Swimming in the Kalahari

So last day in Botswana today and so we were heading into the Kalahari desert. You will have heard about the Kalahari desert - it covers a vast 1.2m sq km and stretches across the Congo, Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The local people here call it the land of thirst. In summer temperatures get up to a whopping 45 degrees.

3 hours after our trip started we arrived at the Ghanzi trail blazers campsite on the outskirts of Ghanzi. Vernon ( über guide) seemed excited. We drove 2 miles down a dusty red track road, trying to avoid branch damage as we went. Then it appeared. Paradise. An old quarry where some years ago they dug into water - the site built a new quarry and turned this into a private camping area. We had it all to ourselves. We excitedly pitched our tents and dived into the emerald green water.

After a few lazy hours of swimming, eating, reading and savannah drinking we head off for a walk with some local bushmen for a bear grylls how to survive in the desert session. Turned out that it wasn't just a few bushmen but around 6 men, 7 women, and 3 kids. All utterly beautiful with heart shaped faces, killer cheekbones and short curly hair. Very short they were all clad in steenbok hides and decorated with ostrich jewellery. I couldn't hide my delight. For the next hour we walked through the bush with them and they demonstrated what the various plants did. We saw demonstrations of cures for STD's, fertility treatments, a drug to do a kind of abortion and a plant that stops nightmares. It was a special hour. The little kids were incredible, we all wanted to pick them up and take them home. Truly unforgettable.

We asked lots of questions -We asked them what they thought of us - they like our hair the most - the variety. All the group were incredibly happy to have experienced meeting and learning from them in their own environment. I hope tourism and development doesn't impact their lifestyles too much.

After dinner we went to see some of their celebration songs and dances - fanny caught the eye of a young male of the group who proceeded to sit on her lap all the way through to songs and point out his relatives on her digital camera. All our hearts melted - he's the cutest little boy. The outgoing chief of the group was being crazier than before. The dances were mainly hunting celebrations - about whichever animal they had caught. The women clapped and sung while the men took centre stage.

Towards the end we were told we could take part - and the bushmen would select girls to dance with them. If we just wanted to sing and clap we could join the women. Jodie and I decided this was a sensible approach. Leave the younger girls in the group to dance. Quite why one of the 4 men ended up standing in front of me beckoning me to dance I have no idea. After saying no for a minute it was apparent I was going to have to get up. I was about a foot taller than him- so I did some embarrassing foot shuffling and giggled my way through the song. Jodie got accosted by the crazy chief but survived to live the tale.

Standard Friday in the Kalahari....