Pula o Kai?

Where is the rain? Yeah summer is approaching and approaching rather quickly this year. It has consistently already been in the 90’s and the Kalahari is as dry as it can get, I believe. Technically speaking, its not even summer here yet. We are waiting for the rain to come, when it will happen? Nobody knows. Traditionally speaking, we were told it will rain on Sept. 30th, “it always does” but this year the ancestors were wrong.

Living in the desert is quite a challenge at times and this year seems to be no different. Laura and I constantly talk about spending most of our day thinking of water, whether it being downing liters at a time or trying to find a swimming pool for relief. Thankfully our water at home has not gone out; although we do know people that have now gone two months with nothing from the tap. It is only a matter of time if the rains don’t come.

One very interesting thing this spring compared to last is that everything is still blooming, the trees, flowers and fruits. Last year we had ample rain to get these very things sprouting and going, but even this year with NO rain, everything is blooming. It’s such as weird phenomenon that the desert can still flourish for some time without any water and some species obviously don’t need anything. I know, they have adapted over time, year after year with no water, but its still a bit bizarre to think about......

This past weekend was Botswana Independence and allowed for a four day weekend so we decided to visit a few friends up north. It was so nice, we spend the entire day at the Ntimbale Dam, a man made dam to supply water to many villages up there. We were able to swim the entire day in nice clean water, what a relief and so fun considering it’s a rarity here in Botswana. The only option we have near us in to go to the capital and raid one of the nice hotels there, but can get expensive and you still have to travel to get there. By the time you get home on the bus, you feel like going straight back.

Furthermore, the weekend was capped by attending the Kalanga festival at Domboshamba. The Kalanga are the predominant tribe up north and it was nice to around different people, experience traditional food, music and dance. Although the festival was still a typical Botswana event, it was nice to be in a different part of the country. When I say typical event, I mean most people sit outside next to their cars with house/pop/techno music bumping between cars in a drunken stupor. It’s quite entertaining and can be as fun as you want to make it really. It’s the thing to do when you go out as there really isn’t anything else to do here. It is too expensive to sit in bars so most people hangout outside and chill. In fact, some will call it a “chillaz” session if you can imagine.

So, hope all is well with you all and your enjoying the nice cool autumn air, baseball playoffs starting, a new NFL season (Colts need to get it together), and whatever rain you can send our way, please do. Its no wonder the word “pula” or water is so dominant here, including the currency.

-matt aka thuso