Namibia and Botswana Tropic of Capricorn

'Imagine a line, more than 22,000 miles long,

'that cuts through some of the most remote areas of the southern hemisphere.'

And look what's up ahead of us! Look at this! Look at this sight!

'The Tropic of Capricorn marks the southern edge of the Earth's tropical zone.

'It runs through Southern Africa, Australia and South America.'

This is just nature showing off!

'Following the line will take me to beautiful but troubled regions of the world.'

Aah! Bloody hell!

'Capricorn passes through areas of desperate poverty,

'political conflict

'and environmental devastation.'

Just ripping it down. Look at this!

'The first leg of my journey takes me through Namibia and Botswana,

'and on a gruelling journey across the Kalahari Desert.'

Bloody hell.

Just over there is where the Tropic of Capricorn hits Africa.

This is the start of my journey around the world, following the line

that marks the southern border of the tropics.

'This is Namibia, on the west coast of Southern Africa.

'20 years ago this country was ruled by Apartheid South Africa.

'Now it wants to present a very different face to the world.

'Namibia is becoming a top destination for adventure travel, and young entrepreneurs are

'harnessing some of the world's biggest sand dunes for the latest sports craze - sand boarding.'

-How are you?

-OK. How you doing?

-OK.

This is a bit steep.

-Yes, this is the bunny slope.

-The bunny slope?

-The baby one, yeah.

-The baby slope?!

The bigger ones, we have to go a bit higher still.

I'll just try and stay on it, OK?

No problem, yeah. But that's the high-tech speed machine, the fastest on the dune.

'No need for expensive equipment.

'I'm trusting my safety to a piece of hardboard.'

How fast can you go on a board?

The fastest you can go is about 75 to 80 kilometres an hour.

-75 kilometres an hour?!

-Yeah, definitely.

Make sure you keep the front of the board up, all the time.

-As soon as you put your hands down sand is gonna come in your face - not too pleasant.

-Not good.

-So keep the mouth closed, yeah?

-OK.

What do I have to do?

'Faced with this terrifying slope, I forgot everything I'd just learnt.'

Arghhhh!

I'm eating the sand!

Going over the edge.

Yes!

That was fun! Another go, I have to have another go.

'Despite the excitement, traditional ski resorts do have some advantages.'

This is why this is never going to take off, because every time

you have to climb back up the bloody dune!

'Just north of the Tropic of Capricorn,

'on the edge of the desert, is Namibia's second city, Swakopmund.

'Arriving here is a journey into Namibia's colonial past.

'For three decades, up until the First World War, Namibia was called German South-West Africa,

'and Swakopmund still feels like Bavaria in the sunshine.'

I'm just in an antiques shop just near the supermarket,

which has a pretty varied selection of German memorabilia.

Some of it's even Namibian.

'The Germans ruled the country for just over 30 years,

'and more than 60,000 Germans visit Namibia each year.

'This tourist shop had a curious line in souvenirs.'

INAUDIBLE

Unbelievable.

What a strange place.

It's a little bit weird, frankly.

There's a strange mix of memorabilia in this shop.

They've got stuff from the Second Reich, the Third Reich, even.

Copies of Mein Kampf and little photos of a smiling Hitler,

and then they've got flags of Namibia...

..in celebration of the modern country, it just seems a weird

conflict or contrast between the old Germany and the new Namibia.

Swakopmund is built on a dark secret, now largely forgotten.

In 1904, German troops crushed a rebellion

by the indigenous Herero and Nama people.

The German commander issued an extermination order,

leading to the deaths of tens of thousands of men, women and children.

The Herero people couldn't live in their own country?

They should be wiped out.

They should be shot at sight.

'I met up with Herero historian Johanna Katjihapara, who explained

'that much of Swakopmund was built by Herero slaves.

'Nearly half of them died in concentration camps.'

This area, here next to the sea, is where my ancestors were kept.

It is a genocide because the order was to exterminate the Ovaherero people.

How many Herero were killed during this period, how many people actually died?

Between 65,000 and 80,000 people.

Anything up to 80% of the Herero people were wiped out

and, for those that were remaining, they lost all their land?

Yeah.

'The few hundred Germans that died during the rebellion are honoured in Swakopmund cemetery.

'But there are many more bodies here.'

We're leaving what seems to be the sort of white, German bit of the cemetery.

Look, the path stops.

Everywhere where I'm walking right now, I'm walking over the bones...the remains of my ancestors.

Therefore, I need to go down, take a little bit of the soil.

SHE SPITS

That's what we do.

'It's hard to take in the scale of what happened here.

'Namibians who were killed, worked or starved to death lie in unmarked graves.'

There are bushes growing on the humps.

-This is greenery growing on shallow graves, isn't it?

-Yes.

Starting from there, that's a grave, a grave, a grave, a grave. In the same line, another grave...

'Neither the South Africans who took control after the Germans

'nor Namibia's post-independence rulers have wanted to dwell on the past.'

