Ju/’Hoansi San Tribe
Namibia & South Africa, July – August 2024
Day 6 – Jul 16: Divundu – San tribal village, Otjozondjupa Region
Today was going to be a unique cultural experience, a visit to a traditional Ju/’Hoansi San tribal village. The San people, or Bushmen, are the indigenous hunter-gatherer people of southern Africa, and amongst the oldest cultures on earth. They speak the unique Khoisan language, which has “click” consonants; an impossible language to speak for anyone but the San! San were traditionally semi-nomadic, moving seasonally throughout their large homelands, based on the availability of resources such as water, game animals, and edible plants. The San people became particularly famous after the 1980 comic movie “The Gods Must be Crazy”.
There are many different San cultures in Southern Africa, and in the remote Northeast of Nambia, close to the border with Botswana, live the Ju/’Hoansi San. One of the San communities has opened its community to visitors, to share their unique culture in an effort to help preserve it.
So after a relaxed last morning at the Kavango river we packed up and drove over the tar road back towards Grootfontein. Right after passing the vet fence a large dusty gravel road led us east towards Botswana, into the homelands of the Ju/’Hoansi San people. But not before passing dozens of large cattle farms, which must all have been on originally a much larger area where the San used to live… What a contrast!
Upon arrival we were greeted by a very nice indigenous San guide, who brought us to our camp site and discussed the upcoming planned activities: foraging for food, explaining the use of many different trees and plants, making fire, bows and arrows, traditional jewelry and a demonstration of a healing ceremony.
We first had lunch and a bit of time to relax, before our guide and the entire local San community came to our camp to pick us up and walk with them into their bush… We were super excited!
We had such a great time with the San, how incredibly friendly and hospitable, eager to share a little about their culture and traditions. We celebrated our time with some traditional dance and of course some sweets we had brought for them.
Day 7 – Jul 17: San tribal village – Etosha National Park
Waking up at our camp was one of our more serene and relaxed mornings..! Time to prepare ourselves for our next destination, the world famous Etosha National Park!
