John Khata started working at Camp Okavango in December of 1980 and is still there today.
Herewith an extract from a recent interview with him:
I was born in Sazita west of Chief`s island, in 1944. My mother is MmaTshumokwe, my Father `s name is Kata. My real name is Odumetse Kata. My parents moved from Sazita to Motoo still in the delta next to Qaruga. The interesting story which I have is when my parents visited our relatives or their relatives at Qwaga still in Chief`s island. I was young that time but when we came back after visiting my mother and her grand mother got lost on the way back, they went missing for about two weeks in chief`s island, I was with them, the reason was they were crossing the whole chief`s island from west to east, then when they come back from east to west they had a big storm and rain then they lost because of the storm, and it was only two ladies. They had no fire, they couldn’t make fire, and we survived by digging water lilies and eating the berries and figs like fig cocomora. We did that the whole two weeks until some other hunters found us and took us to our home. Our relatives and family were looking and searching for us until they got tired and they thought that we were dead.
In our culture when you are three months old your father has to take you to big river, like big channel or lagoon and dip you in three times, they believe that to do so while you are young you will never be scared of water. When you are about 8 years your father takes you out to teach you how to hunt and how to sleep in the bush without being scared. I went out one day with my father and other people going hunting, then we camped, we had old people and boys. The other evening we were sitting around the fire, one boy moved like three or four metres from us cutting the grass to use it as mattress and then lion came out of nowhere and grabbed the guy and ran away, until now nobody found the boy. Then we moved from there to Mojei we were grown that time, that time I knew everything. Our old parents believed that the best education is to learn the bush not going to school, that’s why I didn’t go to school. Because in our old lives to have money you have to sell animal skins, mokoros and some meat because animals were still free.
I started working for Oryx Safaris for Mr Haroon as a skinner and then changed to gun bearer or tracker. When I left hunting then I was employed by Bird Safaris for Mr Jack we were catching the birds on different places, from Moremaoto to Makgadikgadi and in the delta. We usually stopped at Tsao, we were catching the baby Zebra, we used to drive very fast in the middle of Zebra herds and throw a rope on the neck of baby then we quickly inject it then load it in the vehicle. While we were doing this the government decided to move people from the delta to come closer to the town so that the can learn how to read and write. Every body was moved out of the delta in 1980. I crossed over to Camp Okavango by mokoro because we heard that they are going to build a camp. The camp wasn’t existing, I was employed before the camp was built. I helped the construction, when the camp finished in 1983 I was employed as a grounds man, then because I knew mokoro they promoted me as a poler, then I learnt my birds there nobody taught me anything like birds or English I have learnt my English from the Tourists. The birds I have some birds on bird safari. Then I continued with my guiding until now. ~ end.
I was born in Sazita west of Chief`s island, in 1944. My mother is MmaTshumokwe, my Father `s name is Kata. My real name is Odumetse Kata. My parents moved from Sazita to Motoo still in the delta next to Qaruga. The interesting story which I have is when my parents visited our relatives or their relatives at Qwaga still in Chief`s island. I was young that time but when we came back after visiting my mother and her grand mother got lost on the way back, they went missing for about two weeks in chief`s island, I was with them, the reason was they were crossing the whole chief`s island from west to east, then when they come back from east to west they had a big storm and rain then they lost because of the storm, and it was only two ladies. They had no fire, they couldn’t make fire, and we survived by digging water lilies and eating the berries and figs like fig cocomora. We did that the whole two weeks until some other hunters found us and took us to our home. Our relatives and family were looking and searching for us until they got tired and they thought that we were dead.
In our culture when you are three months old your father has to take you to big river, like big channel or lagoon and dip you in three times, they believe that to do so while you are young you will never be scared of water. When you are about 8 years your father takes you out to teach you how to hunt and how to sleep in the bush without being scared. I went out one day with my father and other people going hunting, then we camped, we had old people and boys. The other evening we were sitting around the fire, one boy moved like three or four metres from us cutting the grass to use it as mattress and then lion came out of nowhere and grabbed the guy and ran away, until now nobody found the boy. Then we moved from there to Mojei we were grown that time, that time I knew everything. Our old parents believed that the best education is to learn the bush not going to school, that’s why I didn’t go to school. Because in our old lives to have money you have to sell animal skins, mokoros and some meat because animals were still free.
I started working for Oryx Safaris for Mr Haroon as a skinner and then changed to gun bearer or tracker. When I left hunting then I was employed by Bird Safaris for Mr Jack we were catching the birds on different places, from Moremaoto to Makgadikgadi and in the delta. We usually stopped at Tsao, we were catching the baby Zebra, we used to drive very fast in the middle of Zebra herds and throw a rope on the neck of baby then we quickly inject it then load it in the vehicle. While we were doing this the government decided to move people from the delta to come closer to the town so that the can learn how to read and write. Every body was moved out of the delta in 1980. I crossed over to Camp Okavango by mokoro because we heard that they are going to build a camp. The camp wasn’t existing, I was employed before the camp was built. I helped the construction, when the camp finished in 1983 I was employed as a grounds man, then because I knew mokoro they promoted me as a poler, then I learnt my birds there nobody taught me anything like birds or English I have learnt my English from the Tourists. The birds I have some birds on bird safari. Then I continued with my guiding until now. ~ end.
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