How many goats does that cost?

Our group is on our way to Zimbabwe. We were keeping a secret from Don for a few days that his PH Jaco was also coming along with us. He was very excited for the great reunion that we had when we got in Thursday night.

We are in a Botswanan gas station and have seen an eyeful today. We managed the border crossing with no problems. Although I was even more nervous after leaving the crossing since it involved taking a NARROW bridge over the Limpopo River to get into Botswana. No rails of any kind, just prayers to keep you on the narrow way.

We went exploring for a few minutes while the PH's took care of the paperwork on the Botswana side. We saw some ellie poo and some down trees. After that and all the other "elephant remains" we saw over the next few hours we realized that we were indeed in elephant country.

After the border it felt like we were in a drive through zoo with all the animals crossing the road. Most often it was goats but sometimes more interesting species made their way in front of us- plenty of kudu, baboons, impala, etc.  We were taken to another place in time seeing all the livestock cross the road along with people riding in donkey driven carts as they picked up water and wood along the way. Goats are used for family’s meat but could also be used for exchange.

We noted that the poor in Botswana appear to fare much better than in South Africa. The houses were more cement rather than rusted, bent tin and there were even windows and curtains in most of the poor houses. Sadly enough it is still quite a step up from the poor areas we have seen in South Africa. I can’t imagine how poor the areas we will see in Zimbabwe, being the poorest off of the three countries.

Several times we had to go through a foot and mouth disease control area which provided an interesting experience. Let’s just say it was a different version of dip and pack. After seeing the “cleansing” area, it was hard to believe that this was actually disinfecting.

We are on our way to the Pandamatenga crossing and are hoping for the best as we cross. We are hoping to make it to the camp yet tonight but it is very dangerous to be on the roads after dark.