Not catching fish

On Sunday, I finally got to go on a hike down to the river with Tumane, Likhetho, and Kamohelo. They told me that we probably wouldn't see any fish, it being winter and all, so we left the spears at home. It was about two hour's vigorous walk from Matholeng to the riverbed, and the boys were happy to point out sites that they considered photo-worthy. I'm putting up a small sampling of the photos:

At one point as we were walking down the valley, the boys pointed to a cave where, they said, lipila (dee-peel-uh) probably lived. I do not know what lipila are, but the boys told me they are small creatures who, if they see your exposed ears, will bite them and never let go. Tumane pinched his ear between his knuckles and said, "like a padlock." They suggested that I put my hat back on to protect my ears. I did so, and gave them a solemn nod to show them I understood the seriousness of the situation. We never did see any lipila, but we did see some of their tracks.

Cover those ears!

And here's a picture of your correspondent standing on a rock:

Our next adventure, the boys tell me, will be to a site where we can see cave paintings from the Khoi-San people who lived here before I did (I understand there have also been some other people in between us). Can't wait!