Beautiful Botswana

It's difficult to write about The Full Cupboard of Life, or any book for that matter, without revealing too much of the plot. It's much better to read the book for yourself and see how events unfold. So, I'll write a few words instead about the beautiful country that intrigues me, the African nation of Botswana, as depicted in The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series of books by Alexander McCall Smith. In The Full Cupboard of Life, the main character, the head detective herself, Mma Ramotswe, describes Botswana this way in her thoughts:

"There was a country so large that the land seemed to have no limits; there was a sky so wide and so free that the spirit could rise and soar and not feel in the least constrained; and there were the people, the quiet, patient people, who had survived in this land, and who loved it. Their tenacity was rewarded, because underneath the land there were diamonds, and the cattle prospered, and brick by brick the people built a country of which anybody could be proud. That was what Botswana had, and that's why it was a fortunate country."
~ The Full Cupboard of Life, Alexander McCall Smith

Mma Ramotswe's pride in her country is palpable and contagious; I picture the incredible expansiveness of both land and sky. I've included a map and flag of Botswana from (wonderful) Wikipedia; stunning photos of Botswana can be found on Technorati.