I’m a Bushman and I Know my Country

Willie Phillips: his life in the Okavango Delta

Few people knew the vast Okavango Delta better than Willie Phillips. He first ventured into the swamps to hunt crocodile in 1958, aged only 22. Here he learnt the bush skills that would serve him well as the first non-white professional hunter in Botswana. He gained a reputation as competent, tough and quirky, and his clients returned regularly. He later became a conservationist, championing causes to protect his beloved Delta. His first job was as a bricklayer. Then he bought a truck, delivering goods along the sand tracks that passed as roads. With his second wife, he established the first commercial maize farm in the region. In 2004, he became an independent councillor to help the impoverished residents of Seronga, where he lived with his third wife and ran a mobile shop. Willie touched the lives of many and was widely loved and respected, though he was not without flaws. This book tells the story of his fascinating life, set in the context of the times - the end of the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland and the first four decades of independent Botswana.