- 4 months ago
Ben Fogle- New Lives in the Wild (2013) Season 21 Episode 1- Botswana
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Short filmTranscript
00:00any time I can stick it to the man and in a small way I do could you start your life all over again
00:07leave behind everything you know for something completely different it's like I guess we live
00:14in a bit of a pressure cooker I'm Ben Fogel and over the next few weeks I'm going to live with
00:19the incredible people who've done just that did you ever feel like abandoning the property no it's
00:27my home would you say you enjoy the companionship of animals more than people probably yeah in some
00:33of the most remote places on earth this is why I love the wilderness I'll discover their motivations
00:40for me was just yeah you're born you go to school you work all life and then you die the challenges
00:47there's no way that I was gonna put my wife and my children in that house the condition that it was in
00:52just make sure there's absolutely no electrical current down there and find out what it takes
00:57to make a new life in the wild
01:00for the next week I'll be living with Alex a Norwegian conservationist model and bush guide
01:15who's moved to the Kalahari desert life in the desert is hard you know the Kalahari kind of hates you
01:21so I find out how a life-threatening experience at the tender age of 18 I suddenly feel something
01:29kiss my forehead and that was a gun altered the course of her life forever I decided to spin the
01:37globe and if my finger lands in the country I will go there unless there's a civil war I discover how
01:41her passion for conservation they brought nature to life around me could you get a better gift than
01:47that from anyone has driven her across the continent I have a job to do on this planet and I'm on a
01:54mission and that doesn't stop just because I fall in love from London I travel over 8,250 kilometres
02:03to Maun in Botswana then drive east for five hours through the Mahadi Hadi basin
02:15Botswana really is a vast country there's a statistic that 70% is the Kalahari Desert
02:23there's a population of around 2 million and most of those live within the cities so it has some
02:32pretty spectacular wild landscapes here brimming full of wild animals I know that Alex is originally
02:40from Norway you couldn't get two more contrasting countries and she's only been here for a few months
02:47so I can't wait to find out more
02:53Wow look at this
02:55Wisdom Academy
02:56Hey Ben
02:58Hey Alex
02:59Hey
03:00How are you?
03:01Very good
03:02Very nice to meet you
03:03How are you?
03:04Very nice to see you
03:05Loads of people
03:06Who is everyone?
03:07Yeah this is
03:08Hello
03:09Yeah
03:10Hi I'm Ben
03:11How are you?
03:12It's very hard for me to say that
03:14I think we're going to have to work on that
03:19I think we're going to have to work on that
03:21Yes
03:22Hello
03:23Hello
03:24Hello
03:25How are you?
03:26This is the best greeting I've ever had so many people
03:27This is the old man
03:28Tomko
03:29Tomko
03:30I'm Ben
03:31It's a great, great year
03:32Hello
03:33Hello
03:34Hello
03:35Hello
03:36How are you?
03:37This is the best greeting I've ever had so many people
03:39This is the old man
03:40Tomko
03:41Tomko
03:42I'm Ben
03:43It's a great, great year
03:44Hello
03:45Hello
03:46What a greeting
03:47Is this like your extended family?
03:48This is my family
03:49I love that
03:5034 year old Alex is from Norway
04:04She grew up outside Oslo and enjoyed a childhood full of outdoor activities
04:09In her teens she began a successful modeling career
04:13At 18 she went volunteering to an animal sanctuary in Namibia
04:17She planned to go for two weeks but stayed for 13 years
04:22During that time she continued modeling but also trained and worked as a bush guide
04:28At 20 she set up an organization dedicated to helping the Junkwasi tribe with whom she lived
04:35In February of this year she came to Botswana for a job and met fellow bush guide Ralph
04:42She fell in love and got married four months later
04:45So what's everyone actually up to you today?
04:48This is our wisdom Academy
04:49Mm-hmm
04:50And so we're finishing pathways
04:52We're dragging like a lot of thorn bushes to close up this circle so we're protected from lions
04:58Mm-hmm
04:59And some people are painting some people are beading
05:02It's just a you know normal day
05:04And you speak fluently?
05:05I am definitely very good at it but I don't think you can never be fluent like you know you go to a new place you have to learn new words
05:13Mm-hmm
05:14Mm-hmm
05:15But I have good teachers
05:16Well listen I love helping out so no time like the present to get stuck in if you need some help moving stuff around
05:21Yes I definitely do
05:22Okay
05:23You got it?
05:24Yep
05:25You good?
