Vancouver - WOW ...

... where to start? We've only been here 5 days but it has been a whirlwind of looking for accommodation, meeting new friends (and old) and driving around this beautiful city. I've hardly had time to sit at the computer - there are a few daily snippets on Facebook for those of you who go there. I'm thinking of starting a new blog ... it's hardly appropriate to write about Vancouver on a blog called Botswana News, now is it? Look out for Voice from Vancouver, coming to a screen near you sometime soon (or maybe not that soon as I start work next week!)

Suffice to say - we love Vancouver, so far, - will be happier once we have settled the accommodation issue. The weather has been warm and sunny and bright - the people are incredibly friendly and helpful ... the city is gentle and unhurried (not like London as I was expecting) ... the sceanery is stunning - beautiful views everywhere you look ... there is SO much to do here ... great restaurants, shops, galleries, sports facilities and most important, John is happier than he's been for many years ... it's looking good :-)

Time in Vancouver

I've just changed the clock on my blog to show Vancouver time. So if you want to know what time it is where we are (or will be from Sunday) then you can check the time here.

Zanzibar

Having a great holiday ... wish you were ALL here. We leave tomorrow and this is the first time my fingers have hit a keyboard - having a wonderful break ... snorkelling, swimming with dolphins, beach combing, reading and lazing by the pool. Oh, and eating WAAAAY too much.

Coral Rock is a great place to stay - recommend it!

More details later ....

Leaving Honiara

I had my final meeting with the stakeholders’ group for the distance teacher training project here today. At the end of the meeting I was – for once – speechless when the Permanent Secretary made a big presentation about how much I’d helped them and how much they appreciated it. She then presented me with the most beautiful shell money necklace that they had made specially for me. They had even had my name spelled out in the beads. It is totally amazing and I was really touched that they had done that for me. They also put on a big lunch ... which was great!

I’m very sad that I am not going to be here to help the team make this programme happen – I really hope they are successful. Ah well ... on to the next job :-)

travel plans

Several people have asked what our plans are for the next few weeks - so here goes.

I leave Honiara next Tuesday (11th) getting home on Thursday to Francistown - the day the removal people come. Chaos for 2 days. Friday to Monday we are staying with Les & Guy and then on Tuesday 18th we go to Zanzibar. Planning to do nothing but laze on the beach, read books and go diving and snorkeling. I might manage a little retail therapy but of course I'm not allowed to buy anything - have to go 'look-shopping'

Back to Francistown on Friday 28th to collect the menagery - in the end we decided to take Bunz, Sid and George with us. here's a pic of Sid & george enjoying their last few weeks in their big garden in Francistown.

On Monday 31st we drive to Johnannesburg, leave the animals at the kennels and fly to UK. We are there with my family until Sunday 6th when we leave for Vancouver - arriving Sunday 6th! The same day, the kennels people put the animals on a plane (I hope they get their own seats) to Vancouver via Amsterdam and we all arrive at the same time. And if we are really lucky, out suitcases will come with us too.

Hold thumbs ....

Miserable weekend

What a difference a week makes! I had a terrible weekend - I've got a chest infection and flu and I've had a ton of work to do. I've been trying to write a report and notes from last weeks' training but my head is pounding. I keep checking to see if I've got a curly tail ... but nothing so far!

I wish I was snorkelling :-(

Tulagi Island

What a great weekend. 2 hour boat ride across some pretty choppy water to a beautiful island called Tulagi. Went with Bex from NZAID and her friend Anna who was over from Melbourne... good fun, girly weekend. The accommodation was pretty basic but clean and the people were, as ever, very friendly and welcoming. Food was good although they have a problem with getting it to the table hot!

Had 2 fantastic snorkelling trips - indescribable abundance of soft corals and fishes. Isaw a sea snake for the first time and a bright yellow needlefish. I even saw a squid and managed not to scream!

We took a walk around the island and these lads wanted their photo taken. The flowers and gardens are amazing. You guys must sign up for Flickr then you'll be able to see my photos.

