Yet another early start this morning and we are crossing the border into Botswana! I've been really looking forward to this particular country, especially the Okavango Delta and Chobe River!

First up though we have to drive into the centre of Windhoek for more supplies and to meet our new family member! Obviously we said goodbye to Anke last night but replacing her is Marcus, another one. This one is much younger although he probably still has about 10 years on Adam and I and he is Swiss German. His English is pretty good though so once again there is no need for Thekla's translating skills!

Marcus is pretty well travelled and missed the first part of the tour as he is already very familiar with South Africa and Namibia. He will be travelling with us all the way to Nairobi! Before joining us he was in Sierra Leone!

It's been a full day of driving once again as we had some 570km to cover! On the plus side though, once in Botswana we pass through the Kalahari area meaning you can see wild animals on the side if the road! Many of you may have heard of the Kalahari desert, I know I have, but I was surprised to see just how green it is! At least in this particular area! Unfortunately we were driving too fast for pictures!

We arrived at our camp for the night, not so much a campsite as a reconstruction of a San village! There are a cluster of traditional San huts and we have the opportunity to stay in one for the night or to put up a tent.

I was quite excited by the idea of a new experience. The huts are made mainly of straw with a compacted mud base and there are two small metal beds in each with a basic thin mattress and a mosquito net. Adam on the other hand had no intention of sleeping in one and at once started putting up our tent!

In the end I agreed the share a hut with Simone who like me was also keen to try the experience. Her friend Stefanie on the other hand was like Adam and quickly started putting up their tent!

After dinner we were all taken across the campsite where a local San tribe had lit a fire and were preparing to show us some traditional dances. They were all there, men, women and children. Even an elderly man was there to take part in the dancing although he looked to be ancient!

The women sat in a semi-circle around the fire and at first we didn't notice the small children sleeping in their arms. They began to sing their traditional songs, each time explaining the meaning, such as celebrating the sun or requesting rain. The men would then proceed to dance around the circle, some took it so seriously and got so into it and the experience was really fun to watch.

They showed us a dance/song that is about the baboon and the younger men began to bound around like baboons, one even climbed a tree with amazing agility and strength and began to swing from the branches, another then began to show a mating dance and they pretended to hump each other. It made us all laugh so much they invited one guy, from the accommodated group, to join them. Needless to say he wasn't as good at it as they are!

That night I borrowed an extra mattress from the truck for my bed and burrowed under my mosquito net but didn't have a very good night's sleep as my malaria tablet had become stuck in my chest and was preventing me from breathing properly. On the plus side though I got to experience the hut and listen to 3 of our group, including Vincent, snoring in unison! Haha!

Sarah