So here we are, this is obviously quite a new memorial.

"In memory of the thousands

"who perished under mysterious circumstances."

Doesn't seem to be much mystery, to me, about the circumstances.

People were worked to death or killed.

It is as if the Germans have practised on us before they did that to the Jewish people.

'The Herero massacre was the first genocide of the 20th century.

'It was finally acknowledged by the German government in 2004.

'East of Swakopmund, the Tropic of Capricorn cuts through the Namib desert,

'and passes through bush land south of the Namibian capital, Windhoek.

'Although it looks wild, much of this land is grazed by cattle

'on vast farms, and wildlife in the area is under threat.

'Farmers here often shoot cheetahs who prey on their livestock.

'French conservationist Olivier Houlet is trying to protect the big cats.

'Locals call him Catman.'

We have a wonderful project with five cheetahs, male, which were all orphans

from...their mum has been shot by hunters when they were very small.

And the concept, the project was to raise them all together.

'The five rescued cheetahs now live wild on a protected area of Olivier's land.'

When will you be releasing them?

So we hope,

beginning of next year.

But the very, very important job before that is to survey the place by plane

and to make calculation of how many preys, what kind of environment is it,

-how many cheetahs are already there.

-Check the balance is right.

'The cheetahs are being reintegrated into the wild

'and can kill for themselves, but for the moment Olivier supplements their diet.'

While I was busy taking photographs, Oliver was whipping out a huge slab of meat.

The very first step to be as close as possible from nature will be to

give them exactly what they would have if they would be free.

So when we feed them we only give them game meat.

We will have to be a little patient, I'm gonna spread some meat around, but if they hunt something,

if they put down a kudu today or any kind of animal, then we might have to walk and look for them.

What, so if they've already eaten they won't want your lovely bit of meat?

'The idea was to leave the meat for the cheetahs and then retreat to a safe distance.'

Here they come.

No. Oh, my God! It's not supposed to be like that. Come, come, come. What the BLEEP?!

They're all here, they're all here.

-Get in the car, quickly.

-Maybe a little bit quickly.

We were surrounded by hungry cheetahs.

They're being quite serious.

They are wild guys. They are able to hunt and kill for themself.

It's all about body language and no fear at all.

God, there's all five of them.

Look at them.

This one there is actually the smallest cheetah, but he's the boss, he's the leader of the group.

And this one is the biggest one of the group, he is the power of the group with his brother.

He is the one who put down the prey.

'It was fantastic to see Olivier's rapport with these big cats as he faced down the cheetahs.'

Everything is fine now.

'95% of Namibia's cheetahs live on land owned by commercial farms.

'Olivier wants the Namibian government to protect these big cats in order to boost tourism.'

If people come all over the world to see that beautiful country,

to see wildlife, to see something unique in the world

where there are so few people and so many animals, I believe that would be

a very interesting thing to protect them and be able to see them in the free environment.

The very important thing is to convince government to help us to do that.

'Wildlife tourism has been one of the engines of economic growth in Namibia since independence.

'But the country's apparent success masks a society with huge inequalities.

'As we zig-zagged along Capricorn, I wanted to find out more.

'So we headed for the big city,

'driving 70 miles north of the line to the Namibian capital, Windhoek.

'After the tranquillity of the bush, arriving in Windhoek at night was something of a shock.

'One thing that struck me about the capital was the number of young women on the streets.'

Let's keep driving along.

Don't want to give them a heart attack.

'Every time the car stopped at a traffic light, we were approached.

'There are no official figures for the number of sex workers in Namibia.

'Critics say the government doesn't want to admit they exist.

'But with HIV/AIDS affecting a quarter of the population it's a dangerous profession.'

There's a lot of girls working out here, and the risks they're taking are quite extraordinary.

Take a left up here, back to the road outside our hotel.

-Left here?

-Yeah, please, mate.

'People from across Namibia are attracted to the opportunities offered by the big city,

'but most of them end up in places like Babylon, a temporary settlement on the fringes of the capital.'

They are streaming from all sides,

from the south and the north, to look for work.

They don't find the work

and then the ladies on the street and...

'Father Herman Klein-Hitpass has been helping Windhoek's prostitutes for the past 12 years.

'In a country where more than a third of people live on less than

'50 pence a day, prostitution can be a matter of survival.

'Independence has brought change, but not fast enough for people living here.'

Where did you live before here?

-In town.

-In town?

'Father Herman introduced me to Tessa Peri, a sex worker who lives in Babylon.'

-Where did you get the metal from?

-Ah, this is from the car, you know, old cars.

-Bits of old cars.

-Yeah.

-The panels.

-Yeah.

-This is...

-Right, this is a bonnet, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Too much rain is coming in and I must put this thing up, you see.

Does it feel basic to you or are you happy?

I'm not happy to stay like this.

'Father Herman's Stand Together project is funded with donations from Catholic parishes in Germany.