The boat ride home was a bit rough ... we all got completely soaked from the spray and I'm still feeling Moby :-(

Sad homecoming and due respect

I am sitting in my little apartment in Honiara listening to BBC World News which is on in the other room and my ears prick up when I hear Wootton Bassett mentioned. This is the town we lived in when Laurence was born and a place I kind of think of as 'home'.

Why was it on the news? WB is about 5 miles from RAF Lyneham which is where they fly the bodies of the British servicemen killed in the Afganistan war. The hearses have to drive through the town for the soldiers to be returned to their families. About 2 years ago, the townspeople began to stop going about their business as the hearse passed through. Now it has become an act of civic pride and hundreds and sometimes thousands of people come to line the High Street to pay their respects to those young men who give up their lives for all of us. Businesses close, children come from school, veterans slaute. Yesterday there were more than 4,000 people there because of the 8 young men killed in Afganistan last Friday.

On the TV I see the young, smiling faces of the soldiers who have been killed and think of Laurence and the pain and suffering that their parents and families must be going through. I say - well done Wootton Bassett. You've shown the rest of Britain - and now the world - that people do take the time to show that they care.

Return to Honiara

It's pretty good to be back in Honiara. I've got a nice little self contained unit not far from centre of town ... about 500m from my friend Katie's new house. The place has got a small kitche/living space, separate bedroom and bathroom and an office area - biggest problem is no wi-fi but the owner is trying to sort that out for me - so difficult to skype people yet.

I was at college yesterday and had some good meetings - and managed to stay awake which was impressive. Last night I went for a swim with a consultant from NZ who I met last time and just happened to be here again. Sadly he left today cos he was good fun. Today I went to the market to get fruit and veggies at 7am and then met Katie and her friend at the Lime Lounge ... local ex-pat coffee shop. Quick trip to the craft shop - except I'm not allowed to buy any more stuff - as John is busy selling everything at home.

Currently sitting in King Solomon hotel, listening to some nice music and eating crayfish. I only cmae down here to use the internet. Just met a consultant from World Bank so I've been telling him all about 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman'. I must finish listening to it.

what's that smell?

The first time I came to Joburg, (like 12 years ago) I was driving along the highway away from the airport and could smell a strange, fairly unpleasant, smell. Mindful of the smell of the Euro-fizz beer factory near the M4, I asked John what the smell was ... thinking it was some factory or other. He said - that's Joburg!

We'd been living in the clear, sweet air of Namibia for about a year then and I really noticed the pollution.

Flying in today on a little Beechcraft twin prop (HATE those aircraft!) I could not believe the brown layer of gaseous sludge that was hanging over the whole of Gauteng. It looked horrible - mucky and thick and it must have had lumps in because the descent was very bumpy.

It's official - Joburg sucks :-(

I LOVE gadgets

OK ... you know that! So now you will find yet another new gadget on this blog ... my Twitter feed. I started it before Christmas and I have just made only the 4th "tweet" ... so don't expect too much information.

If you want to send your own tweets - go here http://twitter.com

Basically, how it works is that you can send in a short (140 character) message saying what you are doing at any given moment in time. People (who think you are interesting - like, maybe your mother) become 'followers' and can set the system to send them an sms on their mobile phone everytime you 'tweet'. Cool huh? And maybe now my mum won't have to send me plaintive emails saying "where ARE you?"

What's the time in ...

I hope you like the new gadget on the blog. Those of you reading by email will have to visit
alison-botswana-news.blogger.com to see what I am talking about.

With this funky world clock, you can see what time it is where I am (except I'm in Francistown and I've set the clock for Honiara!) But I will be in Honiara for the next 6 weeks so ... So Jem - you can stop saying 'you're up early' to me on skype when I am about to go to bed :-)

Road trip

John and I have just driven from Francistown in northern Botswana, 1300 kms through to Windhoek in central Namibia ... and it was fantastic. In a few short weeks we will be leaving Africa so it was wonderful to have the opportunity to enjoy the fabulous scenery once more. The drive was a lot less taxing than I remembered from when we did it 3 years ago.

Courtesy of Danielle and my trusty Ali-Pod, I listened to 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman' for much of the journey ... VERY interesting book - looking forward to finishing that on the way home. It talks about all the nefarious goings-on at the World Bank and other Bretton Woods organisations - gives me all sorts of new things to think about. I had time to listen to some great toons too!

