We have 250km's of road to cover today. Our start is slightly delayed by some people who paid to do a scenic flight over the Delta but were unable to do it yesterday. Thankfully they could still do it & the morning light today would be nicer than the blaring midday light they would of had yesterday.
While waiting we go into a grocery store to stock up on batteries for the torches, buy nutella & some papaya fruit, a newly experienced & now daily breakfast essential.
At 9.30am we finally set off from the town of Maun!
While waiting we go into a grocery store to stock up on batteries for the torches, buy nutella & some papaya fruit, a newly experienced & now daily breakfast essential.
At 9.30am we finally set off from the town of Maun!
The drive goes quickly apart from the 2 seperate foot & mouth quarantine stations we encounter which involves us disinfecting our shoes & declaring animal goods. The land in Botswana is very flat & dry, the dirt is colour's of white & grey. Apart from the occasional animal sighting, the landscape is very bland. There isn't even the villages & daily life we have previously seen out the window, the people are so scarce. Definitely not the fertile rich red of Tanzania or the bustling streets of Milawi. As we get closer to Namibia & the desert, I'm sure it will get hotter & drier.
Tom mostly naps & listens to music, he's unable to download any TV which makes travel days very tiring for him.
I've been able to get my hands on some new paperback books. One of them is The Green Mile. Tom tells me it's now a movie & one of the best movies ever made. I have got plans to watch the movie when we get back, the books very good & I've nearly completed its 430 pages in 3 days.
There is a local bushman tribe (also known as the San People) that offer an authentic experience to learn the ways of survival from them. Tom paid $10 US to go for a 1 hour bush walk with then, which turned out to be nearly 2 hours of bush walking.
While the group & Tom was away on the bush walk, I helped to clean the truck & chop some vegetables for dinner. While talking with Jurumba, we somehow stumbled onto the fact that Tom had a New Zealand passport, even though he is a dual citizen with South Africa. Jurumba said this is going to be a problem & Tom might get turned back at the border & not be allowed entry into the country.
Apparently South Africa & New Zealand have some sort of diplomatic dispute & New Zealand citizens are treated very different to Australians. This of course sends a bolt of panic through me, I remember specifically looking up all the Visa requirements for Australia & New Zealand but can't remember reading anything of the sort.
We are carrying Tom's birth certificate, dual citizen certificates, copies of his original South African passport from when he was a baby & it states in his passport that he is born in Johannesburg before the year when legislation was passed to stop dual citizenship. Jurumba doesn't think it will make any difference & that he will still be turned away.
I hope he's wrong.
Apparently there was big changes made only 3 months ago restricting South Africans using New Zealand to try and gain citizenship in Australia. After New Zealand made changes, South Africa retaliated the next day & made Visa requirements more difficult. We haven't been watching the news & don't know how truthful it is. The information has come to us second hand.
I try not to worry about it now, we can't do anything to check on it until we get to a town in Namibia with good internet.
When Tom gets back I ask him about it & tell him what Jurumba has said. Tom is a little bit grumpy & said that he checked with Jurumba at the start of the trip nearly 4 weeks ago & there wasn't going to be a problem then.
Tom took some really nice pictures while on the Bush walk, there is 1 particular photo of the family standing in a group looking into the setting sun light. The lighting is perfect & I'm really smitten with the elderly lady who has grey hair, a red patterned head band & a face full of wrinkles or lines of life, as I like to call them. She is quietly smiling & radiating inner peace. I have plans to put her beautiful face on a canvas & hang it in our future house.
- Alli
The Bushmans walk.
Tom mostly naps & listens to music, he's unable to download any TV which makes travel days very tiring for him.
I've been able to get my hands on some new paperback books. One of them is The Green Mile. Tom tells me it's now a movie & one of the best movies ever made. I have got plans to watch the movie when we get back, the books very good & I've nearly completed its 430 pages in 3 days.
