Lerang & Tilewa Selolwane - 25 October 2008, Gaborone, Botswana

I was lucky enough to be able to make a flying visit to Botswana
last week to attend Lerang and Til's wedding! It was held in the
beautiful Mokolodi Nature Reserve which meant I had unexpected
encounters with cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, baboons and kudus.

The wedding venue was perched on top of a hill overlooking

Mokolodi Nature Reserve. It was breathtaking!

...

I was asked to take a polaroid of each of the guests as they

arrived. It was a lot of fun and a great way to introduce myself

to everyone.

...

Tilewa and her father heading for the ceremony.

Lerang and Tilewa listen to the priest during the ceremony.

...

The beautiful bride.

And they're married...(actually, they were

already married in Tswana custom before this).

We met up with this handsome fellow on the

Mokolodi reserve for photos with the bridal party.






The only time he got upset was when you stopped

scratching his head.

The bridal party and a few others spent the night

at Mokolodi. After being woken by baboons chasing each

other across the roof of our hut we had a champagne

breakfast by the lake where we were met by...

...elephants having a bath!

We also stumbled across a giraffe and a...

...

...kudu...

Samuel's 2nd Birthday

The unveiling of Samuel's birthday present!

Little boy proudly showing off his new trike with, as
he would say, "red pedals", "blue seat" and "yellow
handles".

Samuel and his little friends getting ready for some

number 2 cake!

Maestro conducting "Happy Birthday" while

the gathering sang to him. He definitely

became aware that the day was all about him

this time.

.

Little boy blowing out his two soccer ball candles.

.

Samuel practising getting on and off his

trike during his birthday party.

.

The birthday boy!

Монгол улс - Mongolia

We visited Mongolia to visit Sarah, who was working in Ulaanbataar (known as UB) for the Arts Council of Mongolia. We spent some time in UB, had a four day trip across the steppes and had an fascinating time in Beijing, China on the way in and out of Mongolia. T'was a trip we'd highly recommend!

Улаанбаатар - Ulaanbataar

After 30 hours on the Trans-Mongolian Railway we
arrived in a bitterly cold Ulaanbataar (Улаанбаатар
in Mongolian cyrilic and to the left, as it would be
written in the traditional Mongol bichig)


The first thing we did upon arriving in UB was have
a much needed feed! Note the similarity between this
photo and one of the photos of Sarah in Istanbul
(August 2006 blog entry).


Adding to her collection of paper roses.


Samuel thought lunch was a great idea after 30 hours
of crackers and cheese.


The restuarant overlooked this old temple in the heart
of UB.


Central UB from the window of our rented apartment.


More UB from above.


Downtown UB. Busy, busy.


The State Great Hural (the Mongolian Parliament) on
Sükhbaatar Square.


The Mongolian flag flying high above the State
Great Hural.


The State Great Hural is guarded by an enormous
Genghis Khan ("Chinggis Khan" in Mongolian) which is
flanked by statues of his generals and descendants.


The big Ching presiding over the State Great Hural.
It's all about Chinggis in UB - Chinggis beer, Chinggis
vodka and he's even on the Tögrög (the national currency).


One of Chinggis' generals looking out over Sükhbaatar
Square.


Chinngis and his mates didn't deter other tourists
on Sükhbaatar Square from accosting Samuel.


Despite this little local fella's best efforts, Samuel
had already had enough of being friendly.


Entering UB by road.


Traffic control Mongolian style.


Wall art in UB depicting the Mongolian Empire.


More wall art, cleverly combining the
Mongolian warrior and goat.




a

Sarah at her desk in
the Arts Council of
Mongolia.


Suburban UB, known as the "ger district". As Mongolians
have become increasingly urbanised, many people have
settled on the outskirts of the city by setting up gers
and building more permanent homes. The city seems to
have sprawled with very little investment in additional
infrastructure.