'He's trying to break the cycle that leads from deprivation to prostitution

'by supporting the women with both food and education.

I mean, do you see young sex workers?

-Do you see children working in the sex industry?

-Yeah, even from nine years old.

-Nine-year-old prostitutes?

-Yes, yes, yes.

Sometimes the mother takes the children to the street and I said, "You will not be helped."

"Doesn't matter - my child makes money."

'Father Herman has risked the wrath of Rome by giving out condoms to the prostitutes,

'despite the Vatican's opposition.'

-So you're getting... So in this box, that's 100.

-Yes.

100 lubricated condoms from Alabama.

These girls call this...like umbrella.

-An umbrella.

-Umbrella against rain.

You earn money?

Not now!

'Three-quarters of the women who use the centre are HIV-positive, including Tessa.'

Did you fear, were you concerned that you would get it?

Were you worried or did you think you were sort of invulnerable?

TRANSLATION: Sometimes customers would refuse to pay me and they would often refuse to use a condom.

This is how I got AIDS, how I caught it.

'Without the father's help, Tessa would still be selling her body,

'and life on the streets is a desperate struggle.'

Sometimes they would pay me with just food, like chips and hot dogs.

A chicken leg to have sex with me.

Thank you for sharing your story with us.

Very kind of you.

'While there is an emerging black middle class, for many Namibians

'living standards have changed little since independence from Apartheid South Africa in 1990.

'The Namibian government has always chosen revolutionary and controversial friends.

'Now it finds itself being wooed by a new suitor,

'a superpower that is changing the face of the entire continent.

'To find out more, I went to the University of Namibia.

'Some of the courses here are a little surprising.'

Ah, Professor!

Nice to see you!

'Professor Yang Ganfu teaches an increasingly popular subject - Chinese.'

Now, we have six

Chinese sentences.

Just look at them to see which sentence you can put

into English.

Who can try? OK.

HE SPEAKS CHINESE

-Please come in.

-OK.

HE SPEAKS CHINESE

Please have tea, or here is tea.

HE SPEAKS CHINESE That means perfect. Very Good.

SHE SPEAKS CHINESE

OK, let's try the next one.

-It's good for the new student to pronounce some new words.

-OK.

HE SPEAKS CHINESE

Eric's nodding. Are you nodding? I nearly got it right.

The new student is making progress!

'The professor has been surprised by the demand for his classes.'

Why do you think that Namibians are wanting to learn Chinese?

Actually I also ask them such a question.

They say...Chinese...because Chinese language is getting very important

because of the Chinese economic power.

As I often call it, Chinese is going to be the money language.

'In the last few years, China has arrived in Africa, exploiting the continent's vast natural resources.

'And Africa is also a huge market for cheap Chinese goods.

'In Windhoek, Chinese businessmen have been making a tidy profit.

'The professor took me to meet some of them.'

-Jellyfish?

-Jellyfish.

We've got sausage, pig ear and jellyfish.

The jellyfish are quite chewy as well.

It's all quite chewy, but it's delicious.

'My hosts were determined to show me a good time.'

That is an extraordinary colour.

Is this very strong?

-Quite.

-Quite strong.

The only lettering I can understand here is 46%.

Cheers, everybody!

Cheers!

Oh, great!

Oh, you're gonna fill it up again!

Simon, let's play a little game.

Nothing, nothing. I got it. Drink.

What?!

-Twenty?

-Twenty!

Twenty!

Drink!

I'm very confused. Anything that involves more than three numbers I get very confused by.

'I was struggling to hold on to the purpose of my visit.'

Mr Lin,

-Chairman of the Commerce. Chinese Commerce.

-Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce.

He's going to have a serious conversation about

China's investment in Namibia, or are we going to play a drinking game?

You see, Chinese people have a habit of, before, if you don't drink, they won't talk nothing to you.

He's not going to say anything.

So the thing is that you have to drink.

I haven't heard that story before.

One, two, three! One, two, three!

Ah!

I feel very relaxed.

Thank you, Mr Lin.

Thank you, Mr Lee.

'Defeated by this dose of hospitality,

'it was time to continue my journey along the Tropic of Capricorn.

'But I was determined to see for myself the extent of the new Chinese influence in Africa.

'50 miles outside Windhoek, I discovered a factory, with Chinese managers

'overseeing Namibian workers, who are turning the desert sand into bricks.'

Hi, Daniel. Simon. Nice to meet you.

'Luckily they had an interpreter.'

Those guys, they cannot speak English.

So the Chinese embassy asks me to come and help those guys to co-ordinate with local people.

You are facilitating, acting as the intermediary.

-Yeah.

-Are you enjoying the work?

-Yeah, I enjoy Namibia very much.

'Trade between China and Africa is now worth a staggering £30 billion a year.

'Chinese firms are building roads, dams and power stations across the continent.

'An estimated three-quarters of a million Chinese now live or work in Africa.'