Windhoek is a lovely as ever ... even though I haven't lived here for 3 years, I'm going to miss this place. We are staying at the Windhoek Country Club - and it's pretty good! I have many happy memories of Sunday afternoons spent by the Lazy River here when Boot was a wee boy... and great meals we had in the Chez Wou Chinese restaurant. The winter light on the Auas Mountains is as beautiful as ever. I shall be sad to leave. Also managed to catch up with a few friends - which is always a good thing.

We'll be going back to Botswana by the end of the week and then I'm returning to Honiara next week ... more airmiles!

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from ...

...Mars! I just got a really exciting message saying Mars is going to be spectacularly close to earth in August - from a friend not known for her frivolity. I was just about to share it with you all because I thought it was pretty cool - when I decided to check it out.

unfortunately - it's 6 years old and was true only in 2003!

if you get messages like this and want to check your facts before you forward them (please) then try
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/mars-earth-close.html

You'll get the full story if you follow the link

shame - I was looking forward to it.

hectic, hectic, hectic

Packing, selling stuff, writing reports, finishing projects, planning to go to Honiara, getting medicals ... it's all go here. We are driving to Namibia today - have to take the cars back to sell them, but then we need a car here ... hmm ... conundrum! We also have to clear out our huge garage in Windhoek as we left it full of stuff we thought we would need when we went back!

I'm due to go to Honiara next week and will be away till mid-August. In that time, John has to get rid of all our electrical equipment (which won't work in Canada), organise the move, visit his gran, see his doctor in Cape Town, drive to Windhoek again, close bank accounts, get medical records, find a new home for the maid - and possibly for the dogs as we might not take them with us - very upsetting :-( I think I'd rather be me than him! He's in court right now, trying to post bail for a Zimbabwean guy who works for us and got caught up in a work permit scam at the local Immigration office. It's fun in Africa!

Was hoping to see Sharon in Windhoek but have just spoken to her in Tuscany where she is on a family holiday with ben and laurence! but I will see Rachel and Jacquie - looking forward to that.

Better go - things to do and I have one more cool thing to share with you in the next post.

Way to go Sally!

My friend Sally (single mum, 2 teenage daughters, gave up a lifelong career in FCO to go to university and study social work) has just told me that she's completed her second year at Bangor Uni and is on track for a first class honours degree!

I just want to acknowledge the great achievement of this remarkable woman and say - well done ... so you're only blonde on the outside Sal :-)

Sally's news led me to thinking about my own rather pathetic 2.ii gained (dare I say it) nearly 30 years ago. The older I get, the more I think that education is wasted on the young. I went into university thinking that I could get a 2.ii .. and hey, guess what - that's what I got. There are a few youngsters who are dedicated and focused (like Laurence, thankfully) but most of us just went to uni to have a good time and coming out with a degree was a bit of a by-product. Yes, we worked ... but not with the drive and determination that people like Sally have.

Big hand clap for Sally - bravissimo!

Exciting News!

For months everyone has been asking where John and I are going to go next ... well, finally we have an answer - Vancouver! I have accepted a new job at the Commonwealth of Learning as Education Specialist, Skills for Development. I will be working with the Ministries of Education in any of the 53 Commonwealth countries. I have wanted to work for CoL for some time so I am really excited about the move. John is delighted to have the oppotunity to live in what he calls a 'first world' country and from what we've read so far, Vancouver sounds like a great city to live in.

So right now (while I'm finishing off projects in Rwanda and Solomons) John is busy selling cars and electrical equipment and wrapping up all our affairs in Botswana and Namibia. Then he has to find a way to get 2 dogs and a cat halfway across the world! We are due in Vancouver early in September.

Now, where did I put my thermal underwear???

Back in Kigali

My big bruv is complaining again that he doesn't know where I am or what I am doing.

Well, I'm back in Rwanda to progress the work that I did here last year. There seems to have been a lot of positive developments towards developing ICT in Education policy and strategy and there is a strong focus on this area of education. My job now is to narrow down what the Ministry might do in distance education and elearning and try to come up with a costed plan. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to do it yet but I guess I'll work it out.

