"Hello, nice to meet you! My name is Bohlale. I am 8 years old. How old are you?"

"This is my family. I am the youngest and my Gogo is the oldest. I have one older brother. He is two years older than me. I also have a sister. She is three years older than my brother. Can you figure out how old they are?"

Bohlale's siblings are all allowed to go to the mountains to collect fruit or for hunting and to go to the river. She would love to do it as well, but everyone always tells her that she is too young, too small, too weak and not brave enough yet.

Tonight she is lying in bed. She is sad because nobody believes in her.
Her Gogo comes into the room. She tells Bohlale to always believe in herself.
"Good night!"

She falls asleep and starts dreaming.
In her dream she finds a bottle. In that bottle Bohlale finds a message! The message says…

"If you want to be brave, go to the highest mountain of them all. There you will find a special drink. One sip of that drink will make you the bravest girl in the world. The map above will show you the way. Good luck!"

Bohlale thinks, "But I am not as wise as my Gogo. I am not as strong as my brother. I am not as brave as my sister. I could never make it on my own. But if I find this drink, then I can do anything just like my Gogo says!"

She starts her adventure by following the map. 50 steps straight ahead. Count with her: "1, 2, 3, …

…, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 steps! Oh no a river! How could I ever make it on the other side? I think I need to give up, because I cannot swim." She wants to turn around. But then she sees a leaf floating on the water and has an idea.

"I could build a raft!" Bohlale finds 5 dead tree branches. How many more branches does she need, to build a raft with a total of 11 branches?
After building the raft she is able to cross the river without swimming!

Bohlale crosses the river. Where does Bohlale have to go next? Have a look at the map.

Bohlale turns left. After 100 steps, she cannot see the highest mountain anymore. "Oh no, I am lost!" she says to herself with tears welling up in her eyes. "I will never find the way to the mountain. I think I have to give up, because I am too small." She wants to turn around, but then she has an idea.

The giraffe can see the mountain because it is very tall. Bohlale thinks of what Gogo told her and starts climbing the tree. When she is at the top of the tree, she is nearly as tall as a giraffe! Now she can see how far away the mountain is.

Bohlale climbs down from the tree. After 200 steps she gets to the foot of the mountain. "Oh no! A cave with scary eyes looking at me! How could I ever make it through this cave? I think I need to give up because I am too scared." She wants to turn around, but then she has an idea.

She realises that these scary eyes are only fireflies. They could help her guide the way through the cave.

After walking for a long time, she finally arrives on top of the mountain. Do you know how many steps Bohlale made in total?
"I can see the special drink of bravery!" Bohlale grabs it, opens it and wants to drink it, but then…

"Good mooooorning!" says Gogo.
Bohlale does not know where she is. Oh no! It was just a dream.
Bohlale tells Gogo about her dream. In the end Bohlale says, "I could not take a sip of the special drink. So, I am still not as wise as you are. I am still not as strong as my brother and I am still not as brave as my sister."

Gogo smiles and says, "Oh my Nana. You are telling me that you are not brave enough? Then how did you cross the river? How did you find your way to the mountain? How did you walk through the scary cave?
You do not need to take a sip of that special drink, because you ARE brave!"

1. How many siblings does Bohlale have?
2. What was in the bottle that she found in the
dream?
3. How did Bohlale cross the river?
4. Which animal gave Bohlale the idea to climb a tree?
5. Which animals did Bohlale find in the cave?
6. What did she find on the top of the mountain?
7. What did we learn from her dream?