05:26Yep
05:27Okay
05:28I don't want to let you down yet
05:30Yep
05:31Okay
05:32I don't want to let you down yet
05:40Okay
05:41Yeah
05:42Well done
05:43I'm loving this enthusiasm from all corners
05:46So this is genuinely lion protection
05:50Yeah
05:51Desert lions are always a little bit more feisty because life in the desert is hard you know the kalahari kind of hates you so
05:58Now that I've done a little bit of lion protection can I have a look around?
06:02Yes
06:03This is our little headquarters
06:05Yeah
06:06Main building of the Wisdom Academy
06:08So you keep talking about the Wisdom Academy
06:11Yeah
06:12How would you define that?
06:13Well it's basically a sanctuary for the Junquoisi knowledge and wisdom
06:18That is kind of here to guide the future so it's not about preserving to keep it like a place of the past
06:24It's not at all a museum
06:26It's a place like a think tank for the future where we can find ways to merge creativity like innovation new ideas and mix that with like the old ancient wisdom and knowledge
06:37So is it fair to say the Junquoisi are kind of under pressure?
06:42Yeah, extreme pressure
06:43In Botswana, well most of southern Africa they're not allowed to hunt and gather anymore
06:48In Namibia they can still do a bit of hunting
06:50But imagine that's your life purpose and now it's taken away from you
06:54And they need a place and a platform where they can you know actually get paid to be the guardians of nature that they have been for hundreds and thousands of years
07:02Are you almost trying to preserve or halt that cultural erosion that's been going on?
07:08I wouldn't say preserve or halt because then it immediately sounds like you know that I'm idealizing the past which I'm not
07:14I'm just acknowledging who they are and how they can help us then it is about you know making sure they're stuck in time
07:21But learning from the past to protect the future
07:24Inform the future, yeah exactly
07:26This is where we are hanging bucket showers from
07:31And where's the water from?
07:32We have a big bowser like a tank that's attached to a lorry
07:37We fill that up at this camp just adjacent here
07:40And then we bring it here and this is like the short-term solution but long-term we want to put in a borehole
07:46Do I get the impression I'm visiting you in the very early stages of what you're doing here?
07:51I've been working with the Junkwasi for like almost 15 years
07:57So we have been having long-term projects but it's a new project here
08:02How are you?
08:04How are you?
08:06Sit down for a second
08:07I know you mentioned that you bring water from somewhere else do you have any electricity here?
08:12No, the plan is to get solar panels and run off a solar grid
08:17So my life is going to change drastically from me being you know alone living in the bush with them for
08:2515 years very remote first on the Namibian side
08:29I'm now here because I got married
08:31Congratulations
08:32Thank you
08:33Thank you
08:34And I think I found the most like niche husband in the world to fit me
08:38And so he grew up here out here and in the Mahadi Hadi deserts
08:44And he has a camp called Jack's camp
08:47So when he's around I live there but if he's not there I live with them
08:51And where are you staying right now then?
08:52Here
08:53Where am I staying?
08:54Here
08:55Love that
08:56Thank you Alex
08:57I'll get settled in if that's okay
08:59Yeah
09:00This is very comfortable
09:01Bit hot
09:02It is about 40 degrees but I'm slightly overwhelmed if I'm to be honest
09:06I wasn't expecting so many people here
09:09I was just anticipating finding a Norwegian woman living in the wilds of Botswana
09:16And instead I found a Norwegian woman and her extended family
09:21And a missing husband
09:23It's all quite strange
09:25Obviously this is in its infancy
09:27Huge changes have happened in her personal life in recent months
09:34And she's obviously spent many many years in different parts of Africa working on similar projects
09:40I don't know where her passion was born
09:43I don't know how she ended up on the continent of Africa
09:46So many questions
09:48But I think this is going to be fun
09:50I barely have time to unpack before a literal welcome committee arrives
10:00We are going to go to see the old man
10:02The old man?
10:03Yeah
10:04I follow you?
10:05Yeah
10:06Alex and Bushman Steve are on hand to translate the proceedings
10:09I want you to welcome him into the village
10:24My child, you are more than welcome
10:26This is special welcome for you
10:28So that you cannot have bad dreams
10:33You are welcome
10:34And we are going to be together
10:35And do everything we have to do
10:38So my first night here in my tent
10:49And I can hear just the gentle hubbub of all the Bushmen and women chatting and storytelling in the background
10:59It's rather soothing to be honest
11:02And I am going to practice my
11:15I am in Botswana
11:16In the saltpans of the Kalahari Desert
11:18With conservationist Alex
11:20Who divides her time between her new husband's safari lodge
11:24And living and working with the Junkwazi tribe
11:27Good morning Alex
11:29So what happens this morning?
11:31Um, we are going to sit and discuss that now
11:34Right, it's a discussion over tea
11:36One of the things I was wondering last night
11:39Obviously there is a tourist camp very close by
11:42But how
11:44How much is this about the tourist camp
11:47And how much is this about individuality and the community themselves?