Rwanda is an exciting place to work in this area - they have an ICT-led development plan and have already managed to put fibre optic cable throughout much of the country ... which is all good news. I also get to work again with my counterpart from my time here 2001 - 2006 and see many people that I have known for a long time - that makes it a pleasant task.

And the bottom line is, I just love working in Rwanda!

Cool phone or phony?

BTW the beach photo was taken with my new phone - a gift from the husband! I only used it because I forgot to take my camera and now I use it to take photos all the time - it's brilliant! Actually it's a bit more than a phone and a camera it's a Samsung Omnia and it's a:

• clock
• FM radio
• camcorder
• video editor
• audio recorder
• gps/satnav
• calendar
• digital photo viewer
• internet browser
• calculator
• emailer
• task list
• contacts book
• business card reader
• and it's so shiny I can use it as a mirror to put my lippy on!

It's very cool and I love it!

Where did you spend Easter Sunday?

For those of you who read my blog by email, you'll need to actually go to the blog to see the photo

http://alison-botswana-news.blogger.com/

weather, weather ... everywhere

You know how British people like to complain about the weather (what my Aussie friend calls Whinging Poms!) especially on Bank holidays when it is grey and dull or pouring rain. WELL! I don’t care what terrible weather they are having in England over Easter because it can’t be as bad as we’ve experienced in SI!

I watched the local weather report on SIBC on Good Friday evening ... scattered showers over Honiara for Saturday. No worries there then.

Saturday morning the rain woke me at 4.30am (don’t you just love tin roofs?) Chatted to husband and brother on Skype. Just thinking about charging the battery on my laptop when the electricity went off. Eventually found the number for the electricity company and called them to be told a coconut tree had fallen on the wires. “hav hour, we fixim!”

Then the storm really got going. We’ve had the most torrential rain and high winds that I have ever experienced. The trees are bending and crashing about. Water is pouring off the roof all around the house. The road outside the gate is now a raging, muddy torrent. There are 4 new swimming poolsin the garden and a pond that seems to be full of frogs – don’t know where they came from! It’s getting darker by the minute and I’m just trying to decide whether to de-camp with my computer to a local hotel – or go back to bed.

I carried on doing what work I could without my computer – I haven’t written with a pen for so long since my last exam! The electricity? – 4 hour, we fixim!

back to school

One of the reasons I am not blogging very much from Solomons is because I am currently taking an online course with the University of West Georgia. It is a Certificate in Advanced Technologies for Distance Learning and it is great fun! I am learning all about new teaching and learning technologies - blogs, audio, video and all sorts of other goodies.

One of the things we have to do for the course is to run a blog so I've been busy with that. You can go here if you want to see my other blog called detechnophile. Enjoy!

SI update 2

Sorry for lack of news - got told off by my brother again! The porter who showed me around the hotel the day I arrived told me it would stop raining on Monday - and it did! We've had lovely hot, sunny weather ... a bit humid at times - until today! Then the heavens opened. But it was fine because I went to the beach yesterday! And today I had to work.

I am still trying to work out which end of this project I am holding - but I guess it will all start to make sense soon! Lots of equipment arrived last week - VERY high spec computers and laptops and loads of stationery. I guess I'd better look at the budget soon and make sure we have funds for all this :-)

I've met some really nice people, at work and outside - in fact I have moved out of the hotel and I am sharing a house with a nice Aussie lady who works for Red Cross. I couldn't stand the noise in the hotel. Katie has been taking me to places and generally showing me around.

Hope you like the photo - not one of mine I'm afraid - I've hardly taken any.

Greetings from Honiara

Boy this place is wet! It has rained incessantly since I got here - not stopped once ... it just gets a little lighter! It is coming down in buckets right now. Everyone says it is unusual!

