First Impressions of Gaborone
Gaborone seems like a micro-cosmos for Africa’s growth. It is one of the fastest growing countries in Africa, from a small village back in 1960 when Botswana got independence, it grew to a hub containing tenth of the population in Botswana, 230K roughly. More about Botswana in this previous post.
The streets are wide, very American-style. There is barely a reason to travel by walking, a car or a bus are your only options. The entire city is flat, feels like a drop inside a very big plain where mountains are only visible in the far horizon.
There is very little thought of tourism in the city. The only museum in the city, called “National Museum & Art Gallery” promising name, but amazingly has the following opening in the Lonely Planet:
If you come with expectations reasonably lowered, you may enjoy this small, neglected museum.
Sounds tempting, no?
However, my overall experience so far is very western. The hotel I’m staying in is very good. The restaurant nearby is completely American/European serving burgers, steaks, pastas, pizzas, etc. When I asked the waiter if they have any dish that is local to Botswana he said there is not the much demand, so they offer one dish only on Tuesdays. The Hotel I'm staying is part of a complex that holds 3 restaurants, shopping center and a cinema in the basement (had some time to see “The Magnificent Seven”, nice one).
I guess that when a place needs to grow this fast in a few years probably is prune to imitate other cultures, and wear heavy make-up to cover its roots. Reminds me of the experience of visiting Shanghai in China. In one street you could be in the most dirty, sweaty street and then turn into a prestige shopping center with global brands. Even Tel-Aviv expansion during 30’s and 40’s suffered from a vast imitation, but thankfully that was not towards American standards, rather German. The result is the “White City” area in the heart of Tel-Aviv built in Bauhaus style.
15-min away from Gaborone is Mokolodi Game Reserve. Game reserve is the name in Botswana & South Africa for wild area that animals live in a controlled manner. I wonder if the “Game” here is related to hunting something that still exists on some reserves outside Botswana, or controlling the animals like a game. Let’s be positive and assume that latter.
When finishing my 2-hour “Game Drive” I was disappointed not to see Rhinos nor Giraffes. Plus, I discovered that with some extra fee, on another tour, you could enter the area of a Cheetah and even pet it. Next time, maybe.
I learned two words in Tswana: Dumela meaning Good day / Morning / Afternoon / Evening. Choose what you want, it means either of these. Pula is the local currency, which surprisingly has two other meanings: Rain and Blessing. Only by these two words, two things are evident. First, Setswana, like African language have some density with simple words meaning several things. Second, it is evident what is the valuable resource that this country is praying for: Water. The literal name of their currency, translates to success. Both literally translate to Water. Pula. Botswana is 70% desert, and suffers from desertification of the rest, and drought. Just to give this more emphasis, this was the advertisement covering the front page of the weekly newspaper:
3 Minutes? That’s almost how long it takes the water to warm up.
And then, on the next day it has gotten worse:
