Back in the 90s, I spent a little over a year in the Kalahari in Southern Africa. I met many wonderful people and was able to camp in a number of parks in Botswana and Zimbabwe when I had time to wander. While teaching English in a small school in the village of Kang, I started an art club with my students. I also adopted a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy–the runt of a litter of dogs born in Kanye–and spent many days walking around the village with him on my heels.
When it was time to head back to the States, I was fully prepared to bring my little dog with me. His crate was ready and I had all the necessary fees paid and paperwork filled out and that included a period of quarantine in England. Days before our flight, a veterinarian in Gaborone informed me that Baka had cancer in his hip and would not live very long at all. His hip was quickly and painfully deteriorating. Because he was accustomed to a life that most dogs in Botswana were not–he lived in my house and slept on my couch–and because I had no one who could guarantee his care once I was gone, I made the gut-wrenching decision to have him euthanized. It still bothers me to this day.
I did manage to bring home a few treasures, though–reminders of my time in Africa: a set of gazelle horns found in the sand a mile or so from Kang; an empty ostrich egg and turtle shell amulet given to me by Setsane, an old Bushman, and his tiny grandson who used to come by for tea and fatcakes now and then; a handful of Devil’s Claws; several journals detailing my experiences; photos; a well-used tin of Staedtler Aquarell watercolor pencils; and a folder of illustrations.
The bigger illustrations, done on 12 x 17 inch sheets of paper, were inspired by the wildlife I saw, but also by the bizarre dreams I had as a result of taking Mefloquine which is a drug used to prevent malaria. Over the years, even though the illustrations have been stored in a large ITOYA portfolio for much of the time, the colors have faded. The pencils were purchased from a small art store in the central mall of Gaborone, but I can’t recall where I found the paper. It wasn’t the best quality and has yellowed significantly over the past 20 or so years. A good reminder that if you want your art to last, use the best acid-free paper you can find.

elephants

horse and flying cats

butterflies

gazelle and fox
I have only 8 of those Staedtler watercolor pencils left, but it feels good seeing them nestled in with my newer art supplies. Comforting, somehow, that they made it far and long enough to see me get back to my arty roots and finally launch this new project.
Okay,so,I have just found this site and can hardly believe that we have things in common.I spent 1990 in Southern Africa from Zambia down.My partner and I travelled in a vehicle we bought in South Africa and stayed mostly in game parks.I was a working photographer at that time and carted many kilos of gear about on our journeys.Nelson Mandela was released and Namibia gained independence,what a year!
Lisa, that’s super cool! Crazy what a small world we live in! It was quite a time to be in Southern Africa and I fell in love with it. I want to get back there someday and I want my daughter to see it, too. I love that you were working as a photographer then! Mostly wildlife I am assuming? A dream job in so many ways. I can imagine you have a lot of great memories, and a lot of stories to tell. Were you working for a company or freelancing? I bet it was incredible. I met so many wonderful people there, and seeing the wildlife was especially thrilling for me. I have such amazing memories of exploring the parks and the Kalahari around the little village I lived in. Hwange was just amazing, as was Vic Falls and Motopos. I wrote my MA thesis about my time in Africa – maybe I need to pull that out and give it a read! Do you ever think about going back?