- 6/20/2025
"Africa: Zimbabwe, Botswana & Namibia"
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TravelTranscript
00:00Alright, this is Zimbabwe, this is Zambia, the Zambezi River, and this is the highest
00:09structured bunch of junk in the world. It's 111 metres. I thought this would be a good
00:14way to start our trip for Africa. Not a sensible way, but a good one. Shall we get it over with?
00:21Here we go counting! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Frankie!
00:30Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia stretch in a band across the southern peninsula of Africa.
00:55My journey starts at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, then I head west visiting Botswana's national parks.
01:01In Namibia, I travel to the coastal town of Swakipman, north to remote of Vambaland and south through the desert,
01:07finishing my journey at Luteritz.
01:09Victoria Falls.
01:21Can you imagine how Livingston felt? First whitewater,
01:27ever to see it.
01:41Before Livingston first visited the falls back in 1855 and christened them after Queen Victoria,
01:45they were known to the locals as Mozi Awatanya, or Smoke The Thunders.
01:53The falls are nearly a mile across and drop approximately 400 feet into the Zambezi Gorge.
02:11The best way to see them has got to be from the air.
02:17The Flight of the Angels cost about $50 and that will get you a 15 minute flight.
02:21What we're going to do now is just give you a talk to you about your future, what to do and what not to do on the river.
02:41Anyway, you're cruising down through rapid number four, okay?
02:45And bang! The next thing you know, old Harry and Sally that were sitting beside you are out of the boat, alright?
02:51They're what's called a short swimmer.
02:53Okay, what you want to do is grab them by the lapels of the life jacket,
02:57push them under for two reasons, okay?
03:00They've been stupid enough to fall out.
03:02And secondly, the flotation in the life jacket will aid you in pulling them back in.
03:06Australians, any Australians here? Australians?
03:09Australians, alright? Australians, we pull in a different way, alright?
03:12By the two-fingered Australian nasal grip, like this, okay?
03:24The Zambezi River Rapids are some of the most exciting in the world.
03:27They rate a number five grade for difficulty.
03:29Six, well, that's considered too dangerous to raft.
03:32The first black guide in Zimbabwe.
03:34One thousand, one hundred and fifty-five trips in this river.
03:53Coming up is number five, which is called Stairway to Heaven or Stairway to Hell.
04:00Hard forward!
04:02Hard forward again!
04:06Dig, dig, dig, dig!
04:08Dig, dig, dig, dig!
04:10Fast way!
04:11Fast way!
04:20Hard drive!
04:21Yeah!
04:22Okay!
04:23Yeah!
04:24Woo!
04:25Forward tackle!
04:26End it!
04:27Very cool!
04:29Hard stop!
04:30Did you enjoy it?
04:31Yeah!
04:32Yeah!
04:33Happy?
04:34All the other rafts in our group flipped at some point in the day.
04:57Some victims of the Terminator, others flushed into the Devil's Toilet Bowl.
05:01The last rapid, the big daddy of them all, is simply entitled Number 18.
05:08This is the first wave!
05:11Woo!
05:12Woo!
05:13Woo!
05:14Woo!
05:15Woo!
05:16Woo!
05:17Woo!
05:18Woo!
05:19Woo!
05:20Woo!
05:21Woo!
05:22Woo!
05:24Woo!
05:25Woo!
05:26Woo!
05:27Woo!
05:28Woo!
05:29Woo!
05:30Woo!
05:31The village of Chietobee is about 15 miles outside of Victoria Falls, and offers a typical
05:36example of rural life in Zimbabwe.
05:39The people here, like 80% of the country's population, depend on agricultural for an income.
05:44Nanela Moyo was born here.
05:46So this is the communal land.
05:47Yeah, that's the communal land.
05:48Okay.
05:49And so this is pretty much your village?
05:50That's my village.