The King Solomon Hotel is very nice but they have loud music until late at night. It is full of Aistralians here with an organisation called RAMSI ... a regional aid mission. Solomon islands is known as a fragile state and RAMSI are here to help strengthen justice and government. These guys like to party and last night was very noisy again. I sleep until 1am, then awake a couple of hours and then sleep until 9am! Not sure what I am going to do tomorrow when I have to be a college by 8am. My room has a kitchen - big fridge, micro, stove etc so it's pretty good. Basic but fine. I went to the local market yesterday ... a bit scary places but I am used to them from Rwanda and it is the only place to buy fruit and veg so I had to do it. I managed really well ... except it was very wet so it was muddy and very crowded. But the people here are very friendly.

I had a drink with an ex-colleague from Rwanda last night - Mike McRory - it was fun to see him although he's a mad Irishman. But he's been here for 3 years and knows everything and everyone so he will help me if I need him. He took me to Honiara Hotel and they have a self contained unit available for me from Wednesday so I might move because it will be quieter.

I've got a little Rav hire car (like my one at home) and it seems fine (when the windows close!) The roads here are terrible - VERY big potholes everywhere so you can't go very fast. The driving here is a lot better than in Francistown - no-one is in a hurry. Honiara is like a very small town ... nothing is very far. the Solomon dollar is = Botswana pula so it makes it easy for me to know how much things cost ... which is a lot! Food is very,very expensive - in fact everything is substantially more than at home.

Mike wants me to go to the Hash House Harriers tomorrow. This is sometimes called a running club with a drinking problem but also known as a drinking club with a running problem. As a Hash 'virgin' I can expect some teasing and ribbing so that's something to look forward to! I'll only go if it's not raining too much. Mike also said he will take me snorkelling one weekend - so that is good.

I met the team I am going to work with on Friday - they are all really pleased I'm here and very enthusiastic about the project and very, very friendly. Two have already said they want to take me to their village - on the other islands. Not sure how I am going to fit all this in.

Tomorrow the hard works starts - meetings at the Ministry all day. Looking forward to it.

Feed the right Wolf

My friend Bronwen in Brisbane - who I'm hoping to visit next week - sent me this story. I loved it so much, I thought I'd share it.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said: 'My son, the battle is between 'two wolves' inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment,inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy,generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.'
The grandson thought about it for a minute, and then asked his grandfather: 'Which wolf wins?'
The old Cherokee simply replied: 'The one you feed”.

This resonates with a book I am reading at the moment ... called The Secret. Do any of you know it?

It's official!

No, I've not been certified insane (although there are people who think otherwise) but I can finally confirm that I am going to the Solomon Islands as Team Leader on a distance teacher training project. Some of you know that I have been talking about it for a few weeks but the contract has arrived so I guess I really have to go now.

I was first/last in Solomon Islands when I went to visit my friend Ian in Bougainville (which is strickly speaking Papua New Guinea, but it is also known as north Solomon Islands) in 1984. I'd gone to a Girl Scout Leaders meeting in Brisbane for the Commonwealth Games and then I managed to get up to Kieta afterwards. I'm sure a lot has changed in 25 years.

I'm really looking forward to this project - and not a little apprehensive as it is rather outside my comfort zone in terms of territory. But I enjoy working with teachers and it will definitely be a new challenge. I am working for NZAID and they seem like a friendly and supportive agency ... and very committed to this project. I'll be 5 weeks in-country this visit and then have to make 2 or 3 more trips over the coming year with a possibility of an extension.

I'll try to keep you posted on this blog ... as my brother said last week - do let us know every few days, we worry about you. Don't worry Bruv - I'll be fine!

Connections 2

Well my advert for Skype worked ... I am now in Skype contact with 2 more friends. Thanks to Sally and Matt for getting in touch. I've had Skypecons with people in New Zealand, California, Vancouver, Gaborone, Toronto, London, Wales, Cape Town and Dublin in the last couple of weeks. Still need to get Windhoek on my map!

Now - as for the rest of you Luddites .... how about it? Or maybe you just don't want to talk to me?

Connections

I got a call from my uncle yesterday. Nothing strange in that, you might think. But he's 84 years old and he was calling on Skype to ask for the link to my blog. We had a good chat about family and what was going on in eveyone's lives. Thinking about it afterwards, it suddenly hit me what an extraordinary tool Skype is.