We finally arrived at 2.30pm, having driven through & not stopped for lunch. As we drove in Tom saw an enclosure with a lion which I pointed out to Jurumba who didn't believe us & said it was a rock. He did enquire at reception & was told that there is a lion & also an enclosure with wild dogs. I did ask about permits & he said that they have to have them. I would of liked to have seen the enclosure & animal's myself, however it was a 40 minute walk from our campsite & after we had lunch & set up our camp it was getting too late & too dark. This was around the time Tom showed me the photo he took today of me sleeping with my mouth open. It's a pretty funny photo, I can't wait to get him back!
There is a local bushman tribe (also known as the San People) that offer an authentic experience to learn the ways of survival from them. Tom paid $10 US to go for a 1 hour bush walk with then, which turned out to be nearly 2 hours of bush walking.
While the group & Tom was away on the bush walk, I helped to clean the truck & chop some vegetables for dinner. While talking with Jurumba, we somehow stumbled onto the fact that Tom had a New Zealand passport, even though he is a dual citizen with South Africa. Jurumba said this is going to be a problem & Tom might get turned back at the border & not be allowed entry into the country.
Apparently South Africa & New Zealand have some sort of diplomatic dispute & New Zealand citizens are treated very different to Australians. This of course sends a bolt of panic through me, I remember specifically looking up all the Visa requirements for Australia & New Zealand but can't remember reading anything of the sort.
We are carrying Tom's birth certificate, dual citizen certificates, copies of his original South African passport from when he was a baby & it states in his passport that he is born in Johannesburg before the year when legislation was passed to stop dual citizenship. Jurumba doesn't think it will make any difference & that he will still be turned away.
I hope he's wrong.
Apparently there was big changes made only 3 months ago restricting South Africans using New Zealand to try and gain citizenship in Australia. After New Zealand made changes, South Africa retaliated the next day & made Visa requirements more difficult. We haven't been watching the news & don't know how truthful it is. The information has come to us second hand.
I try not to worry about it now, we can't do anything to check on it until we get to a town in Namibia with good internet.
When Tom gets back I ask him about it & tell him what Jurumba has said. Tom is a little bit grumpy & said that he checked with Jurumba at the start of the trip nearly 4 weeks ago & there wasn't going to be a problem then.
Tom took some really nice pictures while on the Bush walk, there is 1 particular photo of the family standing in a group looking into the setting sun light. The lighting is perfect & I'm really smitten with the elderly lady who has grey hair, a red patterned head band & a face full of wrinkles or lines of life, as I like to call them. She is quietly smiling & radiating inner peace. I have plans to put her beautiful face on a canvas & hang it in our future house.
- Alli
The Bushmans walk.
After our very late lunch we were offered to go on a walk with the local bushman. At the cost of 10 USD, I was keen to hear of how they once lived in these terribly harsh conditions. Allisha was keen on a rest so I headed out with 2 men and 2 women who were dressed in a mixture of traditional and modern clothing. Something that was strange at first, but throughout their knowledgable demonstration, became more and more fitting.
Soon after we headed about 10 steps into the bush we were directed to a small thorny shrub, that to us, looked just like every other thorny bush that was out here. The elder of the 2 gentleman (I wont even pretend I can spell their names) gestured to the small, green/brown shoots at the trunk of the bush with the younger gentleman acting as translator (the only one who spoke fluent English). We were told that when there is no water they could identify this bush by snapping the shoots and finding white sap.
Soon after we headed about 10 steps into the bush we were directed to a small thorny shrub, that to us, looked just like every other thorny bush that was out here. The elder of the 2 gentleman (I wont even pretend I can spell their names) gestured to the small, green/brown shoots at the trunk of the bush with the younger gentleman acting as translator (the only one who spoke fluent English). We were told that when there is no water they could identify this bush by snapping the shoots and finding white sap.
We were then given a demonstration as to how they were able to pain stakingly extract a large tap root from beneath the thorn bush. It took about 40 minutes, with some of us apprentice bushmen attempting to assist them. However I'm pretty sure our digging technique was cause for great amusement to our guides. Once the root was extracted, to much applause, I couldn't help but think this process must make you more thirsty than it did quench your thirst.
