Small thoughts 26: Bots/Zim/Zam

Taxis: The Big Boss, Pit Bull, Mr. Nice Guy, The A Team, Divine Vision (as an acrostic at the V), Mr. Witness, Big Mummy (a huge bus), 7Hundred, Mr. Amen, Redemption, Excellence, Born Thugs, Shalom, Scotch, Bouncer, Red Sea,  Life Goes On, Kangaroo, Smart Life, Holy Ghost Fire Fire, Uncle Fresh, Lion, Confess, Peace, Dollaz, Justice, Destiny, Try Again, Be Soft

Botswana: 

Setswana (the language they speak in Botswana) is almost identical to Sesotho. I can communicate! And for the D sound, they actually use the letter D instead of L. Logic!

I got on a bus to the north of Botswana that I was told would leave at 5:30am. Right, I thought, 5:30, psh. But 5:30 comes and the bus leaves smack on time. And it's not even full! I am SHOCKED! 

3 long-distance bus rides (between 8 and 20 hours each) in 6 days is doing great things for my back, I'm telling ya...

If it were up to me, in addition to the free tea and coffee that hostels often offer, they would also have free cooking basics that are annoying to buy because you have to get so much at a time, like oil and salt. Oh and free hot sauce. All the hot sauce. 

If I didn't have a tent, I'm sure that in my sleep, all the ginormous ants around here would just eat me away in my sleep, bit by bit, and I'd wake up as nothing more than a skeleton.

Camping for 5 days in constant rain is super fun (not). Myself and all my things are always damp, plus I literally have ants in my pants. Livin the dream.

I'm pretty sure at the December Bug Convention, all the bugs in Africa decided to come to Botswana. 

So many people are decked out in sky blue, white, and black (the flag colors) shirts to celebrate Botswana's 50th anniversary. Plus there are murals and rock designs everywhere for it. Lesotho also had its 50th anniversary, but no one seemed to care nearly this much about it. 

Zimbabwe:

I paid for my visa in Rand, paid for my taxi to the city with Pula, paid for groceries in USD, and got my change in new "bond notes." Welcome to Zimbabwe. 

"I'm coming back now." = I'm leaving now, and will come back after an undetermined amount of time, if at all. 

I'm just trying to fix my phone case which is falling apart bit by bit, and the leaky super glue tube leaves me with super glue all over my fingers. Good job, Sush. At least none of those fingers were stuck to each other...for very long. 

Almost without fail, every single instructional sign I see around hostels has grammatical errors. Or if not, the instruction is followed by five exclamation points!!!!!

"I'd rather sh*t in my hand and clap than live there." -Overheard on the train at the New Years carnival. What a way with words, this one.

Fun fact: Zimbabwe driver's licenses are made of metal. 

"I've been high in the bush, but I've never heard an elephant go 'toot.'" - Overheard at the hostel after "What Does the Fox Say" song plays. 

I'm in possession of a 50 billion dollar note! Too bad it's worthless due to insane hyperinflation. 

Zambia:

Sign at my hostel: "No naked swimming." Party poopers. 

Overheard at the hostel: "New is the new new." Yep, indeed it is.

It's raining mangoes! Hopefully I won't get beaned on the head or have my tent ambushed by these very ripe and very threatening mango trees that I'm camping under.