2 weeks ago, I used Skype to participate in a meeting between colleagues in Vancouver, India, Namibia, and Trinidad & Tobago. I also spoke to a friend who is working for 6 weeks in Kiribati (look it up - it's very far!!). But then I use it to message chat to Laurence when he's supposed to be working in his office in London ... and to send internet links across the living room from my computer to John's! I also skype chat to friends in Seattle, Rwanda and Gaborone. All for free. I love this internet thing-y.

So those of you that I love and never talk to - please get a skype account and let me know what your skype name is ... then we can all be so much more connected. Skype rocks!

Open Educational Resources

I've just completed facilitating a workshop to develop open educational resources for the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). I was working with 2 subject teams from the Botswana College of Distance & Open Learning. The purpose of the project is to develop local online content for secondary education and to help increase the use of new teaching and learning technologies in the classroom. There are 6 countries in the project - Seychelles, Trinidad & Tobago, Namibia, India & Lesotho.

It was a really interesting group of participants and we had a fun - but exhausting - 2 weeks. We got to play with all sorts of exciting things like podcasts and blogs as well as revise some courses to include multimedia elements. They have all gone away to write the materials and we will come together again for another workshop later in the year.

I was asked to be the Country Consultant for Botswana by my colleague at COL who used to be the Director of NAMCOL in Namibia when I was the Technical Adviser there 10 years ago - so that was great!

Another first for Alison

I went to my first yoga class this morning - and I absolutely loved it. I've put if off for many months because I like aerobics and there's not enough loud music in yoga (even though I had a sneaking suspicion that yoga would be good for me!)

But I was at Gaborone Yacht Club (yes really!) yesterday evening with some friends I first met in Rwanda and they brought along another friend who told me about the class. So we went to yoga together and it was great. (I declined the offer to stay for the 1-day workshop on Femininity!)

Now I just have to find a class in Francistown .... or is it Honiara ... or is it Windhoek ... or is it Kigali - still not sure yet :-)

Murphy strikes again!

If you see Murphy - please kick him in the shins for me ... he's been at work with his law again.

John left on Monday morning - on Sunday night both the remotes for the gate stopped working - we couldn't get into the property ... luckily the gardener was staying over. On Monday and Tuesday I was sick with a tummy bug and couldn't lift my head from the pillow. On Tuesday the gardener said he needed an hour to go to his old place of employment to drop off his uniform. He was gone for the whole day.

On Wednesday, the gardener had to go off again to get his money for the uniform - he was not back when Agnes left and I was at college. When I got home he was standing outside the gate, dripping wet. Inside the gate the dogs where soaked through and had obviously rolled around the entire garden in the mud.

I had just got inside and dried off and made a cup of tea when the gardener (who is supposed to be our guard when John goes away) came and told me he had to go out 'to take money to his friend for his rent'. I refused and there was a long discussion. I could only resolve it by calling John - who reminded him he's not allowed off the property in the evening and managed to sort him out as he had made the arrangements with him. I went back to watching Eastenders. 15 minutes later, he is back at the front door. Now he has to go to the shop to buy bread (despite the fact that it is 6 o'clock at night and he has been out for most of the day). He got very upset when I wouldn't agree and I got very stressed and we had a big row. Another phone call to John. A sulking guard returns to his room. By now I am stressed and upset.

Then the heavens opened and we had rain like I have never seen before ... not even in Ireland (tell you that story some other time.) There was a lot of very loud thunder directly overhead and many flashes of lightening and the dogs were petrified, so soaking wet and covered in mud they tried to sit on my lap or wrap themselves around my legs. The satellite dish got waterlogged so the tv went off and I spent the whole evening rushing around the house with towels and bowls to put under the sieve that serves as a roof in our house. At least the electricity didn't go off ...

WHY do these things always fall apart while John is away? WHY does the gardener always play up when I am here alone?? I think it is time for John to come home now :-(

Grand News!

Just wanted to share with you all that John has had his operation today and the doctor and the surgeon are really pleased with his progress. All his blood levels and liver functions are back up where they should be and everything is looking good. They told him that they were very worried even for his survival when he first went there a year ago and he has made a remarkable recovery.
Here's a picture of him at Planet Baobab.

