So after negotiating the Gaborone rush minute, we drove 240-ish km to Palapye. I saw lots of trees sand goats and donkeys. The animals look extremely fluffy and cuddle-able at 160km/hr!
We turned off the A1 and found our way through the Blink-and-you-might-miss-it town and got on with another meeting with some bigjobs (some from france and india) and some very cool calm exchanging of business cards. (left mine behind in my desk drawer :/ not cool)
Then we shot across the road to the opposite side of the A1 to visit the power station. We signed in and drove around the fence to inspect the switchyard and the clusters of steel lattice and wood post towers hanging their strings of conductor around the place. The Power Station itself was Enormous!! With very tall candy stripe chimneys.
Then we drove another 150 km to the other end of the project. The green scrubby bush changed into sand and wooden stick-ish thorn trees. We followed the power lines to a 400/220kV substation. I climbed out the car to the hot red sandy dirt road to the chorus of cicada beetles and the buzz of the 400kV equipment. Highlight of my Trip!! I say!
I mean I love nature and the outdoors and aside from the heat, the area was really pretty in a dry african way. Clear blue skies, fine dry red sand, brown thorn bushes with white thorns and the occasional hairy wiry donkey. :)
Then I find the High Voltage switchyards extremely impressive. The tall lattice steel, The enormous insulators for clearances, the glass string insulators that look too heavy to stay hanging from the gantries 20m off the ground.
Anyway enough engineer-nerd talk for now....
We found time to drive around the area when we were done for the day and I managed to snap some pretty pictures of the bush and the sunset and a really tall impressive anthill. Top prize tomorrow will be a picture of a happy hairy wiry donkey as we drive off road along the line route. Thrilling!!!
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