Archive for February, 2007
So everything went well, if quickly, in Botswana. No, I unfortunately didn’t have time to take any pictures, so nothing will be posted.
The last day, Wednesday, was a bit interesting, in that the internet connection in our training room basically stopped working reliably. Up until Wednesday it was doing fine, but suddenly it turned rather intermittent. It was way to flaky for me to stand up in front of the group, demonstrate tasks and then lead people through them, so I improvised.
Several (most) of the people who attended the first two days of the workshop were still there. I grabbed a bunch of volunteers and had them pair up with the newly arrived people and mentor them through the stuff we were supposed to learn. I floated around the room answering questions here and there as they came up. It wasn’t a perfect setup, but it gave the Mission staff a chance to see just how much they really did learn over the first two days and it served the needs of the new folks too.
Somewhere along the line, I came down with a nasty cold (still suffering the effects), and didn’t get much rest before my flight left on Thursday. The flight home was good, if long, and this time it was without any detours through game parks. We were flying into a strong headwind the whole trip, and so our flight time was a hour more than anticipated, but in the end I got home safe and sound.
Well, the flight from Joburg to Gaborone did not end up being quite as easy as I had hoped. Getting to Joburg was no problem, but once we boarded the plane that was to take us to Gaborone, we were told that the flight would be detouring to go to the rescue of a stranded plane at the airport in Kruger national park (a flat tire, aparently). So while we waited, a spare tire and an engineer to replace the tire were loaded on to our flight that was already full and fast becoming late. Oh, by the way it would be a 45 minute flight to Kruger, and then an hour and 30 minutes from Kruger to Gaborone. So rather than arriving shortly after 6pm on Sunday, we landed at 9, and did not make it to the hotel until roughly 10pm.
All my best intentions for taking a walk or a dip in the pool vanished pretty quickly. I just rolled into bed and caugh as many winks as I could.
I did get a reasonable night’s sleep, all things considered, and survived the first day of things today. I’ve got a group of 18 people I’m working with today and tomorrow, and then another 7 or 8 who are coming on Wednesday.
The weather is wonderful so far, sunny and warm (probably in the mid 80s) with nice loooong days. I’m not in the least sorry I’ll miss the snow that is to hit DC on Tuesday.
[From Saturday afternoon]
Once again I’m on my way to the airport in Johannesberg, South Africa. A major difference this time is that I’m going to be able to fly directly from Washington to South Africa. The other times I’ve made this journey I have always had to transit through either JFK, Frankfurt or Atlanta. Even the flight through JFK required a stop in Dakkar to refuel; it was illustrative that the flight from JFK to Dakkar was six hours, but from Dakkar to South Africa, eight.
This flight will last about 15 hours, and I’m going to make sure I sleep. Though I’m ticketed on United, the flight is operated by South African Air which serves good food and wine. I’ve got my music, my headphones, some reading material, and Tylenol PM to make sure I get some rest.
We’re flying an Airbus A-340 600, the European version of a 747. It is a four-engine plane, wide body, and very long range. I remember being surprised at how flexible the wings on this plane are. During a take off, it seemed like the wing tips rose several feet as we gained speed and the wings bit into the air.
My ultimate destination this time is Gaborone, Botswana for three and a half days of business before turning around and coming home. Roughly 26 people from roughly a dozen countries will be getting together for a workshop on nothing particularly interesting to the general public. Still, I am anticipating the chance to meet some long-time colleagues who, up to now, have been names on emails.
I’m told that Gaborone is a sleepy place, but I’ll see for sure when I get there. I do know that, historically, Botswana had been one of the success stories of sub-Saharan Africa until it was decimated by HIV. It is still a stable country, and I’m given no reason to anticipate any difficulty at all.
As usual, the staff at the USAID mission has already begun to take good care of me, and I know I’ll be met at the airport, etc. It isn’t that I mind having to fend for myself, but after such a long trip it is nice to know that I can let someone else worry about the details on the other end.