chickens, rhinos, and diamonds

I left Mochudi behind and returned to my very welcoming Gabs family. On Saturday we headed out to my ma's chicken farm for a braai. After picking my friend up we took a 2hour drive a little past Mahalpaye, one of the biggest villages in Botswana. We visited the 1000 2week old chickens, but apparently my ma is planning to get more, rotating so she will have about 6,000 at one time! We also saw more puppies, played some futbol, drank some cider and grilled out. They left the grilling to sierra and i which was interesting, although we didn't do too bad and the meat turned out great. We enjoyed the steak, sausages and pap then headed back to Gabs at about dusk because there is no electricity there (and no bathroom :( ). I also learned that I have been pronouncing their staple food, maize meal, pop not pap. whoops. learn something new each day!

Sunday was a nice and relaxing day. I made breakfast for everyone, sausage, potatoes, and that bread that you put an egg in the middle and fry. It went over quite well. I also finished the day off with eggplant parmesan, yet another success, definitely my family's favorite so far. Not sure whats next so feel free to give me some suggestions...anything easy with common ingredients.

Monday we headed out to Serowe's Khama Rhino Sanctuary. We went to the station and took a public bus for about four hours. About an hour in it began to get really really hot. More and more people started to get on even though there were no open seats, this meant a lot of people's buts and elbows in our faces...talk about lack of personal space. Finally someone opened the emergency exit hatch to let some air in, but some other guy shut it. All of us were about to faint from the heat.

Nonetheless we arrived in Serowe and grabbed some dinner at the restaurant. Initially we were going to camp but it was just way too cold at night so we ended up in these 6 bed bunk rooms, surprisingly warm with only a few bugs. Our tuesday started off pretty early with a game drive at 6. It was still dark out so we layered on the clothes and grabbed some blankets. You would be amazed how cold it is here when its dark. Feels like a frosty morning i WI, but the open truck means lots of wind too.

After about an hour we hadn't seen much and were getting a little worried we wouldn't see anything more than a few impalas and kudos. However we found a few giraffes just up the road about 20 feet away. They were not as skiddish and afraid as those in Mokolodi, but they were much smaller in size. After another few minutes we ran across a herd of zebras! beautiful animals and I was surprised to find out that this type has black and brown stripes. Got lots of pictures but my camera doesn't have the most megapixels so I hope they turn out.

We then came upon about 3 white rhinos. although they were hiding behind a bush so they were a little hard to see. Later we would get much better pictures. The guide was great and told us about how when rhinos began to become endangered they reintroduced them and made a rhino sanctuary. they now have 4500 hectares, 37 white rhinos and 4 black rhinos. Although they both are light in color they have differences in their jawline, how long they live and gestation periods. It was also interesting to learn that each male has his own territory and about 4 or 5 female rhinos. Male rhinos scrap at their poop droppings to make their mark while females just leave it alone.

Along with the typical animals you think of when you think of Africa, we saw water beasts, kudos, red hearted beasts, impalas, springbok, sternbock, and many birds. The Sternbock were hard to spot, but they are amazing, they are the smallest antelope. The springbok on the other hand were many in numbers and absolutely beautiful...brown and white with a dark stripe and gorgeous horns. Many of them even came within 5 feet of the truck.

We had free time after the morning drive until 4 so we decided to get a little exercise in. A few of us did abs, jumping jacks, and sprints...however now we are incredibly sore. We all miss working out! Almost no one here runs. The only people I see running in gabs are white people (lekgowas). We enjoyed a lazy afternoon then headed out for another game drive. This time we found many more rhinos (too cold in the morning to be in the open). We enjoyed a buffet after the drive around an open campfire where we roasted s'mores to celebrate the 4th of July (a day late).

Wednesday morning was a little brutal. We were up and on the move at 5:30, it doesn't get light until after 6:30 so its bitter cold. We also drove all the way from the sanctuary to the city center on the open backed safari trucks. This was about 20 or 30 minutes of brutal winds on our faces hurling down the road at 80km/hr. Quite the adventure and glad no animals decided to cross the road. But we made it in time to catch the bus back to gabs, another 4 hours on a bus, but this time we were frozen...took us a while to recover from the truck ride.

In the afternoon we visited the De Beers Diamond Trading Company of Botswana (DTCB). This is the largest sorting facility of diamonds, sorting and valuing almost 40 million diamonds a year. In the 1800s a man bought a farm in England from the DeBeers brothers which turned out to be one of the largest diamond mines. Now the DeBeers company has partnered with the government of Botswana to become the largest producer of diamonds. Before the discovery of diamonds in Botswana, the country was the 3rd poorest in the world with less than 10km of paved roads. Now that the diamond industry has taken off, Botswana is one of the most successful countries in Africa. Half of the countries revenue comes from the diamond industry. diamonds are to thank for the amazing development projects and health care system. One of the first places that diamonds were discovered is a place called Jwaneng. Jwaneng means "Stone" because the people would come across sparkly stones...this became very ironic when geologists discovered they were diamonds. Jwaneng mine is now the largest in Botswana (and I believe the world). Luckily we will be visiting it on the last day of the program! if you discover a diamond on the ground of the mine they polish and value it for you and you can buy it at 1/2 price. Cross your fingers for me!

The facility now is the most secure in Botswana. We had to leave all our belongings behind, bring our passports and get a visitor's card. It's an incredible building and I a lucky enough I was allowed inside! One of the communications directors gave us a presentation about the company and process. On the 1st floor they sorted less than 1 carat diamonds with machines then hands, on the 2nd was greater than 1 carat diamonds sorted by hand. They were sorted according to the 4 c's...color, Carat, cut, clarity. Less than 1 carat comprises 70% of the diamonds that come in, although the 30% of bigger diamonds contribute to 80% of the profit. All the diamonds sorted at the DTCB are from Botswana mines, they then are valued and shipped off to London to be aggregated with diamonds from canada, namibia, and south africa. then they are sent back to the countries to be cut and polished. However soon the London process of aggregating might move to Botswana. More people are also beginning to cut and polish diamonds in the country (16 facilities and 3000 new jobs). If Botswana can continue to improve and move beyond only dealing with raw diamonds, its economy will continue to be sustained and boosted by the diamond industry.

After learning about the company we got to see diamonds! Although they were beginning to pack up for the day, we were able to see a few piles of diamonds on each floor, probably worth millions of dollars. we saw 2 carat diamonds that looked flawless even in their raw form (octahedral!). Every morning they weigh the diamonds given to sorters, then weigh at the end of the day to make sure they match up, if not, the whole place shuts down until the diamond(s) are found.

random thoughts...
- everyone but about 4 of us are sick...lets hope I can fight it off for another few weeks!
- white rhinos live to 45, black to 40
- my ma use to work for De Beers as an administrator
- started to take my antimalarials...no bad side effects so far!
- leave for victoria falls in a week...time is flying!