11:52It's just a way to like pay for the whole thing
11:55And be able to give them jobs
11:57Okay
11:58So this is not a product of the tourist trade?
12:00No, absolutely not
12:01So what it is is this is our classroom
12:04The main aim is to pass on the knowledge to the younger generation
12:07Yep
12:08Um, Ben
12:09It's like a root
12:11I don't want to change
12:13My root cannot change to be another tree
12:16I have to pass it to everyone
12:18All my generation so they can keep it going
12:22So like a need
12:23Everyone needs to be connected with the roots where their ancestors belong
12:31I totally get that we are defined by our custom and our heritage and a sense of belonging
12:38And yet you have abandoned your Nordic roots to embrace another people's heritage
12:47There's a lot of people that say stick to your lane
12:49You're a Norwegian model and you shouldn't deviate from that
12:55I think it's so important to focus on what we can do something about
12:59Instead of who should be the person that is allowed to do something about something
13:03If every man is for himself
13:05We're not going to have a very sustainable future
13:08Alex and this group of Kalahari Bushmen have built their Wisdom Academy within the grounds of her new husband's Safari Lodge
13:17As well as supplying water to their camp
13:20It provides food and employment through bush guides with visiting tourists
13:25Her husband's away on a bush walk
13:28But she takes me on the 15 minute drive to see it
13:31Oh wow
13:34Yeah, that's how I feel every day too
13:37I was not expecting this
13:41This is absolutely extraordinary
13:44Do you know, I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this
13:48Certainly not in these circumstances
13:49Because this is a tent
13:50This is a tent
13:51We just stepped into my husband's mind, by the way
13:54And it's... I feel like I'm Alice in Wonderland
13:57I've just stepped into another world
13:59You really are living in two parallel universes
14:01Absolutely
14:02And look at the view out here
14:04So you've mentioned that your circumstances have changed a lot
14:08You can say that, that's like almost an understatement
14:12I mean I lived like 15 years in a grass hut
14:15Or a tent or under the open sky
14:18And suddenly I find myself here with, you know, very different tents
14:22A lot bigger, not what I'm used to at all
14:26But what's fascinating is that despite this
14:28We're both staying over in this camp that you're creating
14:31So you're still very much following your dreams, your passions, the work that you've done
14:36So listen, like I've never ever moved anywhere for anyone in my whole life
14:42I'm here to do something
14:43I have a job to do on this planet
14:46And I'm on a mission
14:48And that doesn't stop just because I fall in love
14:51But yeah, I told him quite early that I am not the kind of person that grows trees under the canopy of somebody else's forest
14:57I like to create adjacent forests and they can feed each other, but that's important to me
15:04So am I right in thinking then that you effectively see your new circumstances
15:08And the business that your new husband has as a way of amplifying the work that you've been doing for the last 15 years?
15:14Yeah, and I think tourism should pay for nature
15:18And it's a lot more sustainable to let tourism pay for it than mining or other things that kind of like drill holes into the earth crust and extracts until there's no more
15:28Tourism is a renewable energy in a way
15:31I think a lot of people might see this as you through because that's what you've married into
15:36You're kind of nodding
15:38Oh, completely, yeah
15:39But does it frustrate you that there might be people that would conflate the two and think that this is now you?
15:44Of course
15:45I have had the experience in the last couple of months of oh, and you are like Ralph's wife and I'm like
15:50Yeah, I am that too, but that's not who I am
15:55So that's but you know what?
15:58It's fine. I I know who I am and I I do what I do and it
16:03Whatever rocks people's boats. I don't really care so much
16:09Wow
16:10This is a tale of two worlds and I've been surprised by both of them to be honest
16:14I wasn't expecting the decadence and luxury of this camp
16:18But I still need to unpick the whole story that brought her here and discover what the next stage of this journey is
16:26Because obviously everything is really new
16:29But what does the future hold for Alex?
16:32Because this certainly was not for Alex of the last 15 years
16:36And I get from that little conversation I just had with her that
16:40This still doesn't and won't define her
16:44Back at the village. It's alive with activity
16:48Alex puts me straight to work on the pathways
16:52This gives me the chance to find out how she ended up on this continent in the first place
16:58Because we're in the desert. It's always good to have pathways
17:01So we try to keep as much grass intact
17:03Is that ready to go in?
17:05No, you have to basically with the panga
17:08You hold it like that and then you start
17:11Shaving it down. So who taught you your first panga skills?
17:15These guys
17:17Yeah, yeah, yeah
17:18I mean coming from Norway I know how to throw an axe
17:21But I don't want to throw a panga
17:24It's your Viking roots there
17:26What was your childhood like in Norway?
