Spring Break: Kasane to Francistown

While waiting for the sun to wake up in northern Botswana, we stood outside a small bakery in Kasane huddled in a crowd of people. All of us had lined up our luggage in a line, attempting to secure a position on the bus. Unusual for Botswana, the bus arrived punctually at 5:55 am, and we left shortly after six. The bus, or better yet, shuttle, was of the retirement home variety: seating for 22, small, and a short cab.

The three hour journey back to Nata was quite uneventful, if not a bit cramped. But that's what we came to Africa for, right? If I wanted comfort, I would have stayed home and cruised in Lola, my beloved white Malibu.

After a short lunch break, we continued on to our next destination: Francistown. This second largest city of Botswana is significantly different from Gaborone in one major respect: street layout. Whereas the capital is spread out and can feel like a gigantic suburb instead of Botswana's metropole, there is no mistaking the certain Western influence in Francistown: street grids are the rule. The central shopping district centered around Blue Jacket Street is a well-defined, bargain hunter's paradise.

Francistown came into being because of gold discoveries in the mid-19th century, and the consequent influx of European prospectors turned the area into a boom town. This was among many things we learned at our visit to Supa-Ngwao Museum. Also, we gained insight into the relationship between Botswana and Zimbabwe, as the Kalanga people are a minority-majority group. That is, they are a small percentage of the nation's population, but are the majority in town.

Many Zimbabweans have come for decades to get food and supplies in this border town, a human flow which has only increased under Mugabe's onerous treatment of the Kalanga's counterparts in western Zimbabwe. Not all are welcomed with open arms, however. It is a bit of a strained relationship, as many of the newcomers are stereotyped as criminals and thieves.

To be perfectly honest, there is not much to do for visitors in Francistown. As much as I like to disbelieve the dismal description in Lonely Planet's guidebook, they nailed the lack of entertainment on the head. Even the lone movie theater (Cine 2000) was closed and converted into an evangelical church. In a city of over 100,000, imagine! Due to its perfect walkability, Francistown can be covered on foot within a day and thus our second day was spent retracing our steps and cooling off at O'Hagan's Irish Pub. Around 7 pm we picked up our luggage from the hotel and made our way to the train station for our first ever African train ride, the subject of my next blog.