05:51that's my village and what what's what is this that neighbors that everyone's embarrassed about
05:55they just uh not really not really because they know the reason why it's like that uh-huh yeah
06:02so no one is embarrassed about that okay okay yeah we had a family like that called the humphreys
06:07who lived next door to us okay they never cut their lawns okay it was terribly embarrassing
06:11yeah hi hi now how do i say hello yeah it's just say hello or someone
06:15uh-huh the village is celebrating the coming of the rainy season drought is a serious worry to
06:35all zimbabwean so last night's rain is really something to get excited about
06:45a typical household is divided into several huts one for sleeping one for working
06:59one for gatherings and of course one for eating
07:05a typical meal is mapani worms the worms are collected from the local mapani tree
07:10the recipe seems easy enough gently boil the worms stir in a few globs of
07:14peanut butter simmer for 15 minutes or so and presto
07:22they don't look very nice really do they no they're looking a bit nice to me
07:25they look good to you yeah they look good to me i don't know how they taste actually but
07:28you must come to my country and have a meat pie a meat bite meat pie
07:39okay it's all i'll talk about the consistency is hard yeah that's yeah that's that's the way
07:43right
07:47yeah you have to treat it yeah yeah you gotta chew it
07:51it's it's good isn't it seriously it's all right yeah yeah i'm no extra jackson here and that's
07:56okay i'm gonna take this recipe home and make millions i'm sure oh okay
08:10it's all right
08:17to make sure the celebrations keep up their momentum a special brew is brought in by donkey cart
08:22it's a cheap and very popular alcoholic drink made from sorghum and other local ingredients
08:27and it packs a very deceptive punch this is a uh this is a bit of an occasion for me as you can
08:33see i found the fellas and i found the shake shake shake shake is like um i'm told that the local sort
08:38of beer shake shake beer yeah yeah okay so there's two ways try this one not this one you can have it out of a can
08:49obviously or you know this is the big this is the depth charger or you can have it out of the pumpkin
08:54this is the traditional way yeah this one is nice but same this one this one's better yeah i'll try this one
09:00okay okay shake shake shake cheers he's looking up your old head dress
09:08yeah yeah okay what about drunk how do you say drunk drunk oh not yeah you get drunk on this
09:17yeah
09:29This is a flirtation ritual involving a man, a woman and a tie.
09:56The object is to take possession of the tie with your teeth.
10:06I soon learned that modesty isn't found at the bottom of a shake shake can.
10:23Man, I was that close!
10:37The Victoria Falls region borders three African countries including Botswana.
10:41It's about two hours drive but the traffic going that way is so scarce it can take much longer to hitchhike.
10:57I'm heading to Kasani just outside the Chobe National Park which contains Botswana's most dense and varied game populations.
11:05Crossing the border into Botswana every vehicle must drive through a disinfectant dip which is primarily aimed at killing off foot and mouth disease.
11:14Unfortunately, another disease is also taking its toll in Africa.
11:19The Safari Lodge in Kasani is a popular place to stay for travellers.
11:24Staying inside the actual Safari Park can turn out to be very pricey.
11:28All right, I won't lie to you, going on safari is a very expensive exercise.
11:43Now, probably if you're on a budget the best way to do it is self-drive camping and the next cheapest way is one of these.
11:49It's called the Rhondavill, we're right outside the Chobe National Park so you're close to the animals, hippos and elephants and lions.
11:55It's relatively inexpensive, it's clean, it's cool in the heat of the day and it's got its own barbecue and a river where I'm told we could catch a brim the size of my arm.
12:07Let's try that on.
12:37The next morning I was up at dawn to go on safari with Map Ives, one of Chobe's most experienced game wardens.
12:44The Chobe is an enormous game reserve encompassing 7,000 square miles.
12:48It is centred around the Chobe River which is a focal point for most of the animals.
12:52The list of animals you can see here is huge, from 18 different species of antelope to what game hunters call the big five, leopard, buffalo, elephant, rhino and lion.
13:04Lions are just like people really, you have lions of different characters.
13:08You get some lions that are damn cheeky and you get a cheeky lion and he's standing over there and you stand over here.