17:28So grew up with forests behind my house
17:30And parents that dragged us into nature at any free time possible
17:36Put it at an angle a little bit, yeah
17:38How did a kind of nature-loving girl end up being a model?
17:42Well, first of all, I was a tall girl at a very young age
17:47And so more and more frequently I would get stopped in the streets
17:52And people would be like, do you want to be a model?
17:54And I was like, no, absolutely not and carry on walking
17:57And then it was actually my best buddy who had, without me knowing
18:02Had sent in a picture of me to an agency in Oslo
18:05And all of a sudden I got this phone call
18:09Saying, hi, would you like to do Oslo Fashion Week?
18:13But at this stage I was like 13 and a half
18:16So young!
18:18And then I went to New York with Ford Modeling Agency
18:22Because then they had discovered me via my agency in Norway
18:25As a 13 year old?
18:2614
18:27With your parents?
18:28She didn't join me that summer
18:29What did she make of this career?
18:32She, of course, like wasn't a big fan of the idea
18:36But I was just so determined
18:38I had, I felt like I had this like internal compass
18:42It wasn't that I was fascinated by the modeling world
18:46But I kind of just wanted to do something that would take me out of Norway
18:50And you got to travel the world?
18:51Travel the world in a very short time
18:52And I didn't know it was going to be so lonely
18:55Which is probably
18:56Is it a lonely, a lonely business?
18:57Completely
18:58Were you unhappy?
18:59Extremely unhappy
19:01But then I moved to New York
19:02And then I started studying method acting
19:05With an amazing coach
19:07And, and that, that helped a bit
19:11But then I was now back to doing what I loved doing
19:14And I was still really unhappy
19:16So you were a very successful, albeit unhappy, model, actress in New York
19:20How on earth did you end up out in Africa?
19:24I was actually walking home from a film set
19:26And it was late at night
19:27That started with these kind of like catcalls
19:30Which is quite common in New York
19:33So I just kind of like carried on walking
19:35And then suddenly they grabbed me
19:37And they like wanted to get money from me
19:40And while I'm like digging through my bag
19:43Looking for something
19:45I suddenly feel something like kiss my forehead
19:47And, and that was a gun
19:51And so I was held at gunpoint
19:54I went from having so much control, right?
20:00To not fall apart in my life
20:02And in this moment someone takes away all the control
20:06When they realized I didn't have anything
20:08He kind of just like pushed, pushed it a bit against my forehead
20:11And said move
20:13And then left
20:15I went back to my flat and
20:17Didn't really know what to do
20:18But I felt like it was
20:20Like some kind of universal bitch slap
20:22You know, like you, and the fact that he also said move
20:25It was like an instruction, you know
20:28And then I had this little globe
20:30And I just decided, okay, I'm going to spin the globe
20:32And if my finger lands in the ocean
20:34I'll go in a gap year
20:35And if it lands on Norway
20:38I can spin again
20:40I like that rule
20:42And if it lands on a country
20:43I'll go there unless there's a civil war
20:45And so it was Namibia
20:48Two weeks later I was on the plane
20:50And I was just supposed to take a two week break
20:53And then I flew over Namibia
20:55And I had this like weird feeling of
20:59Like, like roots were growing out of my feet or something
21:03And then when the, like, door of the plane opened
21:06And that smell of, like, comfort bush
21:09It was like, I'm home
21:13But I don't know why
21:15And then, yeah, I went to volunteer
21:17And it was supposed to be two weeks
21:19And after a month and a half
21:21I was offered a job to help out at this wildlife sanctuary
21:25Help raise some baby lions
21:27And I decided to just let go of my life in New York
21:29And I took a bold leap and, and went all in
21:34But the biggest lesson was that I met the gym party
21:37And from that moment I really felt like they
21:40Saved me out of a poverty of perception
21:42And they had so much to teach me
21:45And it was kind of in this moment that I decided
21:48That I want to do something
21:50I don't know what, but something
21:52Working with them, uh, somehow
21:54On the face of it coming here and meeting you with them
21:57It, it looks like you're helping them
22:00But from your story
22:02It sounds like they've saved you
22:05They have completely, you know, saved me
22:09Or transformed me
22:11They brought nature to life around me
22:13Could you get a better gift than that from anyone?
22:17And as the evening draws in
22:19The games commence
22:20I've always loved this idea that some of us weren't necessarily born where we feel we belong
22:39It's that sense of belonging that for some people is what they spend their life searching for, looking for
22:46And a few of the lucky ones
22:49In this case, Alex, find it
22:52How are your skipping skills?
