DAY #2

We arrive in Johannesburg airport and walk right to our gate for our fight to Gaborone (hab-o-roni). All of us are exhausted but realize that we are missing our teammate Tommy (our beloved doctor friend!) at the same time we realize that we are lost in the airport, stuck in a stairwell being able to see where we are suppose to be through a window but not knowing how to get there. The signage in the elevator is misleading and directed us to this random and useless stairwell leading to nothing. We finally make it to our gate and I decided to pass out holding the fuzzy elephant that my parents bought me (especially for this trip) in Newport a few months back. I named this elephant friend Eli and he was a very useful and comfy companion/pillow. :)

Our wait by the gate was a bit torturous because I was so exhausted and although I was in Africa it did not seem like it since I was in a modern airport. Mike and Darla, Patricia, Richard and Carolyn all joined us, they were in Africa before us. Mike and Darla had arrived from Canada the day before; Patricia had traveled around South Africa for week sightseeing. Richard and Carolyn were visiting family in South Africa for about a week as well. I also officially met Martina although I wasn’t very social, I was thinking more about sleeping comfortably laying down than squished in a seat. Because of this fact I don’t remember much detail of the rest of the day besides getting on the little plane to Gaborone, being welcomed by the Gaborone Habitat Affiliates at the airport, arriving at the Gaborone Habitat Affiliate Office and got a larger welcome as well as an orientation.


Gaborone Airport



Local Botswana Affiliate

At this orientation we met our additional teammates Diego and Bento from Mozambique’s Habitat Affiliate. Diego and Bento were joining our team as sort of an internship so that they are able to gain knowledge as to how the Global Village trips work and bring that knowledge back to Mozambique.

After orientation was over and we bought our first Botswana souvenir, a Botswana Habitat t-shirt, we headed to our hotel. It was called the President Hotel and I heard that it was the nicest hotel in Gaborone. The ride to the hotel was our first real glimpse of what will be common surroundings, dry sand dirt, no grass, not much foliage, chickens, goats and donkeys walking around wild and people walking around with no shoes on. Our hotel was nice but not as nice as the best hotel in say NYC or even a smaller town would be. It overlooked a sort of commons/park but it looked more like a place you wouldn’t set foot in after dusk and even avoid during the daylight hours. It is just because it is so poor in those areas that there are more important things to focus on besides landscaping…such as healthcare, food, economy, etc.

We relaxed in our rooms for a bit, showered (YIPPEE!) and then went down for dinner on the balcony that overlooked the sketchy commons.


Me, Tommy, Duraid, Richard, Carolyn, Martha, Claude, Zed, Mike and Patricia

We had a blast at dinner, oddly enough American music was playing in the hotel restaurant area, and I even heard Gloria’s “I Can’t Stay Away From You”. We are a little more awake after taking a rest on a real bed and showering. We chatted and got to know each other and had a lot of laughs. I was so happy to be in Africa with such a great group of strangers that would soon become my friends and teammates.


Oh, did I mention I flooded our bathroom? I somehow did it while I was showering but I still don’t know how. :) I also got to call my parents real quick which ended costing me about $35 (American) for about 5 minutes…but it was worth it to hear my mom screech in the phone with glee asking me over and over where I was. Yes Mom, I’m IN AFRICA now! :)


Leaving the President Hotel the next morning