-You've been here how long?

-Two years now.

-Two years?

-Yeah, two years.

-Where in China did you come from?

My home town is close to Hong Kong.

-So down in the south.

-Yeah, down south.

-You should be used to the heat, then!

-Of course, yeah, you can see my skin is totally dark now!

And are these bricks for export or are they for Namibia?

Most of the bricks will go to the north of Namibia because, you know,

in north of Namibia there are a lot of Chinese construction companies.

The Chinese Embassy say Namibia is open to the world now,

and Namibia government has a good relationship with the Chinese government.

-And are there many Chinese businesses coming to Namibia now?

-Ah, yes, of course.

'The Chinese are being welcomed by both democracies and dictatorships across Africa -

'partly because they don't ask too many awkward questions about corruption and human rights.'

You start to hear a lot now about how China is building its business empire,

but this is it really happening on the ground.

This is China arriving here in Africa.

'On the surface, democratic Namibia defies many African stereotypes of war and famine.

'New investment and tourism seem to offer hope.

'But the country's violent history has left its mark

'on the land and its people, as I was about to see at first hand.

'Near the border with Botswana, the Tropic of Capricorn passes

'a small settlement called Aminuis, on the edge of the Kalahari desert.

'Following the massacre at the hands of the Germans early last century,

'some of the Herero survivors were forced onto this rough, infertile land no-one else wanted.

'Today, they eke out a living by farming cattle.

'Every morning, the elders perform the ritual of the Holy Fire,

'communing with their ancestors about all aspects of their lives.'

If you bought a new car, you just come here, they slaughter a sheep or a goat and then...

-If you buy a new car? Really?

-For us, if you buy a new car, I have to take my car home,

my grandfather will now talk to his ancestors saying that this is Peter-Hain,

the boy that went for studies, he bought a car and this is...

-Bless the car?

-Yeah.

'Peter-Hain Uaakiza Kazapua is a Herero guide who lives in Windhoek,

'but his family have a farm near here.

'He explained how the women light the fire

'in the most sacred place on the farm, next to the cattle corral.'

Does this still mean something to you even though you're now a wealthy city boy?

Yeah, I believe in this Holy Fire.

It's really something that I strongly, strongly believe in.

OK, she is now finished. She will go back now and then the old man will come out.

-He goes and sits by it after she's started it?

-Yeah.

'Despite their history of violence at the hands of the colonial power,

'Herero women wear a style of European clothing from the 19th century.

'And when the village elder emerged I was astonished to see him wearing a colonial military uniform.'

-Oh, you need to take your hat off as well?

-Yes, I do.

Is the uniform worn in commemoration

of what the Germans did to the Herero people?

TRANSLATION: It reminds us of what they did to the Herero.

'The Herero assimilated military dress into their culture,

'partly as a way of remembering the war with Germany.

'For them, the Holy Fire is more than a method of communicating with dead relatives.

'It also has magical power.

If the children get sick, we come to the Holy Fire.

And through it we talk to our ancestors, and, if there are no other problems,

the fire can heal.

'But healing the sense of injustice felt by the Herero is hard.

'Despite independence, many Herero still live in these infertile areas of Namibia,

'while descendants of their white oppressors still own the best land.'

'Peter-Hain took me out to round up the family cattle.'

True natural, eh?

'With such poor-quality land, the cattle must graze over a huge area.

'The sun was beginning to set by the time we spotted the cows.'

There's one over there. There's two over there.

How do you feel now that you've found them?

I'm delighted we've found them.

I'm not sure I'd be given a job doing this.

I don't think my arse could take it, for a start.

PETER-HAIN LAUGHS

I'm glad you find that amusing, Mr Peter-Hain.

"We'll just go for a little walk, a little ride."

Three hours later, the sun is going down.

That's good, Simon, we're getting there.

-Nearly home.

-Nearly home.

-Oh, bloody hell.

-Just tell your arse you will make it!

I'm gonna have buns of steel after this.

'Peter-Hain may now live in the city,

'but he's still completely in touch with life out here in the saddle.'

Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on, yes.

That's it. You have done it.

-Is that it?

-That's it.

You have done it, brother.

Let me shake your hand.

-That's a man's hand, eh? Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-No, well done.

I'll just shut the gate.

I don't think I'm going to be able to walk properly

in the near future.

Well done. This is... Welcome to Africa!

-Are you optimistic, as you look forward, about your future in Namibia?

-History has its cost.

It doesn't really help much when we cry and refer back to the past, and of course we must make use of

our independence and make use of the opportunities coming up.

Turn negatives into positives.

'It was time to leave Namibia and follow the Tropic across the Kalahari to Botswana.'

Thank you very much.

So you keep that bit and I keep this. Am I free to go?

-You are free to go, sir.

-Thank you very much.

-Any questions?

-Is there an in-flight meal?

-No. Peanuts in the back.

-Peanuts in the back?

