Bus Ride to Botswana

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

After coming back from the Apartheid Museum, we quickly gathered our luggage and checked out of the hostel. Most of the other guests were already gone, and the hostel was beginning to feel like a ghost town. Our taxi driver from earlier in the day said he would wait for us and take us to the bus station. It felt nice to have our own personal driver for the day after what we went through the previous morning.

We got to the bus station, which was a complete zoo. We felt very out of place, and did not really even have enough time to settle in and get a snack before they loaded the bus. We ran into some trouble when we tried to check in because the card Dena used to buy the tickets in February was expired and she now had a different card with a different number. This meant that they could not properly confirm the purchase of our tickets and we had to pay again in cash. They promised that the money would be refunded, but it made us feel very uneasy. One thing we have learned from this whole experience is that every time something bad happens, something very good comes out of it later. For example, our cancelled flight turned into a better flight itinerary; going back to the airport to pick up lost luggage allowed us to meet people who we had a great time with; missing the first Soweto tour led us to an even better tour later in the day. So, we were really hoping that something good would come out of this credit card fiasco.

The bus ride to Botswana is 7 hours and was very pleasant. It was great to look at the South African countryside as it passed by our window, and it reminded us a little of driving through Colorado because of the wide open spaces and lots of grazing cattle. We made one rest stop for dinner, and then about one hour later we stopped at the border to pass through border control. This was a little strange because we had to get out of the bus, have our passports stamped to exit South Africa, walk across the border, and then get the entry stamp for Botswana. On the Botswana side, they ask a lot of questions about why you are there, who you are staying with, and how long you are staying. They are very protective of their country.

We got back on the bus, and about 45 minutes later we arrived in Gaborone. We were immediately greeted by our host, Tommie, who we did not recognize at first. Luckily, we stand out here, and he was able to spot us. It was such a great feeling to finally meet him in person after 3 years of email communication. We got our bags off the bus and loaded them into Tommie's car. We had been expecting to stay in Tommie's home with his family, but the headmaster of the school insisted that we stay in a hotel until the Malaria campaign is finished. This was fine with us, although we would prefer to experience life in Tommie's home, but we figured even the most modest hotel accommodations would be a step up from the hostel where we spent the previous three nights.

We pulled up to the Cresta President Hotel, which appears to be one of the nicest hotels in Botswana. We were greeted with glasses of juice as Tommie checked us in to the hotel. We never expected to have such a luxurious place to stay. Tommie also told us to eat all of our meals at the hotel, and everything would be paid for. We told him that this was too kind of him, but he assured us that we deserved it after all the hard work we did and will be doing to help them.

This was clearly our reward for such a bad experience at the bus station. We went to the hotel bar for a drink, and then went to bed.