Aabadi bushcamp

It´s a small world we live in. That fact made me drive the road west from Okahandja. I almost missed my target…

That is a very small sign on a big road. Not until after we passed the railroad came a bigger sign. We found it. Aabadi-bushcamp.

When I came to Namibia I got a message from an old schoolmate. She told me her sister had been working in Namibia. Not only that. Her sister, from my small home town in Sweden was one of the owners and the manager when Aabadi bushcamp started a few years ago. It’s a small world.

We continued on the small road…

It is not that easy to find it or to get there…

Once there we were met by these kids. On the camp lives two bushman families of the San tribe. San are the reminding people of what used to be the sole population of the south of Africa. They have been living here the last 10000-20000 years, perhaps even longer. A thousand years ago other people came to this part of the world and the San people had to escape to the Kalahari desert.

This is the main building at Aabadi. We were going to return but first we were to find our “rooms”.

At Aabadi they have built the perfect compromise for tourists like us. You get to stay in San huts, but once you come inside you find something you would not find in a true San hut.

A big comfortable bed!

And the people living here were making it even more comfortable…

A fire to heat water…

…so that our outdoor bathroom could give us a nice warm shower under the stars!

Sun searched and hid behind the horizon.

Time for us to leave our huts and take a short walk in this very beautiful and calm nature…

…back to the main building.

The San children were gathered round a fireplace. They stayed there talking while we sat down waiting for our dinner.

A smiling girl…

I’ve been to other lodges in Namibia. Aabadi is different to them in all aspects. Normally everything is very nice, service is good with lots of staff, food excellent with different wines and other drinks to choose between.

Here we got some spaghetti Bolognese (sort of) with juice.

But we still enjoyed it. Everything was so still. No electricity means no light until I returned to our room to get a kerosene lamp.

After the dinner we joined the children around the fireplace.

Above us was the most fantastic sky, with stars in numbers we never had seen before. Around us nice people talking different languages. The San children did not speak english. Next year they are supposed to go to school, but will they? San people are not treated well in Namibia and that is often the truth in school as well. So a lot of San children go to school few years, if any…

Even a good evening comes to an end. We had decided for an early morning, so “Good night” you friendly San children…