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The first real secret I ever had began when I was twelve years old. I’m not talking about when someone tells you something and you keep it to yourself, it is when you know something or have seen something that no one else has, and telling someone about it takes away from your pleasure, from your secret. My secret happened at Lake Ngami.
The summer trips that my family took to Ngami Lake, which is the major lake in Botswana just north of the Kalahari Desert, became somewhat of a family ritual. It was an activity that just sort of happened on its own accord once every year and we all just seemed to be along for the ride.
My dad believed it was the fact that motor boats were not allowed on the lake, giving him sometime for peaceful fishing. My mom claimed that it was because it was never crowded, no matter when we went. Everybody entertained themselves. We were free to do whatever we wanted. It was agreed upon that Lake Ngami was our place, and anyone we brought up there was our guest.
Lake Ngami had many favourite visitors during the 19th and into the 20th century. David Livingstone described it as a “shimmering lake.” David made notes of the people staying in the area. Some people to this day don’t believe Mr Livingstone’s stories. He claimed that builders tried to build something and made a scaffolding. The scaffolding collapsed and the builders fell to the ground. Their skulls were cracked by the fall.
This story was always very intriguing to me; my Dad said there is nothing true about it. I decided to look around every time we got to the lake. I had to wait till my parents fell asleep at night. This was usually not very late as they were out and about all day.
I sneaked outside and started my journey through the bush. After walking fast for about an hour I smelt something. The smell was so different I still can’t explain it. I was trying to follow the smell. Something felt strange. The hair on the back of my neck started standing up! I felt a shiver...