As I mentioned in one of the first posts to the blog, reading the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books got me intrigued by Botswana. Mma Precious Ramotswe is the main character in the book which takes place in Gaborone. Therefore, when I saw that I could stop by during my independent week of travel, I had to.
After setting up the arrangements and reading the guidebooks, Gaborone was actually the most "daunting" of the cities that I will be visiting this week. It all really boiled down to the fact that all the guidebooks stated that taxis were almost always unavailable at the airport so I wondered how I'd get to my hotel.
It turned out to be no worry as my hotel provided a courtesy shuttle which was waiting for me when I exited Customs. What hotel would I be staying at? It's known as the Cresta President Hotel or just the President Hotel in the books. Yes, I would be staying at the hotel where Mma Ramotswe often takes her tea.
Gaborone's not a large city but I would call it second world. The infrastructure seems pretty good here and it's relatively clean. Botswana seems to have avoided the corruption that the rest of Africa suffers and it runs pretty smoothly. I walked around a bit after arriving to take photos of what little "scenery" there is. You can see them posted below...
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| Sir Seretse Khama - Botswana's First President and leader of the independence movement |
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| Botswana's National Parliament Building |
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| Entry to Parliament |
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| US Embassy |
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| US Embassy |
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| Cresta President Hotel |
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| Main Mall |
This makes country number 47. Tomorrow it's off to Dar Es Salaam via Johannesburg and Addis Ababa. It will be a long day with three flights but the last two are in business.
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