I have been here only a short time, but for what seems like forever, and my little town of Shakawe is now feeling like home.
I have come to love the birds singing and insects chirping outside my little home in the "jungle", and the occasional bleating goat or clucking chicken, the moos of the cows and squeals of the donkeys, and the familiar sound of bells as the cows move through the fields around us. Even the buzzing of mosquitoes from inside the safety of my net at night, the buzzing of hornets in the office, or the buzzing of flies around my head as I walk past heaps of animal dung on my way to work are all sounds I am accustomed to and have begun to ignore. (I had compiled a lovely sound clip of the various animal sounds I hear around town but was unable to upload it...so you can imagine.) I can now co-exist with the spiders and insects in our house, and have more or less gotten used to our noisy critter friends scurrying in the ceiling at night. I am used to the sounds of dogs barking as I fall asleep, and roosters "waking us up" at all hours of the day. I no longer assume that the sounds of animals shuffling through the leaves around our house are humans, and I no longer have to play the guessing game "animal or baby?" when I hear a noise outside (it's usually an animal). |
Music, both familiar and with a Botswanan vibe, is a welcome sound, blasting from houses in the neighbourhood early in the morning and late at night on weekends, the bass pounding as we try to fall asleep. I enjoy the calm, quiet and stillness of the town on weekends, but also the buzz of energy on our early morning walk to work along with the migration of children walking to school. The cacophony of sounds is met with serene sights, everything from the wide open fields to the endless expanse of sand, to the occasional majestic trees sticking out among the dry grass and shrubs. The hazy sun rises and sets over the floodplains of the Okavango Delta, which is literally like an oasis in the middle of a desert and a little piece of paradise, where a cool breeze brings temporary relief from the hot sun high in the cloudless sky. The heat is becoming more bearable; the cooler mornings and evenings provide some relief, though sweating is inevitable in any temperature and at any time of the day. The sun blazing down relentlessly warms the sand, which I am used to kicking out of my sandals along with the many little stones, twigs, grass and even thorns that like to get caught under my feet as I walk. |
Everything is beautiful, and becoming so familiar or normal that I often have to remind myself I am actually in Botswana in order to truly appreciate some of the moments. Routine has kicked in, places we frequent now feel like "ours", our little house is now a home, and even in some of my dreams, I am no longer transported to the environments, real or surreal, of home. Instead, I know I am in Africa.