Dumela!
The countdown is officially on! Another month has gone by here in Gaborone and it definitely felt like the quickest of them all. They say time flies when you are having fun, but I could not imagine it flying by this quickly. With just over 3 weeks left in Gaborone and I am trying to make the most of every day I have. July has been absolutely amazing so let me tell you all about it.
View from Lions Head
I left off last month with Aleia and I making major strides on our Badminton BLTAD. We’ve have been working tirelessly to get it done and meet the standards of our key stakeholders. We’re coming close to finishing it but there is still a lot to be done in terms of a final copy. We have been researching long term athlete development structures from Canada, different parts of Southern Africa, and Southeast Asia. We wanted to examine how some of the top Badminton Nations develop their athletes, as well as countries that face similar challenges that Botswana faces.
Cape Town
View from Table Mountain
In Botswana they have an extra long weekend in July, so we decided to make the most of it. Aleia and I travelled to Cape town, South Africa with some of our friends. It was a great change of pace as Cape town is very different than Gaborone. Being from Toronto, I love big cities, so I was very excited to go to Cape Town. While I went in expecting more Toronto than Gaborone, I felt that it was a good mix of both. There were so many great restaurants and big shopping malls but there was also amazing beaches and massive mountains. It was a little bit disappointing that we couldn’t go for a swim because it was quite cold, but it was still very nice to see such clear water. The views from the mountain tops were the best part of it though. We did two hikes, one up Lions Head Mountain and the other up Table Mountain. Both views were breathtaking and totally worth the climb.
Even with a short time left in my internship, I still have a few things to look forward too. Aleia and I are travelling to Chobe National Park and Victoria Falls next weekend. Being a Brock University student, I have a pretty high standard when it comes to waterfalls, so I will be pretty tough to impress. I am looking forward to sharing the whole experience with you for what will probably be my final blog post in August.
Cheers,
Joshua Fernandes