13:15You have to look at the situation.
13:17If he's nice and fat and well fed, you've got a chance that that lion's not going to give you too hard a time.
13:23In other circumstances that lion at 50 yards, 50 meters, whatever language you speak, he'll warn you.
13:30He'll start up like a motorcycle engine.
13:34I think this is close enough.
13:36Say you're at the campsite and it's just turned dark and you find a lion there.
13:41What would you do? Would you run? Would you stand still?
13:44There is no way I run from a lion.
13:47And I base it on something quite simple, observing in the bush.
13:51Have you ever seen a lion jump on the front of an animal, i.e. on the face from the front?
13:57They don't do that.
13:59They get the animal running and they pull it down or they jump on its back.
14:03So you run away from a lion, now you present him with the position he's used to.
14:08The lion will assume their position.
14:11If he has any intent, they tend to actually be afraid of people.
14:18Right.
14:19There's, I think, somewhere in the smell of man is something terribly aggressive,
14:24which after all we are the most aggressive creature on earth.
14:26Sorry, what's that?
14:27Buffalo.
14:28Now that would have been a lion kill?
14:30It looks to me to be lion kill, yeah.
14:32It's a bit wiffy.
14:33Sure.
14:34It's really on the nose, isn't it?
14:35It's been lying in the sun, you know, and the maggots and things have worked it over
14:39and the meat's got a little rotten.
14:51Lions are only active in the cool of early morning, dusk and night,
14:54making them more difficult to find than most other wildlife in the park.
15:04But the Chobe is most famous for its elephant population.
15:13An estimated 75,000 live here in herds of up to 500.
15:27Elephants bathe once a day.
15:29They consume vast amounts of water and on average more than a ton of food every month.
15:33All the blood in an elephant goes through the ears about once every three or four minutes.
15:40They fan air over the ears.
15:43They like to spray water on their ears if possible, you see.
15:46So they use their ears a lot.
15:48What's the matter with a little baby?
15:49Are they very caring parents?
15:51Very caring.
15:52That is beautiful.
15:53Look.
15:54Oh, mama.
15:55Matt took me further down the river to see a family of hippos.
16:05The Chobe River also has one of the largest hippo populations in southern Africa.
16:10Hippos spend most of their day submerged.
16:12Goodly relaxed.
16:13These guys are just taking it easy.
16:16They overheat very easy.
16:18They're very, very fat.
16:19So that's why the hippos just stay in the water?
16:22Mostly, yeah.
16:23They've got to keep cool.
16:24Plus, of course, they stay in the water because their skins can get sunburned.
16:27Really?
16:28They can get sunburned, yeah.
16:29So they keep the skin duplicated with water.
16:31Are they dangerous at all?
16:33Uh, yeah.
16:34Very dangerous.
16:35There's a number of dangerous species.
16:37But these things wipe out or kill and injure more people than anything else in Africa.
16:42And it's mostly because people come into contact with them more.
16:44People navigate with canoes.
16:46People fish.
16:47And these things will come up and bash a canoe from underneath, throw the guy out.
16:51And they don't eat meat.
16:52They just bite him once.
16:53Just once.
16:54And if they're on the land, and you walk between them and the water,
16:57they'll often charge out the bush, and that's where they quite often kill people.
17:00Right.
17:01And they'll defend that.
17:03But when they're in the water, they'll only defend the water territory.
17:06They won't bother with things on the land.
17:08So they feel safer in the water.
17:10That's their refuge.
17:11OK.
17:18You must be accompanied by a guide in Shobi, and guides like MAP are expensive.
17:22As evening approached, we were back on the Lion Trail.
17:25OK, what I've picked up here is I was driving down, I saw a couple of tracks crossing the road.
17:30They caught my attention simply because I've got an idea of the weather in the last couple of days.
17:36The day before yesterday it rained quite heavily.
17:38Yesterday it drizzled very briefly in the afternoon.