22:54They're, uh, not bad sometimes
22:57You know what's amazing is
23:00She has had and has what so many people think will bring them happiness
23:04Beauty, money, travel, glitz and glamour
23:08Glitz and glamour
23:10But none of them brought her the happiness that she has finally found
23:16Here in the desert
23:17Here in the desert
23:32I'm in Botswana
23:34Staying with Alex and a group of Kalahari Bushmen
23:37At their wisdom academy
23:39A place where ancient skills are being passed on to the younger generation
23:43While the children receive lessons in rope making
23:46Alex has got me sweeping out the classroom for a beading session
23:50Is this the first time the room has been used?
23:52Yes!
23:54We wanted to get the mat down here so we could
23:56Have a little bit of a softer seating
23:58Because
24:00Most of beading and storytelling and
24:03And classroom happens on the floor anyways
24:05So this is a big day?
24:07Yeah! I always believe in, like, upcycling
24:11And if you can use what you have or what you find or what's discarded
24:15It helps at least get a little bit of momentum
24:18Perhaps one of the criticisms some people have
24:20Of outsiders coming to a place like this
24:24Is that you're not necessarily solving the problem
24:27So how are you going to ensure that everyone here, your family here, can do this without your financial assistance in the future?
24:36Yeah, so basically, I mean, I've already succeeded at that with my project in Namibia
24:41So this is the extension that I'm doing here
24:42Okay
24:43The funding that I initially got
24:45I would use to employ the Jhnt Boisi
24:48So that you're showing the young generation that it's possible to have a job
24:51As a tracker, as a bush scientist, as, like, the plant specialist
24:57And that was giving hope
25:00So they are and were the first entrepreneurs of our world
25:03And when they picked up a piece of wood and turned that into a bow and arrow
25:07That's a business start-up, right there
25:09I help them then start their own businesses
25:12So, like, Morsha's husband, for instance
25:14He runs his own master tracking business
25:17Where they do consultancy and help
25:19Wildlife monitoring or tracker trainings
25:22Not just in Namibia, but in South Africa, in Angola, in all kinds of places
25:28Sometimes you just have to remind people that they already know how to ride a bike
25:32And that's just my role in this world, I guess
25:33You get through that one and then I'll, uh, I'll have a try
25:44Wow, it really is time consuming
25:49Like that?
25:51Okay
25:55So everything that's being made now
25:57Will be sold or is it to be used by individuals here?
26:02Sometimes it's for own use, but it's also, um, to be sold
26:06So it can create some extra income
26:08This is the way of, like, monetizing in a very simple way
26:12And then also we're gonna have a distiller
26:15And so they can make essential oils
26:18And then make soaps and, and solid perfumes that they can sell
26:22I do that?
26:24Yeah
26:25It's a good one
26:26Okay
26:27Another one?
26:28Yeah, of course
26:29Make it straight
26:31Yeah, straight in the middle
26:32Okay, this is the one
26:34Do you, what do you think of tourism here?
26:36Tourism here?
26:37It's very important for us
26:40For here, we just come here for a period of three times some people
26:44To share knowledge with the other guys
26:47To teach them about how they do as lifestyles
26:52If Alex gave you the opportunity to spend some time in Norway
26:56Would you ever like to do that?
26:58I like it, I can do it
27:00Why would you be interested in that?
27:01Why would you like to?
27:02Because I want to go there to learn the life of these people
27:06Exactly
27:08It's interesting, it's a commonality between people
27:10We all want to learn from one another
27:13As a break from the village activities
27:16Alex takes us out into the bush
27:19To take part in a ritual of her own
27:22Everybody can get a place inside here
27:25Everyone's disappeared off already
27:27Yes
27:28Everyone loves this, like, land art exercise that we're doing
27:32So everybody kind of grabs their own little spot in the bush
27:36And the rule is that in the, like, radius around
27:39You can only use what's there to make something
27:42As the bush men and women get creative
27:46I use this opportunity to find out if Alex's life with the Jeune Kwasi
27:50Has always been this idyllic
27:52All my life I had a lot of, like, problems with my stomach and whatever
27:57And then when I moved and I started my project with the Jeune Kwasi
28:01I was, it felt like I was food poisoned every day
28:04And I thought it was maybe because, you know, coming from Norway
28:07I wasn't used to eating porcupine and tortoise and all these kinds of things
28:11That's what you were living off?
28:12Yeah, of course, I was, you know, there's no supermarket
28:15There was, my project is 890 kilometers away from any town
28:19You kind of learn to live off the land
28:21And, yeah, as a result of that I just thought maybe that's why I was always feeling sick
28:26The Jeune Kwasi, the project, became more important than myself
28:29Eventually I got so, so sick that I lost, like, nine kilograms in less than two weeks
28:36And that, it took me that much to then decide to go to the hospital
28:42And then they found out that I had contracted a deadly virus
28:46Called Clostridium difficile in the hospital
28:51Which basically, you can die of starvation because your body can't keep anything in
28:55And I got a WhatsApp message from my doctor saying
28:58If you take the medication, you might survive
29:02But a side effect is blindness
29:04Well, I mean, it must have been a terrifying period of time
29:08When you genuinely, you thought you might go blind
29:10You thought you might lose your life
29:12Yeah
29:13Do you think it focused your mind a little bit on other things in life?
29:17Yeah, it made me also become very aware of time
29:21Because life is short and then it's gone
29:24And you have this one life and at least, you know, I want to be able to be an old woman
29:28And say, I have lived, I have loved and I have mattered
29:32And I think we all want that
29:34What did your parents make of that though?
29:36I mean, it must be hard if they were out here seeing you in hospital
29:39Of course, they wanted me to come back home to Norway
29:41But I was convinced that if I'd gone back with them
29:44Then I wouldn't have really learned my lesson
29:48And I needed to, from scratch, build myself back together
29:51And they understood that
29:53Sounds like the classic case of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger
29:57Yeah, you can say that
29:59Everyone's had a march on us, they've had much more time
30:01Should we get going?
30:03I like your priorities, go for it
30:05I want to create art
30:09The relationship she has with the Bushmen and women here
30:13Is so strong, it's so beautiful
30:16It's one driven by heart
30:18Wow
30:20Wow, it's amazing
30:24So this is me
30:26So right now, I am over here
30:28So I've brought the world here to Botswana
30:31Where's India?
30:33Oh yeah, India is, I missed it
30:36It's about here
30:38There we go
30:40What I've got a real sense of today is what Alex is getting from this
30:44She's obviously having the opportunity to help a culture that is at threat, but she's also learning herself
30:55This happy man is Ben, okay? He's wearing short shorts
31:00Oh yes, that's me
31:02Tell me if you think it's me
31:04Yeah, yeah, exactly
31:06Yeah, yeah, exactly
31:10He took him, he took him, he took him
31:13He took him
31:15As the day draws to a close, Alex has commandeered me to replenish the firewood for the evening
31:21Are you good?
31:23Yeah
31:29This is very useful doing this for someone my height
31:32Yeah, I know
31:34Yeah, I know
31:36Do you like doing physical work?
31:37I love doing physical work
31:39I think it's very healthy for the mind
31:43There is a narrative out there that thinks that tourism is exploitative
31:48And there are some people that might think that very wealthy who come to stay at the camp that is just across the way
31:55Maybe exploiting version quasi
31:58Oh, not under my watch
32:00No, but I definitely see what you mean
32:03Because this was one of the first things that I reacted to myself when I first came to this continent
32:10And you would see all this kind of like exhibitionism of tourism where the Maasai are hopping
32:16And the tourists are sitting watching them and clapping away
32:19And I've seen a lot of tourism operations that have done the same thing with Junquasi people
32:24And I've heard phrases like, don't take my Bushmen
32:29And I'm like, I'm sorry, they're not your Bushmen, they are their own people
32:33I don't believe in spectator tourism
32:36So you won't ever come here and look at the Junquasi
32:41You will come and sit down while they're standing and you're on a lower level and you will learn from them
32:48Because they are mentors and teachers and you're a student and you're lucky to be in their classroom
32:52And that's kind of my approach
32:55And that's the fine line that makes a difference
32:59Because that approach creates culture pride
33:03And makes people excited about who they are
33:06We're getting there, hey?
33:08Yeah
33:10I'm wondering about the bigger picture though
33:12Because I can totally see how for this community of Junquasi what you're doing is amazing
33:16Yeah
33:18But what about the wider diaspora?
33:20If you have to wait for any political change, then they're going to be gone
33:25Like, with every elder that disappears, an encyclopedia is lost
33:29And the world is a poorer place as a result
33:33And I don't have time for that, and they don't have time for that
33:37Have they been persecuted for a long time?
33:39Yes, they were classified as animals even
33:42And they were part of the big seven
33:44So you could hunt the big five and then get a bonus of hunting to Junquasi
33:49What? A human being? You could actually hunt a human being? Till when?
33:52The last one that we found a hunting brochure was, like, dated in, like, 1970s
33:59It's not often I'm lost for words, but that is shocking
34:06What Alex is doing here is basically conservation for people
34:11And for someone like Alex, coming from Norway
34:14She has kind of stepped into a political minefield when it comes to the do's and don'ts
34:22And I think it's very easy to criticise someone based on their race, their nationality
34:29But surely we should judge people on what they do
34:33Rather than if they should do it
34:36The brutal truth is she's damned if she does
34:39And they could be damned if she doesn't
34:42Another evening round the fire gives me the opportunity to find out more about these bushmen and women
34:47And what they feel they're getting from this project
34:51So, Steve, there are people here from Botswana and Namibia
34:55Yes
34:57But is it the same culture?
