9th to 13th of August, 2018.
Hitchhiking in Botswana: Gaborone
In the beginning I really though me and D. would have a great time together. Our first conversation is really nice. And actually, it is not that after all we did not. It is just that we are quite different.
He is leaving, for a long two years term study, in Russia, in about two weeks from now. Because of that we go out almost every day or his friends come over.
The first time, at the Yacht Club (curious thing since Gaborone is not on the coast), we are the only group with black people, they have a lot of drinks and shots and I am having Savana Cider. I should have told them (D. and his brother S.) that I do not like cider but actually I was saying I do not want to drink anything, so they just kept buy the same things I was already drinking. His friends are not too interested in talk to me, so I am watching.
When we go back to the house, they decide to go out. Of course everybody is drunk. I am surprised by two people: a Boatswain guy, who looks like a cartoon and his Airnb guest, a girl from Laos, who is weirdly happy all the time. Their way to treat each other is just bothering me for some reason. They do not look real. Even that sometimes they remind me of me and Doyle, in Durban.
I do not go out with them, of course. Instead, I make some delicious pop corn with butter and after that I go to sleep.
When D. comes back, something quite weird happens: he came into my room, semi-naked, with the t-shirt and sweater stuck in his wrists, trapped, he asks for my help. I am quite surprised but of course I just help him.
Next day is Saturday and he decides to make a braai (a barbecue) and invite some friends over. In the morning, we go to the gym, I mean, D. and his brother, I am just looking for a place to exchange some money. He spend some good money in meat, drinks and sweets. I decide I would have my first barbecue in over eight years.
People are late, so we basically have to eat the meat a little cold. It is good, I will not lie, but definitely it is not something I want in my life again. Plus, I feel some real stomachache during that night. In parts it helped me to leave “the party” early and go to sleep. People are getting real drunk again.
Sunday morning we suppose to go very early in a hiking over the mountain. We do. A lot of people come too. The view of the top it is nice.
About Gaborone, I am surprised in how small it is. Perhaps because everybody kept saying to me how amazing Botswana was and how I should visit, in some how I pictured a big and fancy capital in my head. It is a cute small town, with a big number of new buildings coming up. And looking from the top, you can see how is well distributed in different areas, looking like a planned town.
The morning I am leaving, D. drops me off nearby his gym. It is still dark so I wait until the sunrise comes.
I am trying to go to Ikongwe Hills just because I saw in the map and sounded interesting. This adventure would have two points in common with my hiking from Derry in Northern Ireland until Cork in Ireland: I would simply hike and explore the area plus I have only a tourist map of Botswana as a guide. Cool!
10 Years Around the World 