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At the border crossing you have to go through immigration on both the Zimbabwe and Botswana sides. Even cutting over part of a line, I think this process took an hour. At the Botswana station, we had to take our footwear and vehicle through chemical troughs that supposedly treated us for any “Foot and Mouth Disease” we might be bringing into the country. Then it’s actually another hour to Francistown – the first city large enough to get the stuff we need. By the time we arrived, it was at least 7pm and the stores were closed. So we went to our hotel (Town Lodge) to check in after withdrawing some Pulas from my bank account in the states. Fanny also withdrew his daily limit.

At the hotel, the phone line did not seem to be working properly, so Fanny’s credit card would not go through. So we secured our room #7 with cash. We decided to get a “family room” since Fanny had stayed here before and we were already feeling much like family. There was a bunk bed and a queen size bed. Melissa took the top bunk and the rest of us guys discussed our options for a bit before Claudio decided to ask for an additional cot or mattress. A small mattress turned out to be available, so I grabbed that and the staff also brought in sheets later since none of us brought sleeping bags along.

We left the hotel to get something to eat. At first we thought that some authentic Botswana food might be the way to go, so we had asked the hotel staff what might be a decent place. After a moment of puzzlement, they gave us the name of another hotel and some directions. We thought that was a little curious. It turned out to be the Thampana Hotel and Casino! The restaurant was kind of in a separate location upstairs, but the response to our inquiry was that Botswanan food was only served on Wednesdays. Well, probably a good thing in the end, since it would have been 100 Pulas a plate if we stayed. We insisted on just going to KFC since that was basically Fanny’s traditional favorite place to go with his family (and you can never have too much chicken in Africa), but on our way there Fanny caught site of Nando’s, another chicken establishment. He wanted to go there, so we did and ordered a “Wholesome Meal”, which was plenty for the four of us – grilled chicken, fries, and coleslaw…and of course, Fanta to drink. It was really good and Claudio noticed that Nando’s is actually a Portuguese restaurant (his heritage) from the things they had hanging on the wall.

We came back to Town Lodge after Nando’s and got settled. We had devotions together, and afterward, Melissa and Fanny went to bed right away while Claudio and I stayed up to read and journal.