Serowe (Botswana)

Advantages: Not many tourists
Disadvantages: Getting eaten by a lion, hippo, hyena, leopard, honey badgers

...I went on a camping trip to Botswana a few years ago, on an organized tour with Explore (www.explore.co.uk) feeling that it was safer to have everything coordinated and someone at least knowing whom to contact if I was eaten by a hippopotamus or honey badger. It turned out to be a wise precaution (no I didn't get eaten by a honey badger) We flew from London to Windhoek in Namibia via Frankfurt. Our baggage flew to Frankfurt, where it decided to stay. We stayed the night in Windhoek after quite a hurried shopping trip to Woolworths, which is an African shop selling clothes and everything else, with the £50 each, that our travel agent representative had managed to get for us (possibly from the airline) This turned out to be plenty of money and were able to kit ourselves out with enough clothes for at least a week, and the local... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Different setting; lovely dialogue
Disadvantages: Drags at the start; my daughter could solve the cases!

...WHAT'S THIS THEN? ------------------------------ It's the first in a series of books by Alexander McCall Smith about Precious Ramotswe, the only female private detective in Botswana. She is, by Smith's admission, overweight, overbearing and underloved but in Africa and especially Botswana this is a look considered sexy and desirable by men. PLOT --------- Precious Ramotswe's father left her an inheritance and, being a liberal man, said that if she didn't want to go and buy cattle (the only financial sure thing in Botswana) and instead buy a shop or a business then he would still be proud of her. The first quarter of the book lays the foundations of Precious' upbringing. A whole chapter is dedicated to her father's working history in the gold mines of South Africa; another focuses on Precious' teenage years and a third... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Entertaining read, great characters, authentic setting, gentle humour
Disadvantages: Complex names

...About a year ago, I read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. I enjoyed it and got the second book in the series - free through bookhopper.com - but I hadn't got round to reading it until recently. A week or so ago, I decided to choose it and began reading. It didn't take long before I was back in the world of Mma Ramotswe in Botswana, Africa and it was a world I was happy to revisit. Mma (Mrs) Precious Ramotswe is a black, overweight African woman who is a real heroine. She is the only female private detective in her country and she also manages to be kind, caring, generous, moral and an all round great woman. Unlike many heroines, she is someone you can try to emulate without needing to be young, slim, beautiful or rich. She's the sort of heroine I love! She is a mixture of old and new. While... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful