Days 6 and 7

• Drive to Matseing Footprints
• Drive to Tropic of Capricorn

(Rhia’s comments are italicized)

Yay! 🙌 We have a car… and now we need to learn the rules in Botswana. Not by reading and studying the laws, but by disobeying them at police check points. In all fairness, this was an impromptu police check point set up not 20 kms from our starting point. Rhia learned that stop signs are NOT suggestions in Botswana. They need to be stopped behind. You only proceed forward when directed by an attending officer of the law. You can be fined 2000 pula for this infraction, but the officer has some discretion and can drop the fine to 1000. Luckily, he let us slide, but every stop sign on our trip so far has been completely followed. In all fairness to me, there were TWO stop signs, one by a policeman, and one 10 meters before him. I drove to the one by him; apparently, this wasn’t the right thing to do! But I made him laugh so the fine ($150 US) was waived.

For added adventure, soon after the check point, I slipped into the driver’s seat to begin my education on driving on the wrong… eh emm… left side of the road. The only problem I run into is that the wind shield wipers and the turn signal controls are on opposite sides of the steering column. Every time I go to switch lanes I get rudely interrupted by the wipers suddenly jumping up from their home. Every. Single. Time. 😵‍💫

However, I did find the need to use the wipers when we journeyed off the main road to find the Matseing Footprints. This landmark is ancient rock engravings located in an eroded sandstone watering hole.

Initially, We almost did not find the place because Google led us up the wrong dirt road to, what in the US would be considered, the middle of nowhere. However, Rhia somehow found two people who could direct us to the correct dirt road. After which, we almost still could not find the place because of a closed gate and a faded sign that we thought said PRIVATE.

Fortunately, the curator and guide saw us walking around looking grumpy and lost, and came to the rescue. Apparently, the sign didn’t say PRIVATE but PRINTFOOT! Silly me…I was looking for a sign that read Footprint so as soon as I saw PRI…my mind filled in the rest.

Sadly, for this story, I need to refer to our guide as “the guide” because I must have deleted his name. 😂😂😂I think this is too funny as I’m constantly getting ragged on for being old school and writing things on paper which can easily get lost!!! Anyway, the guide was a lovely and knowledgeable man who used humor to present the story.

He told an ancient tale about a man that lived in the deepest of the pools and would sometimes come out.

He kept a lot of animals in the hole with him and sometimes they came up and walked about.

The man also had LOTS of children

But that was just a tale. The footprints were etched art by people who lived 2000 years ago. The prints depicting animals were signs warning of local dangers near that watering hole. He also told of how local people would also come to this place and rub the algae of one of the pools on their wedding rings to promote a healthy relationship because even when the algae gets disturbed and broken apart, it always comes back together and becomes one. I told Dan I thought he should jump into the pool 😂 He wasn’t impressed!

There was also a stone feature called mushroom rock which locals prayed at.

This place made me reflect on the importance of communication through recognizing signs (both physically and metaphorically). I was so busy contemplating this that I almost missed the sign for  the Tropic of Capricorn monument!

I have never crossed this far into the southern hemisphere before…it’s interesting how different the constellations look here. It is really quite humbling.

Finding affordable accommodations in Francistown was a bit challenging; but, once again, the problem was solved as soon as we involved the locals!

As we continued traveling north toward a town called Nata, we saw some important signs.

Please take note not only of the fact that elephants cross this road, but also of the road itself…

The road is the main thoroughfare for northern Botswana. The speed limit is 120 km/h, but pot holes and crossing animals will often require much slower speeds. Also, the width is a bit underwhelming and almost makes the roads of the valleys in Wales seem like major thoroughfares…almost!

So, my quest during our Africa experience is to learn to notice – and respect – signs. And, hopefully, the consequence for missing a sign will not be too harsh…or too expensive 😂