This weekend was a bit more relax because I decided to stay in Gaborone. Not that I couldn't stand with the group anymore but more for budget reason. Also, the 8 hours bus road trip to go didn't help to convince me. I was not the only one staying and I had the great honour to stay with Michelle and Tom in the capital. Beside having some decent sleeps, eating and especially drinking a bit more than usual, we went to climb the Kgale hill on Sunday morning following the suggestion of Michelle.
So here we are, Sunday morning at 7:00 AM at the reception on our way to Kgale. We were told that it will be a 20 minutes hike until the top. Wrong!!! It was 20 minutes to go there by taxi but then it was a one hour hike to go on top and it was quite steep to reach the top. But you know what, we did it. And it was great. We had the surprise to have a chorale when we arrived on top of the hill. It was quite unrealistic to see that.
I also met a bunch of kids on top who wanted to be on my pictures so we did a shooting there with them. But then, we even push forward Tom and I. Following this group of kids, we went on the top of the top. It was not hiking anymore but real climbing to access it at the end but again, we had the pleasure to enjoy a unique view of Gaborone.

It is not some weird French for "What did he says?". Madikwe is a game reserve located in South Africa right behind the border of Botswana. How convenient isn't it? Thanks to Cathrin who was able to get a last second deal, we were 9 of our group to go to Madikwe for 2 days, 1 night and a lot of animals to observe.
I don't need to say much, the pictures are enough to show how beautiful it was. The lodge was really nice and you don't often get to wake up in front of impalas, zebras, or giraffes.
We also get probably the best ranger of the reserve. James who was able to show us the cheetahs in the blink of an eye. The lions resisted a bit more to him but we finally got them in the second game drive. These two were the most difficult to spot. Impalas, zebras, kudus, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, crocodiles, we were able to see some quite easily. We also saw some rollers (from the name of the team "Flexible rollers"). Couldn't be better.
So I said I didn't have much to say and I am keep typing. Let me shut up and give you some pictures. I'll have more stories to tell you face to face.

Finally, I am in Gaborone or "Gabs" for the locals. The hotel is great and offers all the services that we need: swimming pool, restaurant, laundry and ... casino. I will find some time to go there and play poker a little bit before I leave.
So, after what we can call a short night (5 hours), The phone of my room is ringing to let me know that the kick off meeting is starting now. I am getting ready and join my fellow colleagues for the presentation/introduction/team building meeting.
It was a great opportunity for all of us to get to know each other, introduce ourselves, start to work together with LEGO, and to exchange vital information for each of our assignments.
Once we got all of this, surprise from our hosts who is inviting us to have a game drive in the nearby game reserve of Mokolodi just outside of Gabs. Relatively small, we still were able to get familiar with few species such as impalas, zebras, kudus, giraffes and even a turtle. The impalas are also called "Mc Donalds" because they are the fast food of the bush and you can find one in every corner.
The truck used for this safari also included what they call the African massage. Indeed, the road is bumpy and the truck not so young anymore and you don't feel as good after this than after a real massage.
Anyway, it was a great introduction to Africa and we finished it with a traditional dinner under the stars (which are completely different by the way in the South hemisphere). We got some traditional dancers who came to share their culture around the fire. After all of that, which was most probably the most amazing start of a social sabbatical program from SAP, go straight to the hotel for another short night as we will get introduce to our respective organizations the next day.