Botswana

Mots, or Motswani, refers to himself as a River Bushman who grew up with a semi-nomadic family on the edge of the Kalahari desert. His grandfather was a true hunter-gather. Walking with him in the bush provided compelling depth to a seemingly flat landscape.

I know I will never learn all the birds’ names, be able to identify the different scat, and save myself if a water buffalo charges, but I can now identify the Sticky Bush!

It was after the great insect plague of 1929 that they started recording the Sans’ births so anyone born before that event is known to be older than 88. Their age is described as “having been born before the plague”.

Everyone collectively stopped breathing and all 65 of us in the car began looking around with that questioning expression of, “Is this normal?”

We didn’t get out of the truck or take photos. Instead, we just sat talking about the complications of living in South Africa before and now and watched people come and go in the rain.

The custom man upon hearing where we were from threw up his arms and with a belly laugh said, “Welcome to South Africa!” It is as if Apartheid never happened.