I'm Staying

  CHAPTER 7   AFRICA   BOTSWANA   I lived in several big cities, sharing flats with friends, working in large offices and enjoying everything a city has to offer but I eventually grew tired of this life and longed to return to the freedom of the bush and so I packed my bags and moved to Botswana, where my parents were now living.   Here the capital city, Gaborone was still very much a little village with the same expatriate community, clubs and social life as my parents had experienced during my childhood in Lesotho. We enjoyed the luxury of camping in the bush surrounded by the calls of wild animals and we rode in 'mokoros' (a type of canoe) in the Okavango swamps sharing the river with resident crocodiles and hippos.   We got close enough to elephants to see every line and wrinkle in their thick grey and dusty skin and we sipped sundowners while watching the animals drink from their watering hole in the evenings. It was a full and varied s...

  CHAPTER 5   AFRICA   GROWING UP some sad reminders of growing up in South Africa After a blissful bare-foot and care-free childhood the age of boarding school came around all too soon and soon after my 12 th birthday, I joined many other reluctant pre-teens as we went to the 'big' city of Bloemfontein in South Africa to shop for our new uniforms. The all-girls school of choice was Eunice Girls’ School, recommended and approved by several other families in our little town.     The store where we bought our uniforms was called John Orr’s and was one of the biggest I’d ever seen.   There were many departments such as women’s wear, gloves and hats, menswear, shoes, haberdashery and luggage in the basement. The floors were all polished wood and each department had a counter behind which stood an expectant assistant.   Here she served customers, assisting with enquiries and upon receiving payment she placed the money in a little bag above her,...