17:41That has left this drizzled effect on the ground, OK?
17:44These lines have walked through here obviously early on in the rains.
17:47And what tells me that quite simply is in this track over here I see a wing of a termite.
17:52And a shed wing from a termite always comes late in the rain.
17:56Whether the rain's half an hour or one hour, they'll fly late in the rain or after the rain.
18:00These lines walked here during the rain.
18:02So it's likely that they walked here either the day before yesterday in the afternoon,
18:07or yesterday during the bristle.
18:11Finding tracks at least a day old isn't too encouraging.
18:14Even with the best trackers there is no guarantee of finding a lion.
18:18It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
18:34Well we had no lions today but it doesn't matter.
18:39It's 5.30 in the morning and we heard a lion go about a couple of minutes ago
19:07and all the partners are playing up.
19:10So we could be in luck.
19:13We might not be but we could be.
19:20Sure enough the nervous impalas led us to our prize.
19:23It looks like they're eating something over there.
19:30There's a lioness with a couple of just over a year old cubs.
19:35So do you think these are the ones that you heard this morning?
19:38Absolutely.
19:39Andrew I just want you to keep as still as possible.
19:42They don't mind us talking.
19:44But fast jerky movements they do not appreciate.
19:47I think it's got the head of a young buffalo.
19:51And it's a cub eating.
19:54So one has to assume there's other lions about here somewhere.
19:58Because the rest of the buffalo would have been eaten to let the cub walk away with their head
20:05and literally play with it like it is now.
20:07So the rest of the lions are satisfied.
20:09And there's a male over there under the bush.
20:14That's pretty obvious.
20:15You can see his magnificent mane.
20:17And you know that he's a mature male when the mane is actually in front of the ears.
20:23The immature males have a mane that sort of spreads out behind their ears before getting in front.
20:28It's full on.
20:34I can't believe we've actually found a lion.
20:37Full on.
20:39West of Chobi is Botswana's Okavango Delta.
20:52A vast expanse of wetlands.
20:55The heart of the Okavango is only reachable by light aircraft.
21:00Thanks to the discovery of diamonds in the south,
21:05the Botswana Pula is believed to be the strongest currency in Africa.
21:09This tends to make travelling expensive anywhere in Botswana,
21:12particularly to remote national parks.
21:18From the airport I headed for one of the cheaper camps using the only transport available.
21:22Morning Mr Epps.
21:24Come at you, hi.
21:25Hi.
21:26G'day Katie.
21:27Hi.
21:28How are you?
21:29Hi.
21:30Can you stop this here?
21:31Yeah.
21:32I'm going to Makoro in the Okavango Delta.
21:46What this is is a dugout canoe.
21:47It's made from the sausage tree.
21:49Katie's father made this one.
21:51He's the craftsman.
21:53And it's a fabulous way to get around.
21:55You can't, just a bit of a trap, bit of a tip, put your hands out because a crocodile
21:59could take them.
22:00See, can't do this.
22:01Very naughty.
22:12Described as the river which never finds the sea, the Okavango disappears into an 8,000-mile
22:17maze of lagoons, channels and islands.
22:20The delta is best known for its spectacular variety of bird life.
22:27The Makoro is the only way to get to most areas of the delta and a good polar like KD
22:32will know his way around most of it and act as guide for the duration of your stay.
22:37Tell me about the crocodiles.
22:39Are they dangerous here?
22:40Yeah, they're dangerous but not many times because always a crocodile, when you see the
22:45Makoro it's gone away.
22:47Does anyone ever die?
22:48Yes.
22:49The croc is very dangerous from 3 o'clock down to 12 o'clock at midnight.
22:57Is that when they feed?
22:58Yeah.
22:59Is this the only way around the Okavango?
23:03Yeah.
23:04You can't drive anywhere or?
23:07Myself, I didn't drive the car in my life.
23:10You've never driven a car?
23:11No, only in this...
23:12KD, you don't know what it's like to have eight cylinders throbbing underneath you.
