Art-Devine-Slasher » Botswana

My last days in Botswana

Nkolika — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:24:04 +0000

I have always looked forward to the day I would talk about my last days in Botswana. I have always dreamed of it. And my heart races with excitement as I write about it now.

My last days there brought out some feelings that I never knew existed. For instance I never knew I would feel bad leaving Botswana for any reason. But when the time came, I realized that I had made some good friends that it hurts to have to leave them. Yet again, that is the beauty of life: Nothing lasts forever and change is the only constant thing. The people we meet today could be gone tomorrow (be it through death or just a separation) and we may never have gotten round to be the best we could have been to them.

Friends?! Who are friends? Are they the people you chat with from time to time? or the people you barely see and hardly share with? or are they the people you share with, be it sadness, pain or success? I love the following description of the different types of friends:

There are friends for a season

There are friends for a reason

There are friends for a lifetime

Definitely, having lived in a new country for about 2 years, I came across people that could be classed in the various categories of friends above. The ones I thought were classed in the last category, ended up somewhere else. Time I believe is the only factor that determines the friends that stay with us for a lifetime.

As a child I grew up knowing that my mum had a friend in Glasgow whom she met about 30 years before I was born when my parents lived in Glasgow. And on my mum’s return to Nigeria they kept in touch exchanging Christmas cards. That old woman never failed to send a card to my mum every year. As the years went by one could see from the handwriting that the card was from a very old person.

At over 90 years she still keeps sending and my mum always smiles anytime she talks about her. That is what lifetime friends is all about. You share your journeys when the going is tough and when you are frail and weak you still smile whenever you are called upon to talk about your friend.

That leaves me to wonder where I would be with the good people I met in Botswana in 10 years time or 30 years time. Now that we are leaving in a world that is so globalized and communication is so easy (be it very impersonal sometimes), there should not be any excuse for not keeping in touch. All the same, I met some really wonderful people there and not so wonderful personalities. There were those whom I shared with, those I laughed with, those who always tried to ask ‘how are you’ and there were those who could not care less.

My last days in Botswana were filled with packing, preparations and dinners. I loved the dinners so much because the food was something else.

We had dinner with Pastor Jerry and Jana Lackey at their beautiful home in Okavango International School. It was wonderful and I enjoyed every moment of it. The dinner with Henry, Remi and Mrs Eigbe at Maun Lodge was very touching. My husband worked with late Dr John Eigbe before he died around July last year. After his death he took over the running of the clinic. Over the period of 3 years he worked closely and tirelessly with Henry (above) and Mrs Eigbe. That is one thing I admire my husband for a lot. It is a rare gift to be able to manage someone else’s thing as though it was yours. And he surely has that gift.

There is nothing like being good at what you do and giving your best no matter the situation you find yourself in. Even if the humans you are doing it for do not appreciate it; you can rest assured that God will reward you immensely for your efforts. And remember that you never know where you would meet again tomorrow.

When the time came to say goodbye, we all had tears in our eyes. I never knew saying goodbye in Botswana would be difficult. I always thought that when the time came, that I would bolt up and leave without even looking back. But I was wrong.

To the Lackeys, Mulombas, Obohs, Ernihes, Mrs Eigbe of Covenant Medical Centre Maun and the wonderful people who made our lives and stay in Maun Botswana a memorable one, I say THANK YOU.

We pray the good Lord will continue to be with you and give you the grace to excel in all you do. We will definitely meet again.

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Acrylic painting: Surreal and Still

Nkolika — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 07:30:09 +0000

Shakawe

2.5″ x 3.5″

Click here to buy

This is from one of the several pictures I took while on a trip to Shakawe, a town near the border between Botswana and Namibia. There were children fishing in the small pond but I left them out in this painting. Will put them in the bigger one I intend to do someday.

What caught my attention was the reflections the vegetation at the side of the pool made in the still water. I dunno why I am always fascinated by reflections seen in water. They almost always look very surreal and still. Qualities I long to imbibe.

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Charcoal Drawing of Kalahari San (Bushman) dancer

Nkolika — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:55:45 +0000

Kalahari (San) child dancer

8.25″ x 11.75″ (A4)

Charcoal on 160g Canson Mi-Teintes paper

This is another drawing of a Kalahari (San) dancer……………this time a child dancer. I have always been fascinated with the sight of these people. Watching them perform is always a breathtaking experience even though majority of the dance comprises stamping of the feet hard on the ground. And they always dress in simple yet natural way. Oft wearing beads made from Ostrich eggs and clothes from animal hides. To read more about these people see my earlier post on Kalahari (San) bushmen of Botswana.

I did this drawing with charcoal and ink. It has been sprayed/covered with a protective layer of fixative to prevent smudging and is ready for framing.

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Acrylic on paper painting of Giraffes

Nkolika — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:10:53 +0000

Giraffe Silhouettes

20cm x 28cm

For some time now I’ve been having a lot of fun and deriving a lot of joy from painting wildlife. It definitely is influenced by where I have found myself………………….Botswana. Botswana hasn’t been good to me in a lot of ways, but I have simply chosen to see the good sides of the place. I keep saying I’m way too young to burden myself with thoughts that will not in anyway make me a better person or make me happy. The bottom line’s that I am too young to send myself to an early grave. Needless to say it is always very important to try and see the beautiful side of any where you find yourself.

Coming here opened a totally new chapter in my life. A chapter I was not in anyway ready for (can we ever be completely ready for what life throws at us?). But like a popular saying in my culture that says “a na awachi uwa ogodo”…………which means adorning life with beautiful ornaments no matter the circumstances, I decided a long time ago to keep my shoulders straight and walk with my head high at all times. Yeah, like the giraffes in the painting above. If I could get my neck to be that long I would definitely be making a statement to the world around me that I have simply chosen not to be deterred.

