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Hi! It's me... Andrea!
In this blog you can live vicariously through my journey around Southern Africa!
Botswana... And the Gods must be crazy!!!
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Today I started a big organized tour with Gadventures that goes through Botswana and ends in Livingstone. For a couple of days I have been a little scared of being disappointed by this tour since I've had amazing experiences so far with safari companies from Africa.
We are 20 people in the bus including the guide and driver. It seems like a lot of people but I bet I will adjust. So far it looks like a good crowd. The ages in the group vary from like 14 to 60's and I really haven't found anybody that I like and really click with... I'll give it some time!
So we crossed the border from namibia to Botswana and it was amazing to see ostriches all over the street, I think they have in ostriches what El Salvador has in street dogs. It was actually pretty cool to see them running freely on the street.
The bus ride was actually fun, we play a travel quiz game and it was entertaining. Janet, the tour guide, seems like a lot of fun and the tour itself sounds pretty amazing.
After being stopped by the Botswana police and given a speeding ticket for going 5km/hr over the speed limit we finally reached our destination... The Kalahari desert!!!
We are staying at the "Ghanzi Trail Blazers"where we got to see the San bushman.
The tour comes with the traditional huts for san bushman but we were upgraded to nice little bungalows. Out of 20 people I was the only one who wanted to actually stay in the traditional sand bushmen hut despite the upgrade. I kept saying "this will be the only time in my life I get to experience this" and then Janet kind of convinced me to stay in the nicer place, she said "you are on vacation, enjoy the luxury!" So I gave in... Well, I didn't need all that much convincing since the bungalows have their own bathrooms, nice bed, and towels :-)
I'm kind of a princess... Jajajajaja and its my mom's fault! She has called me princess all my life so don't blame me for internalizing what I've been hearing for 29 years!
After settling in our rooms we visited the San bushman who showed us how they use roots and plants as medication. We all chewed a very bitter root that helps prevent malaria.
Chris, one of the boys from the tour, was feeling sick and the oldest lady from the tribe started touching him stomach and it was rather hilarious! Then she proceeded to tell the translator that Chris had a six pack and he pulled Chris' shirt up! I think there was zero healing done but the old lady had a good time rubbing her hands on Chris' six pack!!!
Here are some pictures from the San bushman
The fire was my favorite part!!!
To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the whole experience. The guys were so animated that it felt like it was a parody of how they live. The translator even said "the most important part about this tour are the pictures"... Mmmmm.... I would think that the best part about the tour was to learn about a different culture and how some people in Botswana live so that got me thinking about the whole thing and how much tourism has destroyed their culture. One of the ladies told us that alcoholism is destroying their tribe, that teenagers decide to leave the tribe and live in a city... well lady, i would not blame them... I would pick a warm bed and a fleece over a hut and an underwear made of cow skin anytime!!! Oh my! I feel bad even saying that but it's the truth! Jajaja
At night they did a dance performance that to my taste was monotonous and a little too long. Don't get me wrong, the experience was great and their dancing was amazing but deep in my heart I really felt bad that these people had to perform for an audience and they were half naked in a cold night for our entertainment.
After the way too long performance we were ready for bed... I looked up in the sky and I have never seen the stars so close!!! The sky was B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L!!!!!!!! I wish there was a way to capture the view and share it with each one of you!!! The sky was well worth the hour long of chanting and coughing!!!
