Trips with Friends - Jacy & Brad

Our dear friends from Madison, WI came to visit in September. They only had a week in Botswana, so we hit the ground running when they arrived. We had such a great time on our first over-land trip. Over-land trips are essentially self-sufficient 4x4 trips in the bush. They are full of adventure! We drove from Gabs to Maun in a long day. They got to see the vastness of this awesome country on our way up. From Maun, we drove to Savuti Marsh. This was our first day of adventure. We were told that it only takes 4 ½ hours to get to Savuti from Maun. They. Were. Wrong. We had a nice relaxed drive. We saw lots of elephants, including a very stressed mother and young baby. We hope they made it to the water…We also totally nerded out when we saw a secretary bird. This bird was one of the top birds we wanted to see. The drive was sandy, but fine. We only got nervous when the sun started to set. We had no idea how much longer it would take to get to the campsite and lots of animals come out to play at night. We were lucky and got to see a spotted hyena. We stopped to look at it and it sniffed the air and was very clearly curious about us. Finally we got to our camp and they gave our campsite away! They were angry that we arrived at night (sorry, we were told it took 4 ½ hours and it took over 6!). They did allow us to camp near the bathrooms, so at least we had a place to sleep.

The next day, we went on a full day game drive around Savuti Marsh. We saw a massive herd of buffalo, lots of elephants, tons of birds, wildebeest and lions! The lions were definitely the highlight. There was a pride of about 7 lions – 1 male, 4 females and 3 cubs! We watched them slink toward a big shade tree, stopping to look at the wildebeest and impala on the other side of us. Two even started to hunt! The others were less interested, so they all just went under the tree and slept. We also got to see the cubs nursing! This is a big deal since I (Bridgette) have been trying to see as many animals nursing as possible. So far, I have donkeys, cows, goats, sheep, cats, dogs, elephant, giraffe, zebra, baboons, monkeys, wildebeest and warthogs! We had such a great time watching the wildlife and seeing where our vehicle could go. Our motto for the trip was – “You can take this thing anywhere!”

We went back to camp for a nice lunch. There was an elephant eating in the camp next to us. We watched him cautiously and when we started walking in our direction, we packed up our food and planned to get in the car. As we were doing that, another bull elephant snuck up behind us. We were surrounded! Luckily, neither of them seemed interested in us. It is amazing that the largest land animal can sneak up on 4 people! They are surprisingly quiet. We went on another game drive and returned for dinner. Our campsite was beautiful, right next to the river so lots of animals came for water. At night, we started hearing some animals about 30 feet away. We shined our flashlights and saw some green eye-shine. It was too dark to tell what they were. They sounded like warthogs but were big. We were all on edge, so we packed our stuff up and went to bed. The instant we started for our tents, a hyena came into camp. S/he sniffed around and left. Brad was not yet up his ladder, so that made things interesting! Once we were all in bed, the big animals started walking past our camp. It was a herd of buffalo! We could see them in the moonlight. It was so crazy.

The next day we drove to Kasane. It was a fun drive that included getting stuck in the deep sand. We got out and had a great day. That evening we went on a boat ride and saw lots of great animals. The Chobe waterfront never disappoints. The next day, Jacy and Brad went to Victoria Falls and we did a drive in the park. We saw tons of animals including our first leopard! It was a great day.

On our way down south, we stayed in the Nata Bird Sanctuary. I really loved this place, so vast and peaceful. We had a great sunset and full moonrise. We left our friends there. We hitch-hiked up to Shakawe and they made their way back down to South Africa. It was a great trip! It was so nice to share this awesome country with our friends. This trip was our first vacation with friends and we couldn’t have asked for better travel buddies.

Lastly, we have to thank Jacy and Brad for bringing over 100 Days for Girls kits. These kits took up 2 ½ large suitcases. Our friends are the best!

