When I accepted this 6 month expatriate position with my company I knew a lot of my time would be spent in Botswana while Jimmy & the kids were in Johannesburg. My work schedule is 1 week in Johannesburg and 12 days to 2 weeks in Botswana. It doesn’t leave us much time to travel in Africa. I would love for Jimmy & the kids to come to Botswana with me as it is a beautiful and very safe country. Sadly, Visa restrictions prevent me from having any leisure time in Botswana as I am only allowed 90 days per calendar year to do business in this country.
Botswana has had the highest average economic growth rate in the world. The government runs things very well and there is no apparent corruption that I have seen. Very different from my experience in Sierra Leone! The Botswana people (Batswana) are very friendly and I see so much wildlife which is great.
The flight from Joburg to Maun, Botswana (see map below) is only over an hour. Once I arrive someone from the company meets me and we drive 3 hours on tar and sand roads to our project site which is next to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve main gate. The farmers don’t have a lot of money so they do not fence in their farms. You will find cows, horses and donkeys frequently crossing the highway. When we left Canada in March we just finished with a Canadian winter only to arrive in Africa for their winter. It isn’t nearly as cold and the sunshine most days which is fantastic. It is however very cold and night and in the mornings. Our camp has generators which shut off at night so you wake up very cold and have to wear tonnes of layers.
Many locals are employed on this project. I was brought out for a 6 month term to complete some geological 3D modelling and to train a local geologist to run the software that I use for this modelling. Also, to assist with the management of the drilling and anything else they need me to do. I work with a great group of people and everyone works very hard to push this Copper-Silver project forward to a successful mining operation.
Here are some photos from my time in Botswana:
The village of Somelo- Donkey carts are a popular form of travel for villagers:
A lady from the Herero tribe – In the 16th and 17th centuries this Bantu group migrated from the Zambezi River Valley to Namibia. The women cover themselves from neck to ankle in a Victorian style dress and a large hat in the shape of a cow’s horn. Someone told me that the more cattle they own the horns on the hat are longer. The fashion comes from contact with the German missionaries at that time.
To get from Maun to our project site we have to cross a veterinary fence that bisects Botswana. You have to take all our shoes and press them into a mat soaked with disinfectant and drive through a dip or wait to have our tires sprayed. The fence was put in place to stop foot and mouth disease. If Botswana wanted to sell their beef to the EU they had to install this fence. It has had a huge effect of migratory animals.
A great book to read on this area of Botswana is: The Cry of the Kalahari by Mark James Owens and Cordelia Dykes Owens.
The sand road heading towards our camp – a very bumpy ride:
Hana Main Camp:
Our offices at site:
Typical 4×4 vehicle we drive in the Kalahari to get to drill rigs, into town etc:
Sighting a new drilling site:
Drillers setting up their rig:
Our core storage area:
Drilling for water:
African sunsets are gorgeous and the local geologist who I am training told me he found it funny how anyone from North America or the UK always stop to comment and take photos of every sunset.
Animal tracks. I believe it includes a giraffe print and a jackal:
Social weaver birds nests:
Thamalakane River in Maun:
