<P> Set in Botswana, it follows the story of Xi, a San of the Kalahari Desert (played by Namibian San farmer Nǃxau ǂToma) whose tribe has no knowledge of the world beyond, Andrew Steyn (Marius Weyers), a biologist who analyzes manure samples for his PhD dissertation, and Kate Thompson (Sandra Prinsloo), a newly hired village school teacher . </P> <P> Xi and his San tribe of Ju' / Hoansi bushmen are living happily in the Kalahari Desert . One day, a glass Coca - Cola bottle is thrown out of an airplane and falls to Earth unbroken . Initially, Xi's people suppose this strange artifact is another "present" from the gods and find many uses for it . But unlike anything that they have had before, there is only one glass bottle to share . Because of the conflict it causes, Xi confers with elders and agrees to make a pilgrimage to the edge of the world and dispose of the supposedly cursed thing . </P> <P> Along the way, he encounters a diverse assortment of people, such as: biologist Andrew Steyn, who is studying the local animals; Kate Thompson, the newly hired village school teacher; a band of guerrillas led by Sam Boga, who are being pursued by government troops after an unsuccessful attack; a safari tour guide named Jack Hind; and Steyn's assistant and mechanic, M'pudi . </P> <P> When Xi, hungry, happens upon a corral, he shoots a goat with a tranquilizer arrow, but is caught and jailed . M'pudi, who once lived with the San and still speaks Xi's language, concludes that Xi will die if kept incarcerated . He and Steyn apply to employ Xi as a tracker for the remainder of his sentence in lieu of prison . Meanwhile, the guerrillas invade Kate's school and take her and the students as human shields for their escape to the neighboring country . </P>

Where was the gods must be crazy filmed