23:16Because I like...
23:17Is this what you're saying?
23:18Because I like...
23:19Yes, I like Makoro.
23:20Because I'm cut.
23:21It's very quiet.
23:22Not many dangerous, not many pancha, not many...
23:26The Okavango is sparsely populated with fishing and farming communities that perform traditional
23:42dances for tourists as a way to supplement their income.
23:45Here the dancer works himself into a trance as a way to honour the spirit world.
23:52Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah
24:22The Okavango contains one of the few game parks in Africa where you can still view animals
24:42on foot.
24:44Guides like KD with their local knowledge are invaluable.
24:47KD, I've seen a lot of these things.
24:52What are they?
24:53This is the Temek mount.
24:54Yeah?
24:55Do they have too much to look in?
24:56No, it's the one snake you use it.
25:00Snakes use it now?
25:01Yes.
25:02Thanks for walking me past it, KD.
25:04You've only got whackers on you now.
25:08Zebra and especially giraffe are very shy animals.
25:11It's best to approach them cautiously through the cover of the bush.
25:14There are some giraffes over there and zebras over there.
25:25The zebras usually graze in open plains so that they can see any approaching danger.
25:30This group clocked us in no time.
25:32There are eight zebras.
25:36Oh yeah, there's three.
25:38Gee, they're amazingly coloured, aren't they?
25:41Yeah.
25:42This giraffe is female.
25:44They tend to be shorter than the males and lighter in colour.
25:48Giraffes are vegetarian by nature but will sometimes nibble on dry animal bones for the minerals.
25:53Is it true that the giraffe is the super model of the bush?
25:58Yes.
25:59It is big and tall and stupid?
26:01Yes.
26:02Yes.
26:03Sounds.
26:05Nice.
26:10You guys?
26:11Yes.
26:12Here's one more.
26:13Moving on to our next camp, what decided to give KD an arrest?
26:17Ah, just, just push, huh?
26:21Just push.
26:23Hang on, hang on, hang on.
26:26Jeez, you're a big fella, KD. You don't put that heavy.
26:30You just enjoy the ride, KD.
26:33Hang on.
26:47The cheapest way to stay in the Delta is in tented campsites using your own equipment.
26:54Hi, Mike.
26:56Hi.
26:57How are you all?
26:58How's dinner coming?
27:00Ah, it's fine, eh?
27:01I mean, you're right. Things are under control.
27:07Okay, so in the bush, what is my biggest fear?
27:11Especially around this area, snakes can be pretty bad.
27:14Right.
27:15Just today, we were kipping this afternoon because it was so hot.
27:19And we had left the mossy net down.
27:21And I woke up and I had a green mamba.
27:25Just a small one, a young one, but a green mamba, right across both of us.
27:28Is that poisonous?
27:29Yeah, very poisonous, yeah.
27:31So what did you do?
27:32Ah, just got out of the tent.
27:35Very quickly?
27:36Yeah.
27:37You should keep your tent locked up at all times, is that right?
27:40At all times, and if you're in there, like what I do is I leave, I just do up my tent a little bit at the bottom,
27:44so it's a bit more of a mission for whatever to get inside.
27:47Okay, what about, I've heard that elephants can be a huge problem.
27:51An enormous problem.
27:53I've heard that they can push down, or they do, actually, push down trees.
27:57Yeah.
27:58And so they could really push one onto your tent.
28:00You've just got to not put your tent underneath a palm tree.
28:04A big tree.
28:05They come for the palm trees, they come for the palm nuts.
28:07To eat the palm nuts.
28:08What about the baboons?
28:09Baboons are a problem with food and things like that.
28:11No, baboons, you must just keep your campsite clean.
28:13You must keep your camp very clean.
28:15You mustn't leave dirty pots and pans out.
28:18You mustn't leave food accessible for them.
28:20And you must run a clean camp, and the baboons aren't a problem.
28:23So they're really scavengers, aren't they?
28:24Yeah.
