Botswana Time

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It revived so many memories of my experience as a Peace Corps high school teacher in the same region. Mr. Randall relates his experience, first as an assistant tour guide and later as a grade school teacher with characteristic British humor and an objectivity that is unusual for articles and books on post-apartheid southern Africa. He gives the reader a sample of the moral complexities affecting the people of the region (racial and cultural relations, AIDS) without degenerating into didactic platitudes. The reader also gets an introduction to the grandeur of the Kalahari and its wildlife; although if I have one criticism, its that he doesn't give enough attention to the Okavango Delta and Victoria Falls. Nevertheless, there is a lot to like about this book, and I would recommend it to anybody who has an interest in southern Africa. Five stars.

Will Randall once more finds himself taking an unusual teaching job, this time in the town of Kasane in Botswana. Here he finds himself not only teaching the children but running the school football team as well, football being of supreme importance. He also ecounters a lot of exotic wildlife, with elephants and crocodiles literally on his doorstep. And he has to deal with some very shady characters. And, sadly, he has to come to terms with the terrible devestation that AIDS is wrecking throughout the country. Fans of Alexander McCall Smith's 'No 1 Ladies Detective Agency' will be pleased to discover that Botswana is every bit as delightful as it is described as being in that series,and the people, on te whole as friendly, kind and good, as Mma Ramotswe and her friends. A delightful and heartwarming book.