The Road to Parakarungu

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

After our game drive, we went back to the campsite and showered. The students had spent their morning studying for their exams next week. We all got into the bus again to go to the main lodge for lunch. Then we drove to the Chobe District Council offices, where we were supposed to transfer to two 4x4 trucks for the rough road to the village of Parakarungu. However, the local government officials didn't have our vehicles ready, and they made us wait for 2 hours while they decided on a plan B. Eventually, they told us that it would be safe enough to just take our bus, even though the road was unfinished.

We passed a few villages on our way, and we started to get a better understanding of the living conditions and the life we would encounter in Parakarungu. We also saw more wildlife, like zebras and impalas, as well as many domesticated animals, like cows, goats and chickens--all in the road. We reached the detour road that we had to take in our bus, which was very narrow, bumpy, and dusty. Even with our windows closed, it became very difficult to breath. Because the bus had to drive so slow on this road, it took a very long time to reach our destination. We eventually saw the sunset. It's not often that a person sees both the sunrise and sunset in the same day.

We reached Parakarungu in the dark, and we unloaded the bus at the village school. The girls all stayed in one classroom and the boys in another. After unloading, the students began cooking dinner. We were very impressed with the initiative they took in preparing the meal. Nobody had to tell them what to do or to clean up afterwards, they just did it. Also, there were very few dishes and utensils at our disposal, but they were able to cook successfully anyway. However, the food itself was not very good. We had rice, chakalaka (a spicy type of coleslaw), and something called "Texas Beef," which is a cross between Spam and canned dogfood. The kids assured us that it would be good, but we had our doubts. Besides the unusual texture of this "meat," they had bought the spiciest possible flavor. Dena couldn't eat it due to the extreme spiciness, but Doug managed to finish his and part of Dena's. Dena just ate rice and cheerios. The students managed to eat all of theirs, but they were fanning their mouths the whole time.

Our "bedroom" in Parakarungu

Cooking the Texas Beef

The conditions in the village school were a little better than we anticipated. There was some running water (cold only), toilets, and electricity. However, the shower situation was still bad since there was no hot water available. We both decided we could survive two days without a shower until getting back to the campsite. It was good to have electricity in order to charge our cameras in preparation for the campaign. The weather was also much warmer in the north, compared to Gaborone's weather in the south. After dinner, we cleaned up a little, spent a few minutes by the campfire, and then went to bed.