Chobe National Park

The Chobe National Park had many villages that were within the reserve. Ijembwe Village was the place that I went to first. It was the closest to the to the lodge so it was within walking distance. It took about 30/45 minutes to there. The village was surrounded by handmade fences made from papyrus and palms.

 Each house was constructed using mud, cow dung, and acacia to prevent the termites from eating away from the houses. every year they have to reconstruct the homes on the outside due to the rain season they have during January usually. They have opposite seasons compared to us do to living in opposite hemispheres. Every plant, tree, and utensil had many uses for it. Some plants were used for feeding and medical use. Others were used helping to build houses and fences. To warn off the other animals and villagers' dogs are used to protect the village. Within the village there was one family and at least three generations within this family unit. One of the family members was showing me around the village. He showed me and told me about the kindergarten that they had just built. Within that school there were several younger kids and three caretakers/teachers. She teaches them numbers, the alphabet, and two languages. She teaches them English and Shakwe. Shakwe is the native language that is spoken within that particular village.

 

After they have completed kindergarten they go to another village to receive the higher education. One of the teachers said that she enjoyed teaching the alphabet as her favorite thing. After the school room, I was invited to join them and watch them sing and dance. They were very inviting and I even got the chance to dance along with them. They opened to their market in which I purchased a oval bowl-like container. I had talked personally with Victor, the 'guide', and I asked him in his opinion of what tourism has done to change their way of life. He responded by saying that they usually have people visit their village on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and one more day depending. He said that everyone in the village enjoys the visitors because it gives them the chance to share their culture with us. It also helps with their very small economy within the village for them to be able to survive because everything they do they get it from the environment. The other money helps with whatever else needs to be covered. The lodge that I am staying also helps with the village making sure some of their profit is donated to them since we are on 'their land'. He only hires the people from Ijembwe Village to help maintain his lodge like making food and doing laundry. The manager in charge, Simon, is a native from Nigeria. He ensues the culture is here and stays within the country too. One way he conserved energy was by having a generator with a timer so that it only ran from 8am-11pm.

Victoria Falls

Victoria Falls was an amazing experience. In order to get there I had through border crossing in order to pass from Botswana through to Zimbabwe.
The border crossing was nerve wracking because of all of the trucks lined up along the street, people in uniforms, and long lines by myself.
After finally crossing the border, Zimbabwe had such a different feel compared to Botswana. The people of Zimbabwe we just as kind, but whenever you were walking along by the stores there were many men and women bombarding you to try to sell you things. Most of the encounters were with men trying to sell me knickknacks and little trinkets. Even after you would say no they would continue to push and walk beside you until you purchased or bargained with them. The best way that I found to avoid them was by moving from store to store since they were not able to sell within the shops. One of the encounters I recall was when one of the men tried to sell me Zimbabwe dollars. They tried to persuade me that the currency was worth more than what it was. Thankfully I was aware that Zimbabwe had done away with their currency due to hyperinflation.  They had troubles maintaining their currency at a level that was still reasonable to have exchange rates. Some of the influences that lead to this hyperinflation in 2008 were due to the excessive levels of money printing with Mugabe's government in order to pay the Second Congo's debt, institutional corruption because of the lack of confidence, poor economic policies, and many more issues that pushed the currency to dissipate. While in Zimbabwe I knew that I had to visit one of the largest tourist attractions the country had to offer.

 

  I explored Victoria Falls or to some of the native people they refer to the falls as the "smoke that thunders". Victoria Falls had a lot to offer to all of the tourist with special night tours to explore the 'moonbows' because of the full moon. During the day there are so many ways to experience the falls. Victoria Falls is one of the best tourist locations and there is far less unemployment within the city than the rest of the country. Also with the increase in tourism it helps to keep the crime rates lower because if it were higher less people would want to visit. Many of the restaurants there also were rather Americanized in ways to make it feel more like at home to travelers. The couple restaurants I went to stood out in terms that their service replicated that of American restaurants instead of maintaining their culture. The use of the English language to serve and communicate along with tipping was similar to the United States. 

Beginning of My Journey

 

 

Here was the beginning of an incredible adventure that would not only have such a large impact on my life, but would make me see the world in another light and expand my horizons.

 

I had left early in the morning from my hometown of Johnstown, PA to the JFK airport in New York to begin my journey. This was my first major international trip! The original flight time was about 17 hours, however, the flight ended up only being 14 hours. My first location was at the Chobe Safari Lodge in Botswana, where I was introduced to the culture of this area.

The lodge had rooms to stay in which were very well kept.

I had arrived later in the evening, so I decided to observe and take in everything I had experienced upon entering the country. Botswana had decided in 2013 to implement a policy called "shoot-to-kill" in order to stop poaching within the country. Botswana realized that poaching was not the answer to helping their economic and ecosystem issues. I had decided to choose the Chobe National Park as one of my first locations in order to begin my journey because they have had the most trouble in maintaining numbers with animals and maintaining the economy without the price of the poachers. Botswana had a decision on what would be the best opportunity for as a country. The option to continue with poaching and inviting others to come into their country to deplete and harvest animals, or if they should put an end to poaching to promote more of a tourist venue and adventure. When many people think of Africa and its countries many tend to think of the animals and if poaching had continued then there would not be anything left to study and see in its natural habitat. Visiting animals in their natural habitat react differently then when they are amongst humans locked up in zoos. Botswana had decided to maintain that safari experience for the tourist to experience and that they dream of. Within the national game reserves in Botswana in order to preserve the experience many places do not have paved roads, but have sand roads. At each national game reserve there was a gate you had to go through that involved signing paperwork to maintain that you would follow all the regulations in place to maintain the environment, but to also ensure that you were safe to by taking preventative measures. For my travel throughout this trip I drove a land cruiser that included a tent on top of the vehicle to maintain safety. This was one of the first times I had ever really driven a stick shift car let alone on the left side of the road. The people of Bushlore were the ones that provided me with the vehicle. They were extremely helpful in teaching me the steps to be able to successfully drive the vehicle.