Wild Waters in the Blood: Nkashi Demystifies Poling

Poling is a fundamental component of the traditional mode of travel via mokoro. To consider one without the other is to only consider the chicken or the egg. Needless to say, there’s often more attention paid to the novel luxury of travelling in dugout canoes than is given to the skill of being a noteworthy conductor. In the 2023 feature-length documentary film, Nkashi: Race for the Okavango , not only is the art of poling given prime real estate in the narrative; so too are the people and their cultures and traditions whose prosperity is intrinsically woven with the wild waters of the Okavango. [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type="show" ihc_mb_who="1,2,3,4" ihc_mb_template="1" ] Born out of the collaborative efforts of National Geographic Society and De Beers through their award-winning Okavango Eternal partnership, the Setswana-medium film is set in Ngamiland and offers an earnest peek into the ways of these waters. The Okavango Basin has been the focus of the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project (NGOWP) since 2015. The project was established with the intention of securing permanent and sustainable protection for the basin – which is a main source of water for an estimated 1 million people between Angola, Botswana, and Namibia. The multinational scope of the project furthermore inspired the formation of the multidisciplinary Okavango Eternal Partnership in 2021. In going beyond idyllic mythmaking about the people and the well-being of the Okavango ecosystems, the partnership drives for conservation research, data gathering, and innovative monitoring. Through the disbursement of grants and support for trainings, local researchers are also capacitated to stand as leaders in the process – which is slated for a first run of five years. Leading by example in the production of Nkashi – named after the poler’s lengthy steering rod deftly carved for its crucial purpose – are two Batswana who bear the mantle of being National Geographic Explorers along with NGOWP Director, Steve Boyes. Koketso Seipeleng Mookodi, NGWOP Country Director, joins seasoned photographer and journalist, Thalefang Charles, who served as a producer on the documentary project on top of his role as the Storytelling Manager at NGOWP. For a number of years, a team – comprising Charles; Executive Producer and Vice President of the National Geographic Society Impact Story Lab, Vanessa Serrao; Director and Producer, Sarah Joseph, PhD; and Editor and Producer, Dustin Sylvia – pooled their creativity together along with Batswana filmmakers and local production company, Parable Motion, to cast light upon three stories of will, strife and perseverance directly from the Okavango Delta. It is through the experiences of polers Gobonamang Kgetho, Tjadza Tapologo and Nkeletsang Moshupa that viewers are introduced to the ways of life in the area, and to the ‘Nkashi Classic’ competitive mokoro race founded by Botswana Wild Bird Trust in 2018. This event was created to bridge the worlds of sporting, cultural preservation and tourism promotion in a manner akin to the harmonious yet fragile biodiversity of the delta. Moshupa emerged the inaugural champion. The uniqueness of the Okavango Delta isn’t lost on the locals we meet in the documentary. On the contrary, their consciousness and celebration of its importance to their traditional ways of life and modern means to eke out an existence dispel illusions that they are people merely looking to be saved. “The waters are drying up,” says a troubled Kgetho, remarking that raising awareness about this and other pertinent issues “is why we race”. In inscribing the Okavango Delta to its World Heritage List in 2014, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) acknowledged what the locals have honoured for generations to-date. Of the 26,000 employees in the travel and tourism industry nationwide, as reported by World Travel and Tourism Council in 2019, someone from the villages of Seronga, Toromoja or Jao Flats, like the three protagonists respectively, isn’t – if they can come by employment at all based in what they’ve grown up knowing – assured of comfortable going when at work. “Poling requires bravery,” reminds Tapologo who learned how to pole in order to attain a guide license. “But because life is tough, you do whatever you can get your hands on because if you just sit, you won’t survive.” As one of few women who hold a specialist guide licence in the area, she is in a position to inspire others who see her at work as she offers her guests bespoke experiences. In 2021, a trio of poling women joined the rigorous NGOWP research expedition into the delta – Tapologo was a constituent in both the 2021 and 2022 transects. Mookodi and her team have shown their steadfast support and unshakable belief in the building of community pride as a means of augmenting the nature of stories told about the Okavango Delta and its communities. Through the ‘Educators Expedition’ project, which she founded, Mookodi seeks to move on-site learning into the classrooms and curricula that educators in Ngamiland disseminate, through sensitising them “to the natural and cultural heritage of the Okavango Delta through science, research, and indigenous knowledge”. It comes as no surprise, then, that when the team ideated what the documentary’s world premiere would entail, they sought to bring it home as they did in the languaging and presentation. Maun and Gaborone played hosts to exhilarating premieres on March 7 th and 9 th respectively. Botswana Television’s BTV 1 channel aired the global television debut while the cast and crew were treated to an elegant presidential affair with the attendance of Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, President of Botswana, at the Gaborone launch. With the Nkashi Classic having made its return in 2022, the expectation is that this film will galvanise people in Botswana and across the world to not only advocate for the sustainable, holistic protection and conservation of the Okavango Basin, but also move them to want to experience the craft of poling first hand. As some continue to race to save the waters in their blood, it is hoped that they may continue to flow and give life for generations to come. [/ihc-hide-content]

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Wild Waters in the Blood: Nkashi Demystifies Poling

With the Nkashi Classic having made its return in 2022, the expectation is that this film will galvanise people in Botswana and across the world to advocate for the holistic protection and conservation of the Okavango Basin and move them to want to experience the craft of poling first-hand

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Wild Waters in the Blood: Nkashi Demystifies Poling

With the Nkashi Classic having made its return in 2022, the expectation is that this film will galvanise people in Botswana and across the world to advocate for the holistic protection and conservation of the Okavango Basin and move them to want to experience the craft of poling first-hand

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