August 1, 2008

Our third week in Gaborone began with Monday and Tuesday being President's Day and a national holiday. Businesses were all closed, so on Monday we just relaxed and realized how much we needed to do that after so many adjustments to our life recently. On Tuesday, we were invited by the managing director of Flying Mission Services, and his wife, to go on a "game drive" and of course we accepted. We drove out to the Mokolodi Game Reserve, which is ten miles south of Gaborone, and in the late afternoon we hopped into a game viewing vehicle that was somewhat like a small open air bus. We were no more than five minutes into the drive when we saw Kudu browsing in the brush. Kudu are Africa's second largest antelope that are about the size of an elk, and the males have large upwardly spiraling horns. The game viewing never let up after that. We saw three African elephants that were about 100 feet from our vehicle, in addition to ostrich and other smaller birds, blue wildebeest, hartebeest, impala, hyenas, giraffes, baboons, zebras, gemsbok, and even a jackal.After days of fast paced city driving on paved roads, it felt so good to get out in the bush of Botswana on dirt roads like we have been accustom to in Alaska. The day of total rest and the game drive during the national holiday was a real blessing and readied us to resume our vehicle search on Wednesday.

Our search has led us to a 1995 Mitsubishi Pajero (or in the USA it is called a Montero) in our price range. It was very well cared for and has fairly low mileage. Once it had been checked over by a reputable mechanic and approved, we finalized an agreement with the dealer. While the dealer took care of the registration and plates, we had the vehicle fully serviced and sought out insurance. At the end of our fourth week, everything is complete and we even had time to get the wheels balanced and aligned.

Colin says, "This vehicle sat for days unnoticed as other cars around it sold. After looking at other prospective vehicles we realized that it was in much better shape than anything else we'd looked at and a good deal for the money. We hurried back and there it sat, waiting for us. Though at the top end of what we'd hoped to pay it wasn't the budget buster we might have had to pay for an equally dependable vehicle. Very much an answer to prayer."
As we progressed though the procedures needed to own a car here, Colin also continued to complete the necessary requirements for his Botswana pilots license. Thursday of our third week, he had further orientation with the chief pilot and was able to do his check ride in a Cessna 210. The results of his written test finally were complete on Friday, and Colin was relieved to find out he passed with an 87%.

Colin adds, "The air regulations or Air laws as they are called, are not as organized as the American ones and there are of course some significant differences. For one they still call aircraft "flying machines". Really! Trying to wrap this old brain around a new set of regulations was a challenge. Much prayer went into the study before the exam. I "wrote for the exam" in thirty minuets even though I had one hour and thirty to do it. I came out feeling good about it but by the eighth day, when we finally got the results, I was quite sure I'd failed and would have to start studying again. There is little doubt that a weeks prayer brought that score up, I'm still in disbelief the score was even a passing one. The flight in the Cessna 210 (a high wing, retractable gear, single engine plane) was my first pilot in command flight in Africa and the first I'd flown in six weeks. I believe it was the longest non flying period I've had in thirty years...it felt gooood to be back in the air!"

We now have had four weeks to learn how things work with the mission, learn to drive on the left side of the road, learn enough culture to at least be polite, and we got lots of paperwork done for pilots license, flight physical, drivers licenses, residents permits, work permits, bank accounts, cell phones in addition to a trip to the police station to get copies of all the above "certified".


As we prepare to leave, there are many things about life this city and people here we already feel a strong bond toward and will look forward to reconnecting in the future months. For those of you that have read the No. 1 Ladies Detective series, the author really does capture much of the flavor of everyday life here and as we have toured around Gaborone, we have seen many places mentioned in the book. A few miles south of the city, there is even a cafe named after the series that we visited for tea one afternoon.

We don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but are excited about getting to Maun so we can get to work for the mission and start interacting with the local people and ministries there. We will load the new vehicle and head North (which in our case means toward the equator) on Saturday morning the 2nd of August. The next blog should have information on our nearly five hundred mile, two day road trip across Botswana and much of the Kalahari Desert.

There is a hunger and thirst for the Gospel in this country from the President on down. Christian groups are welcome every where with enthusiasm, especially in the schools. The need is out stripping the ability of this mission to provide all the health/HIV care and education as well as basic Bible instruction that is wanted. Furthermore, Flying Mission Services has flown five mercy/hospital flights this week alone. Please pray that the avenues of support that Flying Mission is seeking will bear fruit. Also, please pray that we would be safe on the roads and that we would remain healthy as the flu is going around Botswana.