I made it all the way to Gaborone, Botswana from Cape Town today.

I woke early so I could meet with Nadia Smith from Stellenbosch University, in the Western Cape. We met last year at the SCGIS meeting in California. At the time she was with Peace Parks Foundation, now she is working toward her PhD. involving remote sensing (satellite and aerial captured images of the earth) applications. We had coffee at the airport, and discussed the “state of GIS” in South Africa, as well as ways we may be able to foster a chapter of SCGIS (www.scgis.org) for the Western Cape area. (South Africa is too big to get a single chapter going…)

I was also able to donate an Student Edition of ArcGIS 9.1 to The University, on behalf of The ESRI Conservation Program.

Made the plane to Jo’Burg, and then one to Gaborone… Kyle Good, from Cheetah Conservation Botswana, picked me up, and within one hour, I was greeted by a beautiful, purring Cheetah.

There at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve, they have two tame Cheetah living in a protected area as part of their education and outreach work – see their website for more about this fantastic and meaningful approach to practical solutions for a species having significant challenges to it’s habitat – www.cheetahbotswana.com – what a greeting I had… (and one of the friendliest and hassle-free international airports I have ever passed through – seems like Santa Fe, and so does the place). They also received a copy of ArcGIS 9.1, the “awards ceremony” pictured below…

I had my first Ostrich that night, prepared by an experienced chef, and  I must say it was quite good, and did not taste like Chicken!