Stories and pics from the big hike

Top to bottom: Some of the falls in Moremi Gorge; Stacy and I in a narrow cavern we had to literally crawl through; an example of some of the climbing we did; one of the rock walls of the gorge; more waterfalls; Moeng Dam; boulders along the trail; Hunter and Stacy at Moeng Dam; the baobab tree at the entry to Moremi Gorge; another waterfall.





















I survived! 3 days of intense trekking through mostly deep, dry sand and rocks, approximately 150 kilometers (about 90 miles), 9 or 10 hours of hiking each day (including some serious rock climbing on the final day). It was a fantastic journey, but obviously completely exhausting. Two other Peace Corps Volunteers, Hunter and Stacy, accompanied me on the journey, as well as about 12 Batswana from different parts of the country. We had a small but energetic team which made all the difference when it came to keeping spirits up. We started from some church ruins in Old Palapye, the area that Palapye used to occupy in the 1800s before the resources were exhausted and moving was necessary. Day one- hiking from Old Palapye to Malaka, a very small village where the leader of our hike was from. There was very little impressive scenery on the first day, and it happened to be the longest of the three days as well (10 hours of hiking) so I have to say I got a little discouraged. Fortunately we had a nice meal and warm water to soak our feet in waiting for us at the campsite. I fell asleep very early and slept more soundly than ever. Day two- We ventured out to see an old reservoir and the Moeng Dam, a very small pool of water, but at the time seeing any water at all was exciting. The area surrounding the dam and the small streams nearby was relatively green and lush- I saw the first ferns I've seen in Botswana and got overly excited. It's amazing how a little green can brighten my spirits and remind me of home. The rest of the day was spent pushing ahead full force through more dry sand, tall grass, and brush, followed by a long and painful descent to the entry of Moremi Gorge. Everything ached, I was exhausted and on the verge of giving up- but finally we arrived at our camp under a fantastic Baobab tree that was glistening in the evening sun. We had come to a public campsite and, amazingly, there were showers and flushing toilets! Even though the shower was freezing, it felt great to get off the several layers of sweat and sand that covered me for the past 2 days. In the morning we ventured into the Moremi/Manonnye Gorge (Manonnye means vulture in Setswana)- this was by far the most beautiful and impressive part of the hike. A baboon barked at us from the top of the gorge and it echoed across the impressive rock walls. We climbed and struggled up and then down and up again until we could see one of the falls below- a very narrow but tall waterfall trickling down into a dark pool. We went on to see 2 other waterfalls, which, considering we're in Botswana and one of the driest places in Africa, was phenomenal. The rest of the day was spent climbing back to the base of the gorge and hiking through many hours more of sand and rocks, going through a small village and finally arriving back at the church ruins where we'd camped the first night. I was so excited to make it with minimal injuries, only one blister, and a beautiful porcupine quill I'd found for a souvenir. A giant thank you to everyone who helped me raise money for the hike, it was such a great and challenging experience!!

Earth Day, Camp, and Preparing for the walk

Pictures from the top: Girls at camp in their traditional attire; me with two of the girls from my program; campers with a hip hop artist; Beauty learning how to make beaded jewelry; my "wedding".

The last month has been jam-packed with activities and my blog has suffered a long dry spell, but hopefully someone out there is still reading it! I helped organize an Earth Day celebration for the kids in my program since Barclays Bank graciously donated a bunch of trees and plants to put in at our new center. Kids and staff from Stepping Stones International came together with Barclays staff to plant the new additions to the center, and then followed up with a Mochudi community clean up. It was great to introduce the idea of Earth Day to the community- most people here had never heard of it before.

I jumped right from planning Earth Day into helping pull together Camp Motlhodi- a camp run by the staff at my program as well as some leaders from other non-governmental organizations in the area for adolescent orphans and vulnerable children. We hosted the camp for the kids from my program as well as some other orphans from local schools, making a total of 40 participants. The focus of the camp was to emphasize of recognizing cultural traditions and values while appreciating the need to define personal identity, boundaries, rights and responsibilities in the modern age. This was the first time our organization had created a camp of its own, but overall it was a huge success- everyone seemed to have a great time and learn a lot during the week. The camp was held at Mokolodi Nature Reserve out in the hills outside of Gaborone, creating a peaceful, natural setting for the camp. Some of the key activities included a game drive, nature walks, arts and crafts, sports, life skills training, the Journey of Life (an activity aimed at helping kids come to terms with losses they’ve experienced in their lives and recognize the positive experiences they’ve had), drama presentations, and mock-traditional initiation ceremonies (introducing boys and girls to the importance of recognizing their culture, history, and traditions). There was even a mock traditional wedding to demonstrate how traditional ceremonies take place- quite comically I was persuaded by my coworkers to be the bride. I thought I would be wearing a traditional Setswana dress, but instead I was given a very 80s-eque lacy, poofy white wedding gown and a plastic gold tiara (hence the ridiculous pictures seen here). It was entertaining nonetheless- a very fun experience because the whole group was involved in some way and a fabulous dinner party commenced afterward. The camp concluded with a graduation ceremony, including a speech from the chief of the entire district. The camp was by far the most fun experience I’ve had at work since being in Botswana.

I’m now looking forward to my sponsored walk/hike which is coming up on the 17^th of May- hopefully I’ll survive! It should be a great challenge. Wish me luck!