Borders/Boundaries/Barricades..and Bits & Pieces of news

Just recently, there has been a spate of petty hostilities, cross-border - which, in our case, involves an imaginary line drawn down the middle of a shared river. Over zealous officials from both countries have started nabbing unsuspecting individuals who may have strayed over the 'line'.  In past years, things were much more relaxed, with an understanding that small reasonable line-crossing areas of the river around our Botswana town, and the opposite Namibian island could be considered almost as no-man's-land, or could be freely enjoyed by vessels of both nations without causing an international incident!


In the direction of travel in this photo, we must now apparently be vigilant, and keep strictly to the right hand Botswana side of the river, for fear of being caught out...

The most dramatic of these incidents was perpetrated further upstream, by the Botswana authorities, and ironically coincided with the official opening and promotion of a cross border Peace Park initiative! This  project covers several countries, for the benefit of wildlife, conservation and the people of our area. They now have a smart office, and a shiny 4x4 vehicle, and appear to be sponsored by or somehow involved with the German government. I don't think this treaty has actually been signed yet, and nor do I know enough about it at this point, but I'm hoping that this peace park idea will bring a turnaround in peaceful neighbourly relations, and also that some lessons have been learned around here by the officials, after the most recent happenings, and the resultant community outcry!

It's a complicated area! Just observe all those yellow lines through the river system, demarcating national borders.

In another development, (unrelated to  the Peace Parks) a  new community conservation area is busy being fenced off along the riverfront. This whole area down to the river used to be totally open and freely available to humans and animals alike... Once again, I don't know enough about the project yet to know what it's actually all about, but in principle, it's good to know that this stunning area is never going to be turned into a luxury lodge or shopping centre..

Here is the new fence in progress. The blue of the river is visible on the other side.

On the other side of this fence is one of our most favourite areas to visit in our boat - it truly is beautiful and utterly  unspoilt... very few other boats ever appear, and floating around here at weekends helps us cope with the weekly stresses! Here you can see the sandbanks tinged with late afternoon/sunset light.

The image of these newly planted fenceposts marching down towards the water saddens my freedom loving soul, but I will just have to trust that this is a good thing for the future...

At least in between all the fences there are always corridors left for the animals and people to reach the river, and there is a compulsory riverfront access on all properties or fenced places along the river but.. slowly, surely, the fencing and the development is growing.  Having said all that, it does not change the fact that Kasane is still a beautiful place to live, and I do realise that development is completely inevitable.

Changing the topic - despite still being in waiting-for-rain mode, it's time for the exciting seasonal changes all around us. Trees are bursting into life with blossoms and leaves. Here you can see our favourite baoabab, newly green, overlooking the floodplain, on the route to work.

Our much loved migratory Paradise Flycatchers arrived dead on time (actually one day early this year), and as usual, I am ridiculously pleased to see our beautiful birds. It always amazes me the way they find our particular garden, every year on the same date!

Warthogs are well into breeding mode, and we have noticed a couple of pregnant females wandering around.  Here are some pictures of warthogs around town, for those who have been complaining of lack of warthog updates! Two of the youngsters outside our office.

Large male "shopping" for food in the supermarket car park.

We have been busy with visitors as usual, and have just had 3 university students - stepson Zac and two of his friends to stay, which has been the greatest of fun, and now my parents are here for a while, too!


Signing off with a golden skyscape captured just before sunset on Sunday. I am resisting the temptation to insert the further progression of this sunset, into pinks and purples, as I feel this blogpost is way too long already!

Tuesday greetings to all reading this... and, I will be back next week, actually, as I have a planned 'blog date' coming up, for once!