May
13
Written by:
Dino Estevao
2016/05/13 08:57 PM
The road to Botswana look at the critical phase where members of the 32 Battalions, those who started the war in 1961 could no longer perform the fighting task, they were either dead, injured or too old to fight(COSSA RABO) but the institution needed men to fight so the school, Pica-pau had young blood. but when this failed the second option was to recruit in the surrounding area, across the river. And that is when Hotel company was created
Botswana, also known as training area, but is ALSO called Nove we Março, depending on where you were coming from.... was the last part of what constituted Buffalo base. The winding road, crawling through the establishment, the beautiful layout curved by nature and men was drawn alongside the crocodile invested waters.
The base was build into geographical areas or nucleus. It's layout stretching alongside the upstream of the fast moving waters of the Okavango River towards the borders of Botswana.Training area was right at the foot of the location, almost where the river stretched to form the swamps into the Botswana territory.
Botswana, or training area was out of reach of uninvited, unwelcome intruder and it rarely featured in any conversation. Things that are seldom spoken, became latency, mysterious... and Nove we Março was no exception.
Beside to get to that place from Kimbo one must pass the cemetery,through the thick forest with dangerous animals.
As a boy growing up in that part of the world the thought of going to Botswana voluntarily or otherwise have visited me often and more and more As I grew older.
However when the time came for me to be marched there,it was a result of unfortunate incident, known as "aluno roubar pao"
"Aluno" was a group of school boys living at HQ company, at some stage I was the youngest... other times the oldest being brothers from war zone were just numbers