It's nice to have good news to share :-)

Nata Village Blog

Please note the new entry on the Nata Village Blog - their river is flowing! Now for you folk in the northern hemisphere, that's not really news. But believe me, in our part of the world it is great cause for celebration. The Ntshe River alongside our property is also flowing - John took some pictures but still has them in his camera in Cape Town - so I cannot show you.

I hear you guys in the north are getting a little precipitation too ... but the white kind ... :-)

from my sick bed

John's gone off to Cape Town & I'm confined to bed with a horrid tummy bug so I'm writing this on my cellphone! I finally managed to work out how to get on the internet on it.

Hope to be better tomorrow as I have just got a new contract to do a workshop on elearing in 2 weeks' time. I have to cover video & audio & blogs & podcasts & wikis so there's lots to prepare. Looking forward to it though - it will be exciting.

John is having his operation on Tuesday - I'll keep you posted.

Kalahari Surf Club II

I've just uploaded some of my Planet Baobab pics to Flickr ... so you can go here if you want to see them. I will also try to put them on the slideshow on this blog ... if only I can work out how!!!

Kalahari Surf Club

Over the Christmas break J and I took a trip to Planet Baobab - if I tell you it is the home of the Kalahari Surf Club then you'll immediately understand what sort of place it is!

The lodge itself is very different - everything is fashioned out of concrete but it is eccentric and crazy and great fun ... from the aardvak at the turning on the main road, to the chandeliers made from beer bottles, to the outdoor sofas. I wasn't too keen on the cow skin covers on the chairs in the bar though :-(

We stayed in a very quaint Bakalanga Hut which had (too short, if you ask John) beds built into the walls. The weather was great - it rained for 3 days - which meant we could stay indoors and read and play games and I could do my sewing. There was a large group of yarpies (South Africans) who had tried to drive to see the Baines Baobabs (massive, very ancient trees) in the middle of Nxai Pan. Unfortunately they must have taken the gravel road too fast and managed to roll one of their vehicles. Car was a write-off but luckily, and amazingly, no-one was hurt.

Would we recommend it? We enjoyed it but 3 nights is too long. The food is pretty basic and very calorific. They were very accommodating of my being a vegetarian but the food didn't really suit either of us. Staff were friendly enough but not very well trained. The other thing was that there was not really anywhere comfortable to sit and just chill ... maybe it was because we were there or too long and most people use it as an overnight between the Delta and the rest of Botswana, and don't want to sit and chill ... or because we could only use the pool on one day. The thing that put me off more than anything was being asked to sign a contract indemnifying the owners for any responsibility for anything that might happen to us whilst at the camp. In all the countries I have travelled and hotels/lodges/camps/guest houses I have stayed, I have never been asked this before. A little off-putting.

Verdict: quirky and fun? ... yes, relaxing and comfortable? hmm ... no, not really ...

Art of Living

John and I start attending a workshop tomorrow - in the Art of Living. You would think that after 50 years I would have got the hang of it by now ... but apparently a need a course :-) I am a bit worried about my ability to pay attention from 6 - 9pm for five nights - as most of you know, I am ususally long in bed by then.

I think we are going to learn all about stress management by breathing and yoga techniques. You can find out more about it here We don't get many opportunities for self development courses in Francistown so at least we are grateful for this opportunity. I'll let you know what transpires ... or is it respires ... hee hee!

Christmas Cards part II

Even though I only managed to send my mum & dad and my brother/brother-in-law cards ... we received many from friends and family. So thank you ladies (it is the ladies who send the cards - right?) aunties, cousins, old and new friends for all your Christmas and new year wishes.
We hope 2009 is a great year for all of us - it will be a challenge no doubt , but I am sure we are all up to it.

All behind ...

... and if anyone makes a connection with my physical shape then they are in for a big smack!
Sorry - haven't had time to blog for a couple of weeks - brain went dead over Christmas and now I'm totally engrossed in my research. I will catch up soon, I promise. Have quite a lot of news ... Christmas cards, Part II ... a trip to Planet Baobab where we joined the Kalahari Surf Club (all will be revealed) ... pilates classes ... beading ... birding ... where do we go from here ...

Stay tuned!