Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
There were five of us in the Toyota Land Cruiser; Tony, his wife Elsie, Andrew, his son Benji and myself. Behind us there was a trailer packed full of camping gear and equipment for our journey ahead.
We approached the border between South Africa and Botswana just before 06:00 local time and there were cars everywhere, all waiting for the border to open. There was a building that looked like it could use a lick of paint, with a small hatch opening where there was a long queue of people, mainly men, waiting to get their passports stamped. Behind the opening was an office with three people in it, one man was sitting behind the hatch and it was he who stamped every body out of South Africa. I waited in line and received a stamp in my passport to say I had left South Africa, I returned to the car which had also reached the front of the queue and Tony drove us through the gate and we waved goodbye to the border staff. They weren't particularly friendly but it was a cold winter's morning in South Africa!
We crossed the Limpopo river and drove for about 100 yards before we reached a sign saying "Welcome to Botswana". Again, there was a similar looking building, some cars, a lot of people milling around and border staff. Tony was directed to park the car at the side of the road while we went into the building this time to get our passports stamped into Botswana.
When I came out of the building I saw Benji and Tony talking to a man that worked at the border. The border guard was teaching Benji how to greet people in Botswana. I too greeted the border guard who was extremely friendly and who was interested as to why two English children were crossing this boarder and what our trip entailed. I explained that I had an unexplainable love for Africa and I am on a lifelong mission to see and experience as much of it as possible. The guard seemed pleased that I had chosen to start my true African adventure in his beautiful country of Botswana.
We said our goodbyes, he wished us good luck and we all got back into the car once more, we were waved through the gate by another guard and we set off along a dirt road with the African bush on either side. This was it, this was the beginning of a trip of a life time, a real life adventure, a life changing experience.
- comments
Andrew Brilliant :-)