Where They Went

The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)

Directed by Jamie Uys

When a Coca-Cola bottle dropped from a plane brings strife to his band in the Kalahari, Xi sets out on foot across Botswana to throw it off the edge of the world, crossing paths with a clumsy biologist, a new village teacher from Johannesburg and guerrillas fleeing a neighbouring state.

  • Travel shown
  • On foot, bike, skis or swimming
  • Not shown on screen
  • Fictional place
  1. 1Kalahari Desert, Botswana
    ≈ 00:00:00
    Stated on screen

    A bottle thrown from a plane lands among Xi's band, who treat it as a gift from the gods until it starts quarrels, so Xi decides to take it to the edge of the world.

  2. 2Johannesburg, South Africa
    ≈ 00:16:00
    Stated on screen

    Fed up with city life as a journalist, Kate quits to become a village teacher in Botswana.

  3. 3Biryani (fictional country)
    ≈ 00:20:00
    Stated on screenFictional

    Sam Boga's guerrillas attack a cabinet meeting in an attempt on the president's life and flee with the army after them.

  4. 4River crossing and bush camp
    Botswana
    ≈ 00:30:00
    Inferred

    Andrew's brakeless Land Rover stalls fording a river, forcing an awkward night camping some 30 miles short of the village, and next morning a safari guide takes Kate on.

  5. 5Kate's village school, Botswana (fictional)
    ≈ 00:48:00
    InferredFictional

    Kate starts teaching at the village school.

  6. 6Goat herd, court and jail
    Botswana
    ≈ 00:52:00
    Inferred

    Xi shoots a goat with a sleeping arrow, is arrested and gets three months in jail, a sentence Andrew and M'Pudi turn into work as their tracker.

  7. 7Andrew's field research in the bush
    Botswana
    ≈ 01:02:00
    Inferred

    Xi works as tracker on Andrew's wildlife fieldwork.

  8. 8Kate's village school, Botswana (fictional)
    ≈ 01:10:00
    InferredFictional
  9. 9Guerrillas' escape route
    Botswana
    ≈ 01:15:00
    Inferred
  10. 10Kate's village school, Botswana (fictional)
    ≈ 01:34:00
    InferredFictional
  11. 11The edge of the world (Xi's cliff, fictional)
    ≈ 01:40:00
    InferredFictional
  12. 12Kalahari Desert, Botswana
    ≈ 01:45:00
    Inferred

The journey in numbers

Distance travelled
2,190 km
Places
6
Countries
2
Stops
12
  • Not shown: 1,096 km
  • On foot: 942 km
  • Car: 152 km

Distances are measured in a straight line between stops, so real road distances are longer.

Spotted a mistake?

Every journey is checked against the film, but we can still get things wrong.