As previously mentioned, we went to hardware store Mica. Well, first we went to TradeWorld, which is a lot like Costco. If I had been posting all along, I could refer you to a post with pics describing and illustrating just what is TradeWorld, but alas. But here is a pic from a TW run back in March:
Looks familiar, right? But where it departs a bit from Costco, there are things such as traditional (ENORMOUS) enameled serving bowls/wash basins:
So a little different, but with the same insanely frustrating lack of parking and crowds late on a Saturday morning. This caused me to get a little tense, which caused Neil to decide to go next door to Builder's World (Home Depot-like store) and then walk home. Fortunately he changed his mind about the walking home and a good time was had by all, though we both left our respective stores empty-handed.
We then ventured down the road to Game City shopping mall, another delight. It actually isn't that bad, and is much like lower-end malls in the States.
Here is the traffic circle right before Game City (ahead on the right). That's a Mazda or some other car dealership on the left and the famed Kgale Hill also on the right.
There are far too many traffic circles in the city. I don't like them/Neil does. He also hasn't driven here yet (he's not allowed to drive our loaner). We'll see what he says once we get our car from Customs (hopefully this week!) and he's behind the wheel, on the wrong side of the road, flying around a traffic circle o' horrors.
You will also notice that all the cars on the road are nice. I honestly can say that any time I am driving around Gaborone, I am hard pressed to spot a car that is older than 10 yrs. This has come as quite a surprise from the Africa I expected. Another very surprising thing is the number of not just nice, but luxury cars you see around here. The diamond trade has been very good to Botswana. I'm talking all-the-latest-model-Audis,-Mercedes,-and-BMWs good. Also of course lots of very nice Land Rovers, Forerunners, etc. My 1999 Rav-4 is definitely going to stand out for all the wrong reasons!
In Mica, we bought various home-improvement items, including the flower seeds I planted the other day. Here were some seeds I wasn't sure I wanted to sow:
Nile had a good time playing with some sort of brass fittings. I don't even know why we keep toys around the house for her, she truly finds the most amusement in bits of trash, electronic devices, keys, plastic utensils, and anything shiny. Also tubes of anything (diaper ointment, Neosporin, etc.).
The metal pieces on top of the cardboard box to her right are her selections.
We also stopped by Payless (here it's a grocery store -- unfortunately no shoes in sight). I made Neil take a picture of the following, because it was -- and still is -- still too disturbing for me to look at:
On a happier note, I saw this as we headed to our car in the parking lot:
Cute!
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