'But, while the Namibians were happy to stamp

'my passport on a car bonnet, Botswana is a very different place.'

Better than some scheduled airlines!

'Before embarking on our epic journey across the desert, we had to

'fly to Gaberone, the capital, to sort out government paperwork.'

Well, we've arrived.

Welcome to Botswana.

I don't know if you can see the sign just above me.

It's quite interesting. It's an anti-corruption sign.

Corruption is such a huge problem in Africa, but we're told that it's actually quite low in Botswana.

'Botswana is rated as the least corrupt country on the continent.

'In Africa, wealth from natural resources

'has too often left the country or lined the pockets of the ruling class.

'But here in Botswana there has been a huge investment in public buildings and infrastructure.

'The secret to this success can be found here, at the headquarters of mining company Debswana.

'A third of this former British colony's wealth comes from a girl's best friend - diamonds.'

-Where are the biggest diamonds on this floor?

-The biggest diamonds...

'I met Dust, who works on one of the sorting floors.'

These are the plus-eights.

Eight carats. Let's do the count first.

Two, four, six, eight...

-There's no dispute on the number, is there?

-No!

I haven't taken any. My hands are here, all right?

A person could get tempted in here.

Am I right in thinking the best way of still telling whether

a diamond is a diamond or it's a piece of glass, is to scratch it along the glass, is that true?

There are so many things that you can do.

But you're an expert, Dust, what would you do?

Well, I can even know with my eyes closed.

-Your eyes closed?

-Yeah.

-What can you do? You can smell them.

I just feel it and smell them, real diamonds.

So they should just send you out to hunt for the diamonds.

Why not?

You'd be able to discover new deposits.

Dust would just smell them.

Yeah. Especially with the big noses!

What I think I am smelling,

-I'm smelling money.

-Money.

This is one of the eight sorting floors, so elsewhere in the building

there's yet more workers and lots more rocks.

Apparently you need to check the soles of your feet before you leave.

Sadly there's nothing caught in mine.

-Thank you, Dust, thank you very much.

-You're welcome.

'To see where the diamonds came from, I headed to Jwaneng, just outside the capital.'

This is a 24-hour operation, seven days a week.

'Albert Milton is one of the pit managers at the world's biggest and most valuable diamond mine.'

My God!

Well, so this is the most lucrative hole on the planet.

-In terms of value, two billion dollars.

-A year?

-Yes, a year.

So you are making, from this whopping great hole in the ground, two billion dollars a year.

That's really where the dreams of the country come from.

The impact has been really awesome.

If you were to look at...

this country at independence was classified as one of the poorest in the world.

There was about four kilometres of roads, now we're talking about over 20,000 kilometres of roads.

There were no health facilities and each major area in Botswana has got a hospital now. It has got a school.

'Debswana, the company which runs the mine, is a joint venture between

'the government of Botswana and international mining giant De Beers.

'In a continent where the trade in so-called blood diamonds often fuels

'war and conflict, this deal is seen as an ideal model.'

Look at the scale of this... this machine.

I nearly said this creature then.

I genuinely nearly said this creature. It feels...

so big.

There's a living quality to it.

It's amazing, yeah.

'These machines shift hundreds of tons of rock, which is then crushed to reveal the diamonds within.'

This is the kimberlite rock,

that is the parent rock to the diamonds.

-The parent?

-Yeah.

-So within this rock...

-Within this rock, there's a likelihood that there's a diamond.

Ohhhhh!

This is the rock you love, basically.

This is the rock that makes this country sparkle. What about that!

'But in the late '90s the mine faced catastrophe.

'Southern Africa's HIV epidemic started to decimate the workforce.

'With almost 40% of the population of Botswana carrying the virus,

'Debswana moved to protect its workers by investing heavily in healthcare.'

This is the clinic

and, even as we're walking up to it, we're finding a lot of people hiding their faces.

It's extraordinary that in a country

where the rate of HIV is so high, there's still a complete reluctance to admit it publicly.

'In 2001, Debswana took the revolutionary business decision

'to provide its workers with free anti-retroviral drugs

'and now they have extended the scheme to spouses and children.'

We do have some of our clients this side.

-These are clients...

-Yes.

-Hello, everybody.

-Coming in to access their medication.

-Clients coming in to receive medication.

-Yes. That's the pharmacy.

'Dr Nzenza explained to me that, in a continent where

'AIDS drugs are beyond the reach of most ordinary people, the diamond workers are in a fortunate position.

'But clearly Debswana is not acting out of charity.'

For a company to start offering retrovirals to their employees, it seems almost...

it seems quite unusual to me.

Yes, first and foremost the company has to be able to survive, and the operation has to be actually viable.

For it to be viable, it needs to have a fit workforce, which is one of the things which really drove it.

'Following the lead of Debswana, the Botswanan government has now

;extended the free treatment scheme to all public-sector workers.