Skin

Okay, so you might assume this would be a deep post about race in Botswana. Alas, it is not about that. This blog post is about what I (and probably 99% of other PCVs) put their skin through during their service. It is important to note that back home I was pretty “granola” when it came to my skin. I only used my homemade soaps, organic shampoo, no lotion except for extreme cases (when I did moisturize it was usually with organic oils), almost never wore bug spray and only wore sunscreen when absolutely necessary. Since being in Botswana, I've put my skin through a lot. Also, this post isn’t just about what I do to my skin, it’s also what the elements and small organisms do to it as well. So, here we go…

I’m going to walk you through a typical day in the life of Bridgette’s skin.

·         In the morning, I take a bath (not always, but sometimes).

·         After I take my bath I apply a ton of sunscreen. I use normal stuff on my body and some fancy stuff for my face. Every PCV in Botswana has aged since we’ve arrived. I have a lot more wrinkles than I ever thought I would at 29. The reason is that the sun here is intense – more intense than anywhere in the States. I will probably continue to wear some sunscreen back home, but I look forward to not having to apply it several times per day, every day.

·         Then I walk around my village. This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but I’m usually covered in sweat and dirt after these trips.

·         Take an afternoon bath. This gets rid of the first layer of sweat and dirt from simply walking around my village.

·          Depending on whether or not I’ll be going outside again, I might apply more sunscreen.

·         Once the sun starts to set, I apply mosquito repellant. This contains DEET, which I would normally avoid in the USA, but it is the only proven repellant against the mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite.

·         I apply more DEET after an hour or two. Sometimes, if I’m in Samochima, I’m applying this stuff all day.

·         Take another bath before going to bed. In the winter, I might apply lotion since it is incredibly dry here during winter. The lotion here is all petroleum based and has tons of preservatives. These are the things I avoid like the plague back home.

I can’t imagine all of this stuff is great for my skin. I have a lot more breakouts than I ever did when I was a pubescent teenager. I have tried different types of cleansers, toners and moisturizers since I’ve been here. I’ve learned that I really don’t need moisturizer during summer, but it is 100% necessary in winter. I’ve had people bring me awesome Kiehl’s facial products, but they are not as effective against the thick layer of sweat and dirt that I always have. I just discovered a Eucerine product that is a cleanser and toner in one fluid. This has been great and is very effective at taking off my layer of grossness. 

 

Now, the worst part of dealing with skin issues is bugs. Here’s a rundown of the bug issues I’ve face during my service.

·         Mosquitoes – Most do not transmit malaria, but we live in an area where those nasty ones live. I used to get bit more often, but I think my constant DEET application and excessive garlic intake has helped.

·         Mites – I am constantly dealing with mite bites. Our furniture is infested and no matter how much DOOM we spray on them, they come back. I get bites every day and it’s enough to make me crazy. My closet also has a mite issue, so sometimes I put on clean clothes and get bites. It’s terrible.  As I write this, I just got new bites on my right shoulder and left foot.

·         Blister beetles – These nasty bugs are always flying around in the summer. They actually give you a chemical burn that blisters. Once the blister pops, it can create more blisters. This is a terrible thing to deal with. Luckily, this has only happened to me once.

·         Mango (Tumbu) flies – This is one of the grossest experiences I have ever had. These flies lay their eggs on clothes that are hanging up on the laundry line to dry. You put on these nice, clean clothes and the larvae burrow into your skin. You get an itchy mosquito-bite type bump that then turns painful. It then looks like a zit with a black spot in the middle. We had no idea about these things until Matt squeezed a mango fly larva out of my back. Disgusting!

It’s a minor (sometimes feels major) inconvenience, and I cannot wait to go home and not have new bug bites every day. I also can’t wait to make more of my wonderful handmade soap that I will use on my delicate skin. So, if you are planning on becoming a PCV, know that you will put your skin through hell. You will most likely be itchy during your whole service, you’ll put more gunk on your skin than you ever thought possible, and your skin will age about 5 years. I just thought others should be warned…