What is it that you’re going through now? Have things happened that have made your shoulders slouch and made you constantly afraid of looking the world in the eye? Brace up and know you’re not (never alone). Like giraffes who never walk with their heads low, may we all learn to stare down adversities and disappointments.

Everyone reaches a point in their life where they must either change or cease

Brett Whiteley

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Acrylic Seascape painting

Nkolika — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:58:45 +0000

Reflections in the Okavango river

Acrylic on paper

13.5cm x 21.5cm

SOLD

This is a seascape painting of a part of the Okavango river in Botswana, Southern Africa. I was struck by the beautiful reflections in the water and I could not resist the urge to capture it in paint. The Okavango region from where the river gets its name is a famous tourist destination in Botswana that is home to a wide variety of animals and wild life. It is painted with Acrylic on paper and framed with a mounting board ready to be inserted into a frame.

An artist needn’t be a clergyman or a churchwarden,but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men.

Vincent van Gogh

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Kalahari San (Bushmen) of Botswana

Nkolika — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:26:56 +0000

When I was moving to Botswana exactly one year ago today, I knew very little about the place. All I knew was that they had a bustling diamond industry and that it was the most stable country in Africa. The former meant little to me but the latter meant the world to me (who would want to move to a place filled with violence and insecurity?). On getting here I have come to realize that there is so much more about this beautiful country to behold. I live in the North close to the wildlife reserves and its many animal inhabitants. Every year during the hunting season, tourists come in their thousands to catch a glimpse of these magnificent creatures. I talked about the wildlife rich Okavango delta showing a painting of an elephant making its way home here.

Another very fascinating feature of Botswana is the Kalahari San people, famously known as the “Bushmen”. I remember watching the film “The gods must be crazy” years ago. Though I thoroughly enjoyed it I never once thought I would one day be close to the “Bushmen”. Along with this post I would be taking you through the creation of a drawing of one of the Kalahari Bushmen I did recently.

It is an original charcoal and ink drawing of a Kalahari San (Bushmen) traditional dancer,performing during the annual Kuru dance festival in Botswana. Animal skins, Ostrich eggshell jewelery and beaded headbands comprise the traditional dress of the San, as seen with this joyful dancer at the festival. This drawing captures one of the few exceptionally great chances for the Kalahari San people to showcase their culture to a seemingly unknowing world.

The Bushmen, San, Sho, Basarwa, ǃKung or Khwe are indigenous people of southern Africa that spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe , Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. They were traditionally hunter-gatherers, part of the Khoisan group and are related to the traditionally pastoral Khoikhoi. Starting in the 1950s, through the 1990s, they switched to farming. Beautiful San rock art can be seen throughout Southern Africa where the San lived as hunter-gatherers. In the past 2000 years the San were slowly pushed to live in the arid sands of the Kalahari Desert by Bantu tribes and white farmers who took the more fertile land for their crops and livestock.

Genetic evidence suggests they are one of the oldest, if not the oldest, peoples in the world. The term “San” was historically applied by their ethnic relatives and historic rivals, the Khoikhoi. This term means “outsider” in the Nama language and was derogatory because it distinguished the Bushmen from what the Khoikhoi called themselves, namely the First People.Western anthropologists adopted “San” extensively in the 1970s, where it remains preferred in academic circles. The term “Bushmen” is widely used, but opinions vary on whether it is appropriate – given that the term is sometimes viewed as pejorative.

8.25″ x 11.75″ (A4 size)

160g Canson Mi-Tentes paper, not framed

SOLD

The Bushmen of the Kalahari were first brought to the Western world’s attention in the 1950s by South African author Laurens van der Post with the famous book The Lost World of the Kalahari, which was also a BBC TV series.

The 1980 comedy movie The Gods Must Be Crazy portrays a Kalahari Bushman tribe’s first encounter with an artifact from the outside world (a Coke bottle). In 1969, the director of this movie, Jamie Uys, had directed Lost in the Desert, in which a small boy stranded in the desert encounters a group of wandering Bushmen, and is helped by them and then abandoned due to a misunderstanding created by the lack of a common language and culture.

They are a must see for anyone heading this way. Be sure to see them whenever you’re around here.

Sources:

Wikipedia: Bushmen
About.Com: Travel Africa

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Acrylic painting of an Elephant

Nkolika — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:34:29 +0000

Elephant Silhouette

21cm x 28cm

Acrylic on paper

SOLD

This is a painting I did showing an Elephant making his way home as the sun sets in the Okavango delta of Botswana. It is done on paper and framed with a matt mounting board ready to be put on the wall or inserted into a frame.

The Okavango delta is the world’s largest inland delta. The waters of the Okavango Delta are subject to seasonal flooding, which begins about mid-summer in the north and six months later in the south (May/June). The water from the delta is evaporated relatively rapidly by the high temperatures, resulting in a cycle of cresting and dropping water in the south. Islands can disappear completely during the peak flood, then reappear at the end of the season.

The Okavango is home to a prosperity of wildlife and attracts thousands of visitors a year. On the mainland and among the islands in the delta, lions, elephants, hyenas, wild dog, buffalo, hippo and crocodiles congregate with a teeming variety of antelope and other smaller animals – warthog, mongoose, spotted genets, monkeys, bush babies and tree squirrels. The delta also includes over 400 species of birds.

Have you been to the Okavango delta? Be sure to take a trip to this wonderful place whenever you come around here. Or if you can’t why not get a hold of an original painting depicting life in the delta as the one above.

Sources:
Wikipedia
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