It is 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 10, and Jeff has just departed the Tocadi compound with James the driver in one of the older company Land Rovers. They are headed for the ferry to cross the river and drive to the villages of Kaputura, Tobere, and Ngarange. Their errand is to collect the members of San dance troupes who live in these villages. The dancers will be transported by Tocadi-arranged busses tomorrow morning to the Dqae Qare Game Farm, approximately a five-hour drive from Shakawe. The dancers, along with musicians from the villages, will participate in the annual Kuru Dance Festival. It begins tomorrow night with healing dances, and continues on Saturday with entertainment dances, traditional games, and in the evening, performances on drums, thumb pianos (pictured), mouthbows, and other age-old instruments.

1:30 p.m. on Friday, August 11. After a morning of confusion during which Jeff had to return to Thursday's villages to pick up several people who should have come yesterday, and return several people who should not have come, and during which the busses contracted to take between 60 and 70 people to the event did not show up, all is well--at least temporarily. Different busses have been hired, and are to come at 3 p.m. to collect the group. Since this arrangement seems certain, Jeff and I leave in our vehicle for the festival, along with three of his colleagues who are riding along. We arrive just after the 7 p.m. scheduled start time. We will use the campground located on the game farm as our accommodation for the next two nights.

It's now 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 12. The morning session of the dance festival, which included speeches from local and national dignitaries and was attended by the U.S. ambassador to Botswana, has ended. The dancers and musicians, ranging in age from elementary school children to great-grandparents, have enjoyed a lunch of traditional food cooked at the campground adjoining the performance area and are mingling with the spectators, which includes people from at least a dozen countries on three continents. The dancers and musicans come from Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and special guests from an Inuit youth group of Nunavit, Northern Canada. We spend the afternoon watching performances and taking photos.