Many disconnected thinkings, and open comments too!

I’m adjusting, and observing, and many of the thoughts that I record herein will no doubt seem remarkably ignorant to me by the time I leave, which is of course why I record them.

As in everywhere else, contradictions abound here. Luxury cars are everywhere, and I see dozens on the walk to work each day. Yesterday I passed by Lexus and BMW dealerships brimming with shiny 2005 models. Botswana is one of the wealthiest countries in Africa, among the best educated, and almost certainly the best-governed. But, I’m learning, it’s still in Africa. For all the progress this country has made over its variously more downtrodden, corrupt or just plain unlucky neighbours, there is still poverty here on a scale that hobbles the Western mind. Gaborone is very spread out, and the area I live in is mostly populated with modest but quite livable single-story homes. It’s only by chance that I passed a far poorer area en route to the Mokolodi reserve, and glimpsed endless rows of tightly packed tin shacks, each containing a single room, about 12 feet square, that might house a whole family.
On the same drive I spotted the empty shell of a small car, upside down in the brush a hundred feet from the highway. I confirmed my suspicions with Jo, who explained that the car had likely flipped in an accident and had since been stripped bare of salable parts. What stunned me was her explanation that drivers who have car accidents are required by their insurers to notify them within 12 hours of an accident, because that’s about the longest one can expect a hobbled car to sit without being ransacked by the desperate (or just the opportunistic).
The crazy thing is that there’s far less income disparity here than in most other places in Africa. This is literally the only country in Africa to enjoy civilian democratic government since independence, not punctuated by military coups or other unpleasantries. Botswana’s enormous diamond wealth has been reasonably well-spent: on education – school is free through grade 11, and almost everyone speaks both English and Setswana; on infrastructure – the tap water is safe to drink(!!!); and bureaucratic law and order – Botswana is rated internationally as being less corrupt than either France or California (the first milestone’s amazing, the second less so).
This place has maintained the world’s highest average growth rate over the last 40 years, no mean feat given the miseries both outward and inward that have afflicted nearby countries like Zimbabwe. And for all that, the poverty seems to dwarf anything I’ve seen in person before. I’m still just beginning to perceive it; depressing though it may be, I’ll have to write more when I start understanding it better.

On a more me note, I’m still staying at the comfortable guest house, but permanent tenancy there is verboten so I’m expecting to have another place within 2 weeks. There are apparently several houses half full of Canadians and other expats scattered around the city, and I’ve several avenues for renting a room, so I’m not particularly worried about my prospects.

I know I haven’t written about the heffalumps yet, but that news is upcoming. I promise! I’ve just been trying to find a way to add some pictures, but my limited bandwidth may not allow it. Plus, by the time you read this, I should have a better comment system up and running. OK, well it looks like it'll just have to be open commenting through Blogger for now, but as bandwidth allows I'll make it better. Speak to me!