28:25They're opportunists.
28:26The nearest town to the delta is Mound.
28:40Bustling with a wide mix of Africans, it is home to a large group of Herero people who
28:45originally come from Namibia.
28:50The Herero women still wear the Victorian style dresses forced on them by prudish German
28:55missionaries in the 1800s.
28:56They found their tradition of toplessness too much to handle.
29:00The women are famous for their tradition of doll making.
29:03The dolls are considered to be symbols of love.
29:11It's amazing.
29:12We just had this huge rainstorm.
29:13So now we're making the doll in here.
29:16It's been about two hours.
29:19She's gorgeous.
29:20She's married.
29:21If it's like that, it means she's married.
29:23She's married.
29:24She's married.
29:25So when I...
29:26A married woman usually hides her face.
29:28Oh, okay.
29:29Oh, like this?
29:30This is married?
29:31Oh, is she?
29:32Okay.
29:33Oh, so this is my married doll.
29:36Yeah.
29:37Thank you very...
29:38Thank you very much.
29:39She's beautiful.
29:40One dress.
29:41Two dress.
29:42Tickle her under there!
29:43No, I was kidding.
29:44Just kidding.
29:45Simon says...
29:46You've got two ears.
29:47Oh!
29:48Oh!
29:49Oh!
29:50Oh!
29:51Oh!
29:52Oh!
29:53Oh!
29:54Oh!
29:55Oh!
29:56Oh!
29:57Oh!
29:58Oh!
29:59Oh!
30:00Oh!
30:01Oh!
30:02Oh!
30:03Oh!
30:04Oh!
30:05Oh!
30:06Oh!
30:07Ooh!
30:18Oh!
30:19Has aede.
30:20So hmm, we've just raised about past school
30:21about family.
30:22Flying West from Maun, we cross into Namibia.
30:25One of Africa's newest countries.
30:27After landing in the capital, Midhoek,
30:29I'll take a bus to the coastal town of Sw människor.
30:31Excuse me, is this...
30:32Um, is this fwriigo I get the swused toismo bus?
30:35populations in Africa at one and a half million. Often called the land of wide
30:40open spaces it's an extremely arid country covered largely by desert. At
30:45Swakopman the desert stretches right up to the Atlantic coast.
31:06Swakopman was built in the 1890s by German colonialists and retains a distinctly
31:10German heir to this day. During the First World War Namibia was annexed by South
31:15Africa but the German community was allowed to continue living here as
31:19before. One of Swakopman's attractions then was its tannery which is still
31:25doing good business today. Licensed game hunting is still permitted but ironically
31:30it now generates considerable income for animal conservation. Mr Shear all this
31:34stuff's for sale? These are all for sale. But what we've got is a cheetah and then we can put this over here and here's a light.
31:42Oh that's a sensation isn't it? That's a claw from the lion. It's a big lion. We are not allowed to take them without a permit. They are protected.
31:52And what about what about under here? That's a zebra skin? Zebra. Does that look good in my new lounge room?
31:59Yeah that's very nice. I can just imagine what my other half would say. Andrew you really shouldn't have. I mean you really shouldn't have.
32:06These are the boots. They are out of kudu leather. We get the kudu leather from the farmer and then we...
32:13Kudu is that like a cow or? No here. Here's it. Oh from these ones? Yeah. Where I'm from these are called desert boots. What do you call them?
32:21Swakopmundas because they are manufactured in Swakopmund. Are you, are you, are you Namibian or are you German? Swakopmunda. Swakopmunda. So you're Namibian. Oh yes.
32:32Because my mum, my mum says that whenever you buy shoes you should walk around the shop. But I see you've played a nasty little joke on me here and tied them together.
32:49Apart from its nearby uranium deposits, Swakopmund's main income nowadays is mined from German holiday makers.
32:56Up until 1990, when Namibia gained independence from South Africa, the German tourists had this beach to themselves.
33:03Black people were not welcome here but fortunately things seemed to be changing.
