It's a good thing we filled up this morning because, when I forced Kev to stop and let me find a loo, both the caltex and bp were swarming with cars at the small settlement we stopped at. I didn't even go in the end because they were horribly filthy, missing their seats, and there wasn't even an empty toilet roll. Worse, though, was that a man followed me in to the ladies toilets, so I did a very sharp u-turn. According to Wikipedia, Botswana has the highest Hiv rate in Africa (70% of the workforce), and I'm not taking any risks.
Considering how poor everyone seems to be (and the awful condition everything is in), you wonder how on earth they've managed to earn a stronger currency. According to Wiki, it's because they've been relying so heavily on their exports of conflict-free diamonds worldwide. Apparently their economy is declining, though, and they're going to need to come up with some way to pick up the mining slack. They better think fast because it's not looking good for the shopkeeper in Sekoma.
It just goes to show that having a strong economy doesn't necessarily mean your country will have less poor people. Along the whole highway between Namibia and South Africa, the only spot worth a visit is Kang. For the other hundreds of kilometers it's just rural settlements where not much is going on. You'd think living next to a major highway would provide ample opportunity for commercial enterprises (such as restaurants, filling stations, and truck stops), but it isn't. There's just Kang.
At least the government has kept this highway in good condition. We passed some guys working on it as we left the dodgey toilets at Jwaneng behind us and pushed on to the border. The road's so good, in fact, that a big bus came speeding past us at 140km. We tried keeping up for a bit, but he disappeared quickly. I'd hate to be on board when a cow suddenly decides to cross the road ahead. Even the 80 sign didn't slow him down. I suppose we can assume, however, that public transport in this country is speedy.
Once we got past Kanye, the scenery suddenly got prettier, with cute little koppies made of rocks and lovely views of the bush as we travelled through the hills. Between that and this entry (and the awesome Smashmouth cd Kev put on), I've managed to distract myself from my discomfort. We've just hit the border post, and I'm hoping we'll get through as quickly as we got in because I've given up on this country's toilets. I'd rather knuip until we get to a half-decent ultra-stop in Zeerust. It's inconceivable that anything worse can be waiting for me there.