'The death rate from HIV-AIDS in finally beginning to fall,

'but it has left 120,000 orphans across the country.

'I went to a charity that helps the youngsters with Lucas, a local journalist.'

-Hello, everybody!

-Good morning.

-Hello.

-Hello.

Hello!

-How are you?

-Oh, you little...

You're burying your head.

What's the name of this one?

-Deffo.

-Deffo!

Deffo!

Are you going to shake hands with Lucas?

'SOS Children's Village teaches the orphans alongside kids from local families.

'The orphans live in houses which try and recreate the atmosphere

'of a family home of up to 12 children, with a mother figure in charge.'

TRANSLATION: In the morning, I bath them and make them breakfast.

I encourage the older ones to become independent,

showing them how to make their beds and how to wash themselves.

'It is difficult to overstate the impact this disease has had on this region of Africa.'

Not only has AIDS destroyed a generation here, or a couple of generations, but it's destroyed

the extended African family, which was one of the best things about African society, really.

The idea that your auntie, your uncle was also sort of your mother and father.

But, because so many people have died here,

that structure has broken down, and it's led to a need for places like this.

ALL: Bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye!

'Botswana's wealth has funded an extensive new road system.

'But sometimes the old Africa can get in the way of progress.'

You saw there, there was nearly an accident just then.

And if you're driving down the road here at night

and there's a group of black cows - I believe the collective noun is a herd -

you're not going to see them and you'll crash into them

with inevitable consequences for them and the vehicles.

'To combat a frightening toll of road deaths, the government has come up with a solution.'

Hello, sir. Hello, sir!

Hello!

We are on the roads. To avoid an accident.

-You keep the cattle off the road to avoid an accident?

-Yeah, uh-huh.

We're going out on cow patrol.

Is everybody ready for this important job?

-You're keeping the road clean, you're keeping the road safe, so you're saving lives.

-Yeah.

Fantastic.

What's really interesting about Botswana though is that

there are people who are paid to do things like this.

They are very careful. Everywhere we go,

there's signs, road signs warning about, "Be very careful on the road,

put your seat belt on, use a condom."

-Preferably not when you're driving!

-LAUGHTER

That got a laugh. Good. And they try and get the cows off the road to avoid accidents.

It's very well organised, this country.

Where are the cows?

'Botswana might be well-run but it's not without its major controversies.

'It was time to head for the Kalahari.

'Botswana is more than twice the size of Britain,

'and is dominated by the vast expanse of the Kalahari desert.

'I was heading to the settlement of New Xade on the edge of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

'The Kalahari bushmen, or San people, have lived in the desert for more than 30,000 years.

'Their current plight has received worldwide attention.'

So this is the...

This is the settlement.

'In 1997, the Botswanan government began relocating

'the few hundred San still living within the game reserve, out of the national park.

'Many were given compensation, including cattle and goats,

'and settlements like New Xade were created for them.

'But many of the San insist they were forcibly evicted.'

Hello, sir.

When did you come to live here and why did you come to live here?

TRANSLATION: It was 2002.

It was not my intention to come here, we were forced.

Is there anything about the town that you would miss if you go and live back in the Central Kalahari?

The thing is, there is nothing to miss from here.

What you see here is temporary.

I belong in the Central Kalahari.

The only thing is for me to go back, nothing else.

I will miss nothing from here.

'The government says it has spent millions providing

'these settlements with schools, clinics, and running water.

'Despite this, some San are planning to return to the reserve.'

She's got a hose here connected to a water pipe.

Will you miss the water when you're out in the Central Kalahari?

Will you miss having a water pipe?

TRANSLATION: I won't miss the running water, it's nothing to me.

All I need is my ancestral home.

'There has been a vocal international campaign

'to allow a return to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

'At the forefront is Roy Sesana, who has travelled the world raising the profile of the San.'

What are some of the problems that the San are experiencing now they've been put in settlements like this?

TRANSLATION: Our culture is coming to an end. It is becoming extinct.

People are dying in this place, they are becoming infected with HIV.

There is also a big problem with people drinking too much alcohol here.

'With backing from international charities, Sesana and his group launched

'a legal challenge against the Botswanan government.

'In late 2006, in a landmark ruling, the Botswanan High Court decided

'the eviction of the San had been unlawful.'

You won a big court victory just a few months ago. Did you celebrate that?

Do you think you've won your battle now against the government?

We're not celebrating yet.

The courts made the right decision about our eviction.

But they have not forced the government to take us back.

They brought us here in trucks.

It is a long way for us to return, so we will celebrate when they send trucks to take us back.

'While many San are staying in these depressing settlements, others have

'begun returning to their ancient homeland in the Central Kalahari.

'This family has loaded everything they have onto a truck lent to them by a charity.

'They could not make it otherwise.'

We were planning to wait for them to leave and we were going to leave at the same time as them,

but we're crossing the Kalahari Desert and there are risks involved in that,

and we can't really wait around any longer

so were going to have to leave and either see them on the journey

or maybe we won't.