We were told that they are able to store the roots for quite some time. Quickly a makeshift peeler was constructed from a near by plant that was best for the job. The root was skillfully peeled to reveal a white potato like inside.
We were all given a sample of the root, surprisingly it was quite tasteless and very watery. Kind of like the white bit at the edge of a watermelon, but with a vague earthy taste. Having spent most of the 1 hour session digging this hole we were all concerned that the tour was almost over. However in true African style time was not a defining factor on this tour and we got a great deal more time than we expected in the end.
We were all given a sample of the root, surprisingly it was quite tasteless and very watery. Kind of like the white bit at the edge of a watermelon, but with a vague earthy taste. Having spent most of the 1 hour session digging this hole we were all concerned that the tour was almost over. However in true African style time was not a defining factor on this tour and we got a great deal more time than we expected in the end.
The guys had been cracking jokes with us about their use of a swiss army knife, like their clothes some things have been replaced for modern alternatives. Somehow it didn't detract from the experience in the slightest. And was almost more honest than some of the fake feeling tribal interactions that get experienced along the way.
Our translator was quite a character and showman so we were all having a great time as we moved on. I noticed that the women of the group had snuck off to the next bush that was worthy of our attention. Standing only 10 meters further in the bush we headed to where they were standing.
Before we could arrive we were shown some giraffe tracks and told how to discern which was the tracks pointed, as well as how to tell the gender of the animal by its droppings. We were then shown some more droppings that I seem to remember were zebra.
They explained how they were best to keep am ember burning inside. By making a small hole they were able to keep an ember alight for many hours when they travelled, avoiding having to use sticks to light a fire, a much more lengthy endeavour we experienced later.
Finally we reached the bush. Seemingly exactly the same bush we looked at last time, at least to my uneducated eyed. We were told there was a starchy kind of bush potato beneath this one. And indeed with a lot less digging this time, a small fist sized, mandarin shaped potato was produced. I should mention that whenever a tree is harvested, the utmost care was made to ensure the plant would continue to grow.
Before we could arrive we were shown some giraffe tracks and told how to discern which was the tracks pointed, as well as how to tell the gender of the animal by its droppings. We were then shown some more droppings that I seem to remember were zebra.
They explained how they were best to keep am ember burning inside. By making a small hole they were able to keep an ember alight for many hours when they travelled, avoiding having to use sticks to light a fire, a much more lengthy endeavour we experienced later.
Finally we reached the bush. Seemingly exactly the same bush we looked at last time, at least to my uneducated eyed. We were told there was a starchy kind of bush potato beneath this one. And indeed with a lot less digging this time, a small fist sized, mandarin shaped potato was produced. I should mention that whenever a tree is harvested, the utmost care was made to ensure the plant would continue to grow.
They would replant, or only harvest sections. Due to the desolate nature and how long it takes for things to grow, it was the only way they can guarantee there would be food next season.
Back to our potato! Once again we were given a small slice to try. This time it was exactly potato. In colour texture and taste, just slightly sweeter than raw potato. I'm sure this would be a great source of basic nutrient's. Again we followed the direction of the women of the tribe to another thorny bush, seems like everything has thorns!
We were told how when young large hares (like a rabbit) are able to eat the beginnings of these plants. I couldn't imagine how it would feel, but we could see evidence from recent attempts to do just that. Another bush we were shown how the thorns actually break open and hold a seemingly impossible number of dandelion like floating seeds. They exploded into the air, much to the amusement of our group. It was kind of like a bush magic show!
We then moved on another few meters and were shown how a fire was lit by rubbing some specific kings of branches together. As well as some of the tools inside their antelope leather sacks. Including a rather hilarious hunting demonstration where an arrow was shot a surprisingly long distance and at great accuracy, more so than I thought the tiny bow capable of achieving.
There were many renditions of animal noises and mimicking their movements. After the laughing had subsided we were all offered to pose for a photo. And we walked the short distance back to camp. All feeling like we had learned a great deal, and had a very authentic experience.
We were greeted by dinner on our return, which was pap. Another authentic African experience.
- Tom
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