34:59It is
35:00How does that work?
35:02Two governments, Botswana and Namibia, split us
35:04Yeah, there's almost no difference
35:06So even though you're divided by nation
35:08Yeah
35:10It's exactly the same group of people
35:12Yeah, same tribe
35:13And the good thing is that she's now started to bring us from Namibia
35:18To share the knowledge
35:20There's a lot of the things we forgot
35:22How important is Wisdom Academy and what Alex is doing here?
35:27It is not just about hunting and gathering
35:31What she's trying to do is to let them know the generation
35:37Where they are going for the future
35:39Alex considers all of you part of her family
35:44Do you consider her part of your family?
35:46Alex, oh, I can help her
35:48I can't help her
35:49I can't help her
35:50I can't help her
35:51I can't help her
35:52I can't help her
35:53I can't help her
35:54I can't help her
35:55Alex has been with us
35:57It doesn't feel like we're with white people or someone else
36:00We feel like our family
36:02It's like our sister
36:04You could think, what should I do today?
36:06You have nothing to do that day
36:08And she arrives
36:10She will really pick you up
36:12And shake you from the way the dark you are maybe
36:17And then watch you and let you start to feel like a person
36:21Reduce her to tears
36:22Heart is happy
36:35Heart is happy
36:37Yeah
36:38I can't help her
36:39I can't help her
36:40I can't help her
36:41I can't help her
36:42I can't help her
36:43I can't help her
36:44I can't help her
36:45I can't help her
36:46I can't help her
36:47I can't help her
36:48I can help her
36:49Over the past week
36:51I've been living and working with Alex
36:53And the Junkwasi people in their wisdom academy
36:56What do you think, happy?
36:57Yeah, nice to get some colour in here
36:59Yeah, nice to get some colour in here
37:01It's slowly coming together
37:04It's been fascinating getting to know Alex
37:07And understand more about her relationship
37:09With the Junkwasi people
37:12But the biggest relationship in her life
37:14Has so far evaded me
37:16Her husband Ralph
37:18But this evening
37:19He's back from the bush
37:20And I finally get to meet him
37:24Baby, I didn't tell you
37:26Very nice to meet you
37:27How are you?
37:31Yeah
37:32I don't like the easy way
37:34Good
37:35It's my last evening here in the Kalahari
37:38I'm heading home tomorrow
37:40But before I leave
37:42Ralph and Alex
37:43Want to take us all to see the Netwetwe saltpans
37:47One of the largest salt flats in the world
37:51Zebra's up
37:52Thank you
37:54Thank you
37:57It's about a 30 minute drive
38:00And I honestly can't remember a more joyous or beautiful car journey
38:09Is this us?
38:10Great!
38:11Yes!
38:12This is us!
38:13Hey!
38:14Here we are
38:15Woohoo!
38:16So this is the salt pan?
38:17Yeah
38:18This is...
38:19I believe the largest flat open area of nothingness on earth
38:36Wow
38:39Yeah
38:40It's otherworldly isn't it?
38:41It is
38:42And most people here believe that the world is flat
38:44It's very difficult not to
38:46If you've grown up here
38:47Everyone just wandering off
38:48I love that
38:49Yeah
38:50Imagine
38:51Seeing it for the first time
38:53I take advantage of the sudden stillness
38:56To sit down with Alex and Ralph
38:58To find out more about the man who turned Alex's head
39:01And won her heart
39:03So how did you guys actually meet?
39:06I knew of Alex for a long time
39:08And um
39:10We've been talking on the phone for about what 14 years
39:13Yeah
39:14I was on the Botswana side of the border
39:16And she is across the Namibian side
39:18And I just kept on hearing from everybody
39:20The Jean-Claude was saying
39:21Oh this is
39:22You've got to meet Alex
39:23She's doing what you're doing over there
39:26And um
39:27We just couldn't meet
39:28Because of the apartheid thing
39:29And I was hearing the same thing on my side
39:30Like there's this guy
39:32You know
39:33He runs this camp
39:35And he's working with the Jean-Claude
39:37And
39:38But we also had some like preconceived
39:40Yeah what were they?
39:41So that's what I was fishing for
39:43What did you think
39:45Ralph was going to be like?
