Topics Course #3: Pula le Thebe

I'm sure that you've all been curious to see what these pula and thebe are that I talk about whenever I give prices for things, so I decided to do a topics course on the money. I took these photos the other day, when I realized that I had one of each coin and note. So without much further ado...

200 Pula - about $31. Featuring children reading with an elderly person, and on the back: zebras. There is only one type of zebra native to Botswana, and it has a characteristic "shadow stripe", so that's how you know if the zebra claiming to be from Botswana really is or not.

100 Pula - about $16. This note feature the Dikgosi Ditharo, or Three Chiefs, who came together to help bring about independence for Botswana. On the other side is a person inspecting a diamond, and a diamond quarry, showing the diamond industry on which Botswana proudly bases its economy.

P50 - about $8. Now we enter the realm of people I don't recognize. I couldn't tell you who this guy is, but he's on the 50 pula note. On the flip side is a fish eagle catching a fish (right where the dotted line is), and in the background is a poler standing on a mokoro. [Update: Someone finally told me who this guy is! This is the first president of Botswana, Khama, who is father of the current president, Ian Khama. I suppose that's useful information, even though I haven't lived in Botswana for a couple years now. I can definitely see the family likeness, now that I look at it...]

P20 - about $3.25. Again, I don't know who the guy is, but the back of the note is a factory. [Update: I found out who this guy is, too! This is Kgalemang Motsete, the composer of Botswana's national anthem. How cool is it that a composer got to have his face put on currency? Maybe we should put Gershwin's face on an American bill...]

P5 - about $0.75. This one is the coin on the bottom-right, with the silver inset in the gold-colored metal. The front is the emblem of Botswana, and the back is a mophane caterpillar - one of the delicacies of Batswana cuisine. Since I already tried caterpillars in Zambia and they look the same, I haven't bothered to try them again here. I doubt if they'd be any better.

P2 - about $0.35. The coin on the left, featuring the Botswana emblem and a rhino. It is slightly thinner than the P1 coin, but otherwise difficult to distinguish. Especially if the P1 coin you're holding is particularly worn...

P1 - about $0.17. The coin on the top-right, which is slightly thicker than the P2 coin, and displays a very stately zebra on one side, and the Botswana emblem on the other.

This is the P10 note (with the emblem-side of the P5 coin), worth about $1.53. This one has a picture of President Sir Seretse Khama Ian Khama. They change this note whenever a new president is elected, so that it always holds the portrait of the current president of Botswana.

These are the different thebe coins. "Thebe" means "shield", and so the backs of the smaller ones have just the shield part of the emblem. They are, from left to right, the 50 thebe, the 25 thebe, the 10 thebe, and the 5 thebe. There are 100 thebe in 1 pula, so you can imagine how little the 5 thebe is worth in American dollars. Still, you get farther faster when you pick up this "heptapennies" off the ground because there's only 20 of them in a pula, and before you know it, you can buy yourself a snack!

Alright, so that's the gist of money matters here. It's going to be so weird to come back home and realize that when people say "10 bucks" they really mean US$10. I think I might be balking at prices for awhile...