One day Donna and I arranged, after our morning game viewing, to visit the local village.

As we were leaving the game reserve area, one of the other game reserve lodges was picking up some of the children of the village for their own game drive.

We were taken to a local preschool where we were entertained to our delight.

The songs were in English and the kids were unbelievably well behaved and respectful.

As we left we received a wonderful farewell.

The village road system was at best basic. Electricity just came to the village for years ago.

A wonderful singing group performed for us also. These guys were good.

Donna and I got a lesson in how to prepare the local cornmeal.

Here we take a stab at. I thought maybe if I did it every day for about 2 years I'd be good at it.

Pretty good for beginners.

The meal is then separated from the chaff which is served to the chickens.

The village was an incongruous mix of traditional huts and modern buildings.

We were treated to some of the local foods.

Donna with the kitchen staff.

We were hosted by the owner of this house.

The living quarters were surprisingly comfortable and clean.

The village is in a very arid area where recent rainfall has been 40 percent below its norm.

Our guide with his daughter and wife. He was well spoken and ambitious. Since apartheid has been relegated to history he sees his future as bright. He said his father could not imagine the opportunities that he has and he felt his daughter will have even greater opportunities. How wonderful!!!

None of the streets were paved.

Examples of the traditional huts were ever present.

Concrete and stucco buildings were also common.

The terrain was harsh. Most family's grew many crops themselves on their own property but this year's lack of rain limited the year's harvest greatly.

Once in a while you'd see a home like this. It was as nice as many you'd find in middle-class Florida.

The village was situated on several rolling hills.

This is one of the gates that allows passage through the fence that separates the game reserves from the rest of South Africa.

Our little plane was packed For our ride to " Jo 'burg".