The New Normal. Such a cliched phrase lately, but I can’t really find any better description for the current situation!
The ripple effect of the pandemic in our northern corner of Botswana has been absolutely dramatic. Our tourist town that used to bustle and burst at the seams with a constant stream of visitors is now a strange half version of its former self.
One year ago we anxiously followed the emergence of the coronavirus on international news. Observing the proliferation of red dots on various graphs and world maps, it was a time of uneasy uncertainty, knowing the virus would most certainly be arriving in our country…just a matter of when.
One year later, so much water under the bridge… we now find ourselves following the emergence of the vaccines on international news, still observing the associated data on graphs and world maps, and waiting to see what effect it will have in those countries who are administering it.
Somehow our business is still afloat, for which I am extremely thankful, and although several covid restrictions are in place, we actually have plenty of freedom at the moment, compared to what other countries are experiencing. I am incredibly grateful for the open spaces, and the fact that we can move around within our regional zone. The opportunities we insist on creating, escaping on even the smallest of camping getaways, are still a critical part of maintaining sanity!
Nobody has been left untouched, and with the brutal loss of lives, livelihoods and lifestyles going on all around, the situation started to feel very overwhelming. I am not sure at what point some kind of normalisation set in, but right now it feels like a mental holding pattern – trying to keep negativity at bay, and figuring out what’s next and how to cope with it. Each new covid related development no longer has the power of shock and awe that it used to... I believe there are lessons in here somewhere, to be carried over to that hopeful future that is on the distant horizon! For now, it’s maintenance and survival mode, and still counting of a multitude of blessings, in spite of "it" all!