-Bye-bye! Bye-bye!

-Bye-bye!

See you soon. Bye!

'We set off hoping to meet up with them again.

'In front of us lay a long journey through shifting sand, extreme temperatures

'and wild animals, to reach the San village of Metsiamanong.'

This is perhaps the most exciting bit of the journey for me so far.

We're doing...

Well, we're going on quite an epic adventure.

We're crossing the Kalahari desert.

'We had to travel with everything we might need to survive in the desert.

'Food, water and fuel and, most important, Tim Race, an experienced desert guide.'

Are we in a bit of a rush, Tim?

-We do have a bit of a time constraint.

-Time constraint?

-Mmm.

Is that because we might run out of supplies along the way?

Not just the supplies, it's the petrol.

-Do you mean there's no petrol station in the Kalahari?

-Afraid not.

I can see this is going to be a tough journey.

-Hold tight in the back there.

-Hold tight in the back!

The sand is really sucking us. We're not going to make it.

Jo, I need you to come back, I think.

We've only gone about ten miles,

this is going to be a bloody long journey!

'The treacherous terrain made two cars essential.

'If one was stuck, the other could pull it out.

'The constant stops meant we were only averaging ten miles an hour.'

We've got two vehicles so just think how hard it's going to be for the people behind.

'We never saw the San family from New Xade again.

'We assumed they broke down or had to turn back.

'And it was taking us much longer than planned.'

We've been driving since before dawn this morning.

It's now starting to get dark so we're going to stop for the night and camp.

This is nice!

OK, one, two, three, up we go.

-Um, to the inside hole, huh?

-Yeah.

-Job done.

-Tim, this seems to be made of fairly strong material. Is there a reason for that?

-To stop the lions getting inside.

-To stop the lions getting inside?

-Indeed.

-Is that a risk here?

Yes, we're in lion country here.

As long as you don't sleep with your tent door open, you're perfectly safe.

-OK.

-There we are.

Excellent.

Bloody hell, it weighs a ton!

OK.

My first consideration is, if I were a lion,

which tent would I go for?

There's some firewood.

'With the sun going down, it was time to gather some firewood.'

There's a lot here.

'Jumanda Gakelebone is a San activist.

'He believes the Government's relocation policy

'is destroying San culture and the hunter-gatherer skills of his forefathers.'

This is a tree for the poison.

-For poison!

-For bow and arrow poison, actually.

I'm very sad at what has happened because, you know,

now, as people been taken, we are losing all those things.

If you can see now, there's a few old people which remains, and if they die

the hunting of bow and arrow and the poison is going to be gone.

It's just going to be something like a history.

-The entire way of life.

-Yeah.

-You think it is dying out...

-It is, it is dying out.

'While the San may be losing their bush skills, I never really had any.'

Has anyone got an axe?

I think we should have gone for a different bit of tree!

That'll keep us warm tonight.

We'll be able to cook with that.

Why do you think the Botswanan government wanted the people of the Kalahari out of the desert?

What they say is that...they say that they want to develop us.

That's what they say. They want us to be like each and every Botswanan.

And which is wrong.

We are Botswana, yes, we agree with that.

So what's wrong with us inside the Kalahari and being Botswanan?

'Jumanda believes the Botswanan government has an ulterior motive

'for wanting the San out of the Central Kalahari - diamonds.'

In 2002, at the time when the government was giving more pressure to us, if you look to

the licence which we were given, to the companies, mineral companies, was growing very high.

The government itself talking to us, telling our parents to move because of diamonds.

'The government has denied this but agrees there has been exploration in the area.

'They say the resettlement policy is designed to provide more modern

'health and education services for the San.

'During the night, the temperature in the desert plummets.'

HE GROANS

It's very cold during the night,

very cold. I cannot feel my...

toes, my feet or other vital parts.

Oh, the sun is coming up now, thank God, so we should warm up.

Hopefully.

'By 11 o'clock it was unbelievably hot and I was almost missing the cold.

'The journey was becoming a real challenge.'

Oh, bloody hell!

At this rate, we are gonna be hard pushed to make it to the San settlement, and if we get to

a bit that we can't pull ourselves out of, then we're going to have to go back,

which will be devastating.

Keep going.

'After two long days, our fuel and provisions were running short.

'We camped for a second night.

'If we did not reach Metsiamanong on the third day,

'we would have to abandon our quest and get out of the desert.

'But the next morning we finally made it.'

People are happy to see you.

"He's back! He's back!"

Ah!

We're here.

'There were a few dozen people in the village.

'With their second-hand Western clothes,

'they did not fulfil the conventional image of hunter-gathering bushmen.'

What's the traditional greeting?

-Sometimes we say, "Crayo," you shake hands.

-Crayo.

Crayo.

Crayo. How do you say it? Crayo.

-Kiou.

-Kiou. Kiou.