33:09The black people have, you know, more freedom to do what they want to do than before, you know.
33:16Like going wherever they want, living wherever they want to live if they can afford to.
33:21So now that we have independence and you see black children swimming, you know, on the beach, it's very nice.
33:28So there's still sort of an apartheid feeling amongst whites about blacks or blacks about whites?
33:34Yeah, mostly amongst the whites. I mean, if you discuss it with them, they will tell you that they are Africans too.
33:44Because sometimes we get upset and say, if you still have this apartheid attitude, then go back to your own country.
33:49And they said, well, yeah.
33:50You say that or I say that?
33:51We say that about the whites, that they will tell you they are Africans too.
33:55But all I can say is that they are Africans with an attitude, you know, maybe a bad attitude.
34:00Because, of course, they cannot go anywhere since they were born here.
34:03But they still have that apartheid, bad attitude.
34:11In the far north of Namibia, beyond the desolate skeleton coast, is an isolated region known as Evambaland.
34:17Some tribes here have never even seen white people.
34:28The Ovahimba are one of Namibia's oldest surviving people.
34:31They were once the largest group here.
34:33Traditionally nomadic pastoralists, they live in small spread out communities governed by area chiefs.
34:39Ovahimba are distinguished by their unique jewellery and a red ochre resin,
34:46which they spread on their bodies to protect them from the mosquitoes and the sun.
34:55A formal introduction to the chief is required before any visit.
34:58The Ovahimba phrase book is yet to be invented.
35:08So finding two interpreters to translate from Ovahimba to Afrikaans to English is essential.
35:13Just say, urinawa.
35:15Urinawa?
35:16Urinawa.
35:17Urinawa.
35:18Urinawa.
35:19Urinawa.
35:20Urinawa.
35:21Urinawa.
35:22Urinawa.
35:23Urinawa.
35:24Urinawa.
35:25Urinawa.
35:26Urinawa.
35:27Well, so what I'd like to know is what, so the этого man and everyone else thinks
35:31of us whiteys coming in to their village.
35:38Ernmah.
35:41You were talking about how
35:52they join us next week.
35:54He says he also was wondering where we coming from, you know, why are we coming here and why are we taking a film because it is out of this world.
36:21But he learned already to cooperate with the people and he just sees it as a fact that we coming and it brings him some income.
36:30What he is saying is he knows that we coming from very far, you coming from very far to see them, but he also knows that you making a lot of money with that film.
36:54OK, you're right. Yeah, you're right. Well, I'm not.
37:01He says, you know, we're asking him about the dress code and how do we feel, you know, when he sees us in the clothes.
37:17But ages ago, he knows that our forefathers were walking around the same than they were walking around, you know.
37:24Bingo.
37:26Bingo.
37:40Bingo.
37:46Photography lessons.
37:48There's a little square.
37:51The Ophihimba's increased exposure to white people bearing gifts of cigarettes and alcohol
37:56is worrying many anthropologists, who fear their culture is under threat.
38:02How do we say goodbye?
38:05Garenawa. Dange. Dange, thank you.
38:10Here you go.
38:12Beautiful.
38:14Garenawa. Dange.
38:21Back in civilisation.
38:33OK, Damien. Albert. Hi, Gretchen.
38:37In Swakitman, dune buggies are a popular way of getting around,
38:40particularly among South African tourists like the group giving me a lift.
38:51The Namib Desert is believed to be the oldest desert in the world.
39:05The Namib Desert is believed to be the oldest desert in the world.
39:15Heading south and in four hours we reach the red sand dunes at Sossil's Flight.
39:21If you get this far, you can always try sand surfing the dunes.
39:35This is the, uh, the dead flat.
39:43I'm halfway there and I am halfway there.
39:47And beyond it we're gonna, see if we can light this thing up.
39:51Hope I can stand up after this.
39:52The Namib is home to some of the strangest flora and fauna in the world.
40:06The dead flay is a flat at the foot of the dunes that once held water.
