16 February 2010
What a day this has been! I awoke at 5am for cooking duty, to help our chef Charles prepare breakfast. We left at 7am for the town of Grootfontien, I slept basically all the way there. Once we got there we were turned loose for an hour, while Dave and Sarah picked up supplies. I went on the internet and sent a few emails home picked up some snacks for the truck. I also managed to find a post office so I could send off my first round of postcards.
We got back on the truck and drove to Grashoek to visit one of the San Bushman villages. Immediately after stepping out of the truck, we were set upon by the local children. They took to the boys first, wanting piggie backs, to be swung around and hoisted for shoulder rides. We set up for lunch and then sat around playing with the kids for about two hours.
It started to come over cloudy and our village guide showed up to take us to see how the bushman live. No sooner had we set off than the storm started. Some of the loudest thunder and most magnificent lightening shook the sky above us and the rain, in big fat drops, seemed to come from all directions around us. We followed the bushman into the African wilderness, getting completely soaked from head to toe, but no one seemed to mind, especially me who was actually laughing. I could not believe the adventure I was having. Running through the bush, chasing an almost naken man as he ran towards his village with a bunch of other people I’d known for about two weeks. The bushman showed us to their traditional huts and showed us how to make a fire, which we all huddled around in the rain.
One of them was shivering uncontrollably in the cold and Guy took his jacket off and let him wear it. It was really cute to see the almost naked local wearing a big jacket, with his little stick legs poking out the bottom. The bushman took us into the wild and taught us about their medicine and how they catch animals. The woman also danced in the rain, to welcome the wet weather.
We headed back to our bush camp to find even more kids hanging around. All of a sudden I was swarmed with kids, all fascinated with my red hair and the fact that when they press on my skin it changes colour, due to my tan. One little girl asked me “What’s your name?” and when I said “Kristina” about ten of the kids all said my name in unison. Apparently, the girl who asked me also was Kristina. They were also fascinated with my tattoo and kept moving my hair to get a look at it.
The bushman talk using clicks in their language and try as we may, most of us couldn’t master it, strangest language I’ve ever heard.
I sat down with my new friends and they played with my hair, Kristina tried to teach me some game with her hands and I failed miserably and I taught her how to dance. I spun her around and around and the rest of the group took photos. The kids just seemed to have unlimited energy, and I was almost relieved to have them shooed away for dinner.