'There is no electricity or running water here, and it is days from any shops or hospitals.

'So why did they leave the Government camps?'

TRANSLATION: Life is hard in the settlement camps but not here.

Life is very easy here because I don't need money to get food to survive.

If I want something to eat I just go out in the bush and get it for free.

When the little one on her back grows up, what happens if he has to leave to go to school?

I would not be happy.

I want him to stay with me - to grow up and go to school here.

They're endlessly entertaining actually, as all kids are around the world,

but some of their bellies are a bit swollen, which is a possible sign of,

well, malnutrition basically.

'Since the Central Kalahari became a wildlife reserve,

'the Government has banned the San from hunting wild game.

'They are not allowed to keep livestock either

'because of suggestions that cattle spread disease in the reserve.'

Have you had some of the wildlife rangers coming here and telling you that you have to move?

TRANSLATION: Yes, there's been a lot of hassle and harassment by the Government officials.

They've taken away my goats and my donkeys too.

I don't know where they are right now.

It must be incredibly hard to keep crops alive out here.

Ooh, that's a pretty good collection.

So, these are melons.

What about other foods? Have you been able to gather all the foods that you've needed this winter?

TRANSLATION: My life is difficult since my goats were taken

and it's very bad because I used to get milk from those goats.

Sometimes I would kill one for meat because we are not allowed

to hunt the antelopes or other wildlife any more.

It sounds to me as though you just want the Government to leave you alone.

TRANSLATION: The Government is troubling us.

With all my heart, I want them to leave us in peace.

'The Government denies there has been harassment and says it is just

'trying to help the San into the 21st century.

'Raising goats and donkeys is a far cry from the hunter-gatherer life which made the bushmen so famous.

'But, in truth, bushman life changed long before the evictions.

'Yet there is a genuine connection between these people and this land.'

It's been a hell of a journey to get here over the last few days,

but now to finally see where these people are living, there's something quite beautiful about it.

It's a very simple way of life.

I'm not romanticising it, it's very hard.

They don't always have enough to eat, and during the winter, like now, it's bloody cold, but

these people have chosen this way of life, this is what they want.

They've seen the alternatives and they don't like it. They want to be here.

THEY SPEAK LOCAL LANGUAGE

Fairly close!

Bye-bye!

'This is always the hardest bit.'

'The roads improved as we drove south and east away from the San village.

'Many miles later, on the eastern edge of the Kalahari, we passed

'another government settlement with its school and clinic.

'But many of the San weren't using the brick homes provided for them,

'choosing instead to live in traditional huts.

'A day later, after a long and sweaty journey,

'I was glad to see we were just a few hundred metres off course.'

We're standing next to a sign that says Tropic of "Capricon"

and somebody has added in a little R, which is quite cute really.

And they've added it in with a bit of Sellotape.

'After a welcome shower and shave I finally met up again with Botswanan journalist Lucas.'

Lucas!

-Simon, how are you?

-I'm all right, how are you, sir?

I'm fine. I believe you survived the desert.

-We survived the desert, and we've made it here and it's lovely to see you.

-Good to see you. Welcome back.

'In sub-Saharan Africa, there are dozens of traditional healers for every doctor.

'Lucas had arranged for me to see a healer and fortune-teller

'who could predict what lay ahead on my journey. For a price, of course.'

-So that's the fee for our consultation.

-OK, yeah. That's OK.

'So, what did she have to say about my journey following the Tropic?

'At first, I was a bit sceptical.'

TRANSLATION: The bones tell us you are a travelling person.

You travel from one side of the world to the other,

through dangerous places, where you go through areas with lots of wild animals.

But the bones tell us that no serious harm awaits you.

So she can see nothing negative about our journey around Capricorn?

-No, the bones are not telling.

-Well, that's good news.

'In Botswana, the government is incorporating traditional healers

'into the health service, training them to recognise serious illnesses

and refer people to medical doctors.'

I think she wants to show us a...

Yeah. She's showing that she's certified to practise in this country.

-Registered as a traditional healer?

-Yeah.

TRANSLATION: I welcome traditional doctors being incorporated into the health system.

Before this happened, trained doctors didn't like to be associated with us.

'The healer was a vivid example of how tradition and the modern world can be successfully combined.

'Capricorn had shown me sides of Africa we rarely see.

'Following the Tropic of Capricorn had already taken me on

'an epic journey, and the next leg promised to be even more spectacular.'

It's a dusty little border post, isn't it?

Well, here we are. This is the international border between Botswana and South Africa.

This is the end of my journey across Namibia and Botswana.

Ahead of me is South Africa, Mozambique and the beautiful island of Madagascar.

'Next time, out of the deserts and across oceans,

'through forests and over mountains.

'I sample local cuisine.'

Oh, my God!

'Meet giant rats that are saving lives.

'And witness a major refugee crisis.

'To find out more about the journey and see unbroadcast footage, visit our website.'

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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