40:10The vegetation that thrived here is now dry and hollow.
40:13These are some of the highest dunes in the world, reaching over 1,000 feet.
40:38The highest sand dunes in the world.
40:43And I'm on.
40:45Chacito baby.
41:01Yeah!
41:02I'll tell you what, that was absolutely fantastic.
41:09If you're coming out here though, I mean any desert really, wear a hat, wear sunscreen and make sure you've got some, uh, some water at hand.
41:15Cause it is hot.
41:17Pretty dangerous.
41:19Bush bath mate, bush bath.
41:21The last leg of my journey takes me out of the desert south to the spectacular fish river canyon.
41:46Then back towards the coast.
41:47This is fish river canyon, it's the second largest canyon in the world.
42:06It's nearly 2,000 feet deep at some points.
42:09And it's a hundred miles long.
42:10As you can see, uh, by the sign, this here is diamond area.
42:19We're about to go right on into it.
42:21Now, it says, don't go off either side of the road.
42:24That's because there are diamonds there.
42:26Heed this warning.
42:27People have been shot for doing so.
42:29If someone tries to sell you a diamond, a raw one, don't buy it because, uh, it's highly illegal.
42:34If you find one, give it to the police.
42:35Sounds difficult, but you must do it.
42:46Founded in the late 1800s, Luteritz was the first German settlement in what used to be called South West Africa.
42:52Once a busy port, the town now survives quietly on the nearby diamond mines.
43:02The same cannot be said for Luteritz's neighbor, the ghost town of Colmanscot.
43:06It's only a few miles down the road.
43:08At the turn of the century, Colmanscot was a thriving mining town, complete with a casino, Skittles Hall, theatre and hospital containing one of the first operational X-ray machines in the world.
43:28With the discovery of richer diamond deposits elsewhere after the First World War, the townspeople promptly moved on and the desert moved in.
43:36Yolanda, my guide, was born in the area and regularly gives tours of the town.
43:41Now, this used to be the entertainment room at the casino. This is within the casino now.
43:48Oh my God!
43:50Yeah, this used to be the gymnasium.
43:52The gym, sorry to make it obvious, the gym inside the casino.
43:55Yeah.
43:56But why didn't anyone just bother to take any of this stuff? I mean, how long has it been sitting here dormant?
44:03Well, this is about 60 years now. When the people moved out of here to go to the Orange River, they just left their furniture.
44:11You see, it's 600, no, excuse me, 340 kilometres across the desert.
44:15Yeah.
44:16So they just closed the doors, closed the curtains, pick up the kids and we're done.
44:20And then we're done.
44:22Okay, this was a skiffle, Ali.
44:24If you run out of money, you could actually take your diamonds which you picked up and they would weigh that up for you.
44:29And then for a certain wage, you can get a certain credit.
44:32And then you can just pay and drink.
44:34Drink your diamonds away.
44:35Yeah, that's true.
44:37I'll bet you, I'll bet you, your, um, car, I can get one down.
44:44It's really tricky, it's tricky, it's tricky because you can see if you get down really low, the floor is warped that way, like that way, like that.
45:01Come sundown, the town is strictly off limits.
45:13There are still diamonds here and the authorities protect the deserted mines.
45:17But the regulations haven't prevented vandals from stripping the interiors of most of the private homes.
45:24Or could this be the work of another rumoured presence in Coleman's Cock? Ghosts?
45:30The coast around Luderitz is rocky and windswept by Antarctic currents, making it an unexpected haven for both penguins and seals.
45:52This is Diaz Point. It's one of the first places that the Europeans came to Southern Africa and, uh, I can't think of a better place to bid farewell.
46:07It's a mystical land. It deserves our respect, respect for the people, for the land and especially the culture.
46:14If we treat it right, it'll be here forever, which is, uh, as Van Morrison said, is a mighty long time.
46:21See you later.
46:23See you later.
46:24See you later.
46:25Bye.
46:53Bye.
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