Botswana achieved its independence in 1966 from Britain and its economy is robust due to the discovery of 3 of the world's richest diamond mines. Politically stable and with political foresight, the country invested in education, health care and businesses...Botswana has the best economy in sub-Saharan Africa.
We depart early from Windhoek and cross the border into Botswana. Since this is Valentine's Day world-wide, we all agreed to wear red and purchase a gift that would be distributed among us by drawing a number. As my red item, I purchased and wore a pair of "Superman" underpants. See the picture with the women of our group ogling my attire...who can blame them.
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| Choosing Our Valentine Gift |
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| Tom's Admirers |
Our destination is Ghanzi where we set-up camp and meet with local Bushman (San) community and experience traditional tribal dancing. The San community are indigenous to Botswana, nomadic people -- primarily hunter/gatherers moving to where food and water can be found. After setting-up camp which we are proficient at now, 5 minutes for the tent, we have a dinner of kudu steak, potatoes and salad. After the sun sets, we attend a bushman dance. 5 women chant around the fire as 2 men do various dances that deal with healing, hunting and their life experiences. The last dance involves members of the audience, of course I participated, as we did a version of ring-a-round of rosie where we sat next to a lady or two; I picked the cutest!!
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| Bushman Dance |
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| Getting Involved |
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| Lucy...Involved |
Let's introduce other members of the group..Difficulty in loading pictures:
Stephan and Kathrin from Switzerland..completed a self-driving trip along the east coast of South Africa from Jo'Burg to Kruger National Park through Durban, Port Elizabeth, Garden Route through the wine country and finally Cape Town. After this 20 day camping adventure, they plan on traveling to Tanzania's Zanzibar island for a little R & R. Stephan is a salesman to commercial builders for a glass manufacturer; Kathrin works for the Switzerland Post Office....a very pleasant and cute couple.
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| Stephan & Kathrin |
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| Nell & Kees - Honeymooners |
A second couple is Kees and Nell from Holland who joined our group in Sokamund. They are on a two month honeymoon exploring Southern Africa. Kees works for a Teleco provider, VIOP Buster, that competes with SKYPE, while Nell is a Veterinarian's Assistant....also a very gregarious and cute couple
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