys usually have their hair cropped very short, while the ladies, even young girls, seem to place a lot of emphasis on their hair. In the town, you could find make-shift hairdressing spots with just chairs and tools set up under trees. There, several hairdressers will be busily braiding away!
Here's a family friend's young daughter who had hers done at home...this is art, I'm tellin' ya!
BFFs - my husband Paul, and Boago's father, Mr Matshuba - don't they look like brothers separated when young, discovering each other, and finally being reconciled across the continents! (I know, I have quite an imagination.) They are togged up like this for Christmas service in church. (Africans seem to dress up much more formally than we Malaysians do when attending church, and all the more at Christmas. So we followed suit. Geddit, geddit, followed suit? Sometimes I'm so funny I actually make myself laugh!)
We Malaysians are such a multi-racial bunch, our costumes are now such a (con-)fusion of everything. My daughter goes Chinese while I go Indian because we are both and neither at the same time.
The Matshubas. Esther (orange)is in a traditional African costume. I'm blinded by those flashin' teeth!
The stage backdrop of the church we attended (took about an hour to arrive in the town church) on Christmas day. These are pieces of cloth pulled taut and tied down.
Pizza joint in town for Christmas lunch!
Here are some other photos that I thought might interest you....
What did we eat in Botswana?
Look out for the next post!
If you have enjoyed this account of our trip, do write comments at the bottom of this blog post. I'd love to know what you think, and I do try to answer every one of them! (It takes me forever to upload photos/videos by the way.) Several of you have mentioned having problems getting your comments through, in which case, you can send me your comment through facebook or email and I will copy it here.
gemsforlife@gmail.com
facebook: Valerene Matthews
