Powering Botswana

This is a quick photo and post to tell you what it takes to get your
power connected in Botswana. You will need two possible adapters. One
is the South African standard 3-prong, round electrode adapter. The
other is a South African round plug to square plug adapter. Why do you
need both? Because, depending on where you are, you will need either a
round plug or a square plug. My combination is a U.S. to SA adapter,
and then a round to square adapter. It works, but it's a bit clunky if
you ask me. Now you know.

Oh yeah, and as far as internet connections go, it's pretty hit-or-miss.
I stayed at the golf resort, where I had a connection to their network,
but the password to give me full access didn't work. The second one
didn't either. Fortunately I had access to gmail so I could at least
keep up with email. In Jwaneng I had access through the company, but
their network was down the second night in the company lodging. Tonight
I returned to Gaborone and I am staying in one of the nicest hotels in
town (The Grand Palm). I can't even get a login request from the
system. I called for help, they said they would call back. Nope, no
call back.

Oh yeah, the golf resort at Phakalane charges a minimum of $30 (210
pula) for internet access for two days. Nothing less. The Grand Palm
charges by the hour or for longer increments. One hour is 49 pula which
is a bit more than $7. At least I had the choice.

I notice that RIM has a Blackberry system in town that offers 3G access.
As the popularity grows, the amount of internet they sell at these
hotels is going to plummet. In the States, I will never pay a hotel for
internet access again thanks to my friends at RIM. Here, I pay the fees
under protest - even when the client is willing to pay them, as they are
here.

Ah well, time for bed. I will post this from work tomorrow...