Botswana

When I was working on the calendar for next month, I picked out a few theme weeks, and then decided I would just pick out some random countries (alphabetical order for the most part). I also started thinking about the fact that 54 countries of my 193 are African. That means we have to do one in Africa once a week, and we are not keeping up that pace. So I'm going to try and sneak some in here and there to get up our average. We don't want to have to be stuck with a slew of any countries from any part of the world. 

So we're on to Botswana! 

Obviously I had heard of Botswana before, but I don't think I was familiar with it at all. First of all, they have some cash, thanks to the diamond mining industry. And they actually invest it back into their country with infrastructure and schools, unlike some African countries we know. (We're looking at you, Equatorial Guinea). 

They're also the oldest Democracy in Africa. With a stable government, and cash in it's pockets, Botswana seems like the place to be in Africa. HIV/AIDS is a serious problem in the country, but the government gives out free medicine to those who need it. 

Botswana also has a booming tourist industry. Luxurious safari camps gives visitors a chance to see some of the awesome wildlife Botswana has to offer, including... 

Mongooses (aka Meerkats) who live in mobs and survive by sniffing out spiders, snakes, grubs and lizards. 

Wild dogs, who hunt people, so look out for that. 

Aardvarks, known as 'earth pigs'

And elephants! 

There and more African Elephants in Botswana than any other country in Africa. They have over 130,000 of them. 

Botswana is covered in the Kalahari Basin or as we know it, the Kalahari Desert. The 6th largest 'desert' in the world, the 2nd in Africa (the Sahara), it technically isn't even a desert in the truest sense of the word. It receives too much rainfall, but the large amount of sand filters the precipitation quickly to give it the 'desert appearance'. 

A popular tourist trip is taking a traditional canoe down  the Okavango River Delta (which is included in the the Kalahari Basin). It's said this river delta is the wildest part of Africa. The water in the delta never reaches any other body of water, it just sinks into the desert or evaporates away. 

A small portion of the Kalahari Desert is  also known as the 'Louvre of the Desert', thanks to over 4,500 rock paintings that have been found. 

Finally we talked about the San people. It's a culture dating back 100,000 years. They are skilled hunters who use poisoned darts to kill zebra and drink water out of ostrich eggs they bury in the sand to keep cool. 

The boys made their postcards a day after we had our Botswana meal, since Asa is in the office this week, we're getting a little creative with our country meal planning. 

Calib made a nod to the native San who speak in clicks (though in Botswana English is the main language). 

Peyton noted the mining of diamonds. 

And Hayden drew the cutest little meerkat. 

For Botswana dinner we had Seswaa (a traditional pounded meat dish) over cornmeal pap. We also had Botswana Stewed Spinach Greens. 

Botswana is said to be the first place watermelons were grown, so that was an easy choice for fruit. 

And we rounded out the meal with a Malva Pudding. 

This meal earned three spoons up. 

But honestly, it does all taste better than it looks. 

The textures were a little weird on this main dish. It was also a little too salty for some of us, and the cornmeal pap is just plain. The veggies were fine, but the Malva cake was universally loved. 

Peyton was ready to color in another country. 

That's 51 down, 142 to go for those of you keeping track at home! 

We're finally on pace for our 17 countries a month, and I have a very ambitious 20 planned for April to help us get ahead in case July becomes a total wash. 

Next Up: Cuba!