39:46I thought he was like a
39:48You know like
39:50I don't know if you're familiar with the term
39:51But you have something called like bush cowboys
39:53Bush cowboys
39:54You know like
39:55I wasn't quite sure
39:56What to think actually
39:57I was like
39:58Whatever
39:59And I'm wondering what you had
40:00Built in your mind
40:01If you'd never met Alex
40:02Of course
40:03Some classic cliché
40:04Beautiful
40:05You know
40:06Model comes to save Africa
40:08And it was like
40:09You know
40:10Yes
40:11But is she the real
40:12Is she really the real deal?
40:13So then
40:14Fast forward 15 years
40:15How did you actually finally meet them?
40:17Alex did this incredible walk
40:19Right the way across the Kalahari
40:20And so then mutual friends said
40:22We should
40:23To raise awareness
40:24For the Junkwazi
40:25And what's going on
40:27We should do a walk together
40:28So we met
40:29In fact
40:30In Cape Town
40:31I just went there
40:32With an open mind
40:33Let's focus on this trip
40:34And then
40:35We were supposed to have dinner
40:37And
40:38Ralph messaged me
40:40That he was downstairs
40:41He came to pick me up
40:43And
40:44And
40:45And then I walked down the stairs
40:47And he's talking to someone else
40:49And
40:50So I say hi
40:51And he turned around
40:52And when we
40:53First laid eyes on each other
40:55We both had to like
40:56Take a step back
40:57And then we had like
40:58The longest
40:59Most awkward hug
41:00In the whole
41:01Whole wide world
41:02As if we had like
41:03You know
41:04Finally reunited
41:05After all these years
41:06But we had never met
41:07Um
41:10And
41:11And we went to dinner
41:12And had absolutely no food
41:14Just
41:15Just
41:16Chatted away
41:17It was just
41:18Yeah
41:19It was extraordinary
41:20Actually
41:21The day after
41:22We'd had that
41:23First dinner
41:24We were in the
41:25Passport queue
41:26On the airport
41:27Going to Botswana
41:28And Ralph asked me
41:29If I had ever been married
41:30And I said no no no
41:31I don't really believe in marriage
41:32And he was like
41:33Yeah me neither
41:34Never got married
41:35And then we look at each other
41:36And we're like
41:37You know
41:38Things can change
41:39Casually
41:40Like
41:41After knowing each other
41:42In person
41:43For 24 hours
41:44But you've obviously
41:46Married more than just
41:47Alex
41:48You've got a whole
41:49Extended
41:50Sort of family now
41:51Yeah wonderful
41:52I grew up with
41:53And it's
41:54It's
41:55And that is
41:56What it
41:57What it
41:58What it takes
41:59To live out
42:00You need an extended family
42:01It really is
42:02Just travelling
42:03In the
42:04Truck there
42:05It was like
42:06With a very large family
42:07Yeah
42:08That's exactly right
42:09I'm going to leave you
42:10You haven't seen each other
42:11For ages
42:12I'm going to leave you
42:13To enjoy the sunset
42:14Thank you
42:15For a second
42:16What can I say
42:17Some things are just meant to be
42:19Some of us spend our whole lives searching for that companion
42:23That soul mate
42:25And isn't it amazing that their lives have circled around over the last 15 years
42:31And these two
42:32And these two kind of soul mates
42:34Finally found one another
42:35It's a beautiful fairytale ending isn't it
42:38I think it will be fascinating to see how two self confessed nomads pursue marriage together
42:46My time here has come to an end and I'm genuinely sorry to leave
42:55I really have had the most memorable time
42:58I take my hat off to Alex
43:01I think what she has done here is beautiful and inspiring
43:06She has reunited people split by a border they never wanted between Namibia and Botswana
43:14And she has worked tirelessly with them for the last 15 years to help them where no one else would
43:23To start forging their own future
43:25She has really found her wild side by spending time with some truly wild people
43:33Nomads who have roamed these deserts for hundreds if not thousands of years
43:39She may have found her Prince Charming with his beautiful camp not too far away
43:44But they are both very wild spirited people living in a pretty wild part of the world
43:51You don't get wilder than that
43:54Look after yourself
43:55Safe journey
43:56Yeah
43:57Bye everyone
44:08Next time
44:09Ayo
44:10I travel to meet an Englishman who's longing for a simple life
44:16It ended up being like living in a
44:18It was like an open prison
44:21For me
44:24Led him to the mountains of Japan
44:27When I first discovered this place I thought wow
44:32Ben is there Thursday at 9
44:35And if the middle of nowhere looks appealing after that
44:37Join Nick Knowles who is lost in the Gobi Desert
44:40Brand new tomorrow at 9
44:42Or stream more tales of extreme living with Ben Fogel
44:45And new lives in the wild on 5
44:48Fair Dodgers at War with the Law is next
44:50Ane
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