As noted in the first episode of the blog, Jeff purchased a Ford bakkie (pickup) when he arrived in Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa (RSA), in April. The vehicle was registered in the RSA in Gauteng Province, where Johannesburg is located. In August we (finally) obtained six-month residence and labor permit waivers to live and work in Botswana, so we now are required to register the bakkie in Botswana. This is a somewhat complex procedure requiring police clearance in both countries to ensure that the vehicle was legitimately sold and bought. We combined the process of obtaining clearances with some of Jeff's monthly leave days and the national Botswana independence day holiday to spend a leisurely week driving to and from the RSA.

Botswana is approximately the size of Texas in land area, with a population of one million seven hundred sixty five thousand people. In contrast, the RSA is twice the size of Texas, with a population of more than forty seven million. Each of the five largest cities in the RSA contains more residents than the entire country of Botswana, which still is largely rural.

We arrived in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana near its southeastern border, for a two-day-and-night stay on Saturday, September 30. Activities included dinner with friends of Jeff's from his early 1990s life in Botswana and an early-morning birdwatching walk at Bokaa Dam, on the outskirts of Gaborone, with a group from BirdLife Botswana. Next entry: on to Zeerust and Rustenburg, RSA.