Let's learn about: Botswana - Part 2: Dr. Livingstone, I presume?

On the way back from outreach clinic the other day, I spied a small sign on the side of the road that said "Livingstone Memorial" and asked our cab driver to stop. After moving aside the cow-gate and driving down a small dirt road, we came across a fence which had small path leading a small hut with a lone figure waiting patiently for visitors. Kenny was eager to show us around the site, and didn't charge a penny. From the guest book we gladly signed, his last visitor had been several days previous.

He lead us around the memorial, as it were (really just some paths, bush, and some old rock foundations), and told us all about the exploits of a one David Livingstone, explorer and missionary. Despite the meager surroundings, it was actually quite fascinating.

I actually didn't know that Livingston, aside from being an explorer and missionary, was also a doctor. Below is the rock bench where his patients would wait for his administrations. It also doubled as an examining table and operating room, according to Kenny.

Here is the foundation of the house where he lived with his wife and children while in Botswana.

For a little more background: David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer and medical missionary with the London Missionary Society in the 1800's. He was one of the most popular national heroes of Victorian Britain and achieved near mythic status due to his extensive exploration in the southern parts of Africa. He is credited as the first European to view Victoria Falls, re-naming it for his queen. The former name was Mosi-ao-Tunya or "The smoke that thunders".

Livingstone was obsessed with finding the source of the River Nile and traveled extensively throughout what are now South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia. He completely lost contact with the outside world for a period of about 6 years towards the end of his life and Henry Morton Stanley was dispatched to locate him by the New York Herald. Stanley caught up with Livingstone in the town of Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Locating Livingstone, the only other white European on the entire continent at the time, prompted Stanley to utter the now famous line, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?".

Dr. Livingstone spent about 6 years living in Botswana, just to the west of what is now Gaborone. He converted the local chieftain to Christianity by spending the night in a cave that was thought to be cursed. He taught the locals about agriculture, medicine, reading and writing, and generally improved their lives in a big way. Our guide spoke with genuine emotion when listing off his many achievements and accolades.

Livingstone died in what is now Zambia in 1873 from complications of malaria and dysentery. His body was returned to his native England but his heart was removed and remains in his beloved Africa.

Signing off, from Gabarone.