THE SAN BUSHMAN OF NAMIBIA

WEATHER: Oven HOT 34C

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Interacting with the San Bushman

BUMMER OF THE DAY: The heat I guess

BUYS OF THE DAY: My ostrich egg bracelet bought from the San Bushman for 8AUD

WORD OF THE DAY: What are the chances?

CAMP SITE RANKING: Awesome. Pool, HOT water, flushing toilets 6 out of 5 stars – Roy’s Camp

Today is one of the highlights for me to see the San Bushman.  Especially after hearing Ian speak about them in Mtopo, they really are a dying race, and I think, like the white rhino, that in the next half century there may not be any of them left and this is a sad reality and what we are going to experience is also a real life experience that not many people would get the opportunity to do.

An early start this morning, 5.30am wake up, 6.30am breakfast and on the road at 7am.  We only have 270km to travel today so not too much truck time.  We had a bitumen road for the first 2.5 hours, when we turned onto a sand road, which if we got stuck we were pre-warned that we may have to help push / dig out the truck, which after 40 minutes we made another turn onto a bumpy sandy road to get us to where we were to be met by the San Bushman guide.  Apparently we made good time on the road today (well done Ben and guys for no toilet stops) getting to the meeting point at 10.30am.  It is funny to think we have been up for 5 hours already and it’s only 10.30am.  WE all seem to be coping okay though and we are all in good spirits and the group is all getting along fine, which is great.

We were met by a young San Bushman, who will be our guide for the morning but more importantly our translator for the morning.  I knew that the San Bushman wore little clothing, but to actually see this young athletic man in an animal skin was a little, I don’t want to use the word shocking, but my western mind kicking in, was bold maybe?  I’m not sure, and then when we had to follow him, the animal skin didn’t cover his buttocks at all, it had a small piece of cloth down the middle of his bum crack.  So to paint a layman picture it was like a cow hide g bangger / thong.  We all couldn’t help but smile at each other to start with, and not in a disrespectful way, but a we didn’t expect that, but we did kind of way.  I know it makes no sense, but after following the butt cheeks for around 15 minutes, we got some decorum back and just accepted that this was their way of life, it was our ‘western’ attitudes making us act like dumb arses. Sean was talking to the young Bushman as we walked and they really are a small race, in their defence Sean is over 6ft but the bushman was lucky to come up to his shoulders.  It made for a great photo; maybe Sean should have donned an animal skin thong as well for a photo shoot?  Yeah maybe not……  Try and get that picture out of your head….. 

We had to walk to the small village where we were to meet our San Bushman and his tribe.  It was tough going as the whole area is sand, and we know how hard sand is to walk in.  Lucky it was only 1km, before we turned off and headed into the bush for a few more minutes before passing the outdoor shop that helps all sorts of handmade jewelry and handicrafts.  They were smart enough not to stop there till on the way back and we headed through some more bush to get to a small village that had 2 huts, 3 San Bushman women and 2 bushman.  The women were wearing animal skins on the lower parts of their body’s, covering their nether regions but they were nude from the waist up.  We were welcome to take photos of them all, but there was just something weird about taking pics of people half naked, and I personally didn’t want to make them feel like freaks or uncomfortable by snapping photos of them.  Most of the group felt the same way, so we tried to just take a few without over doing it.  At the end of the day, they know we are tourists and I am sure they see us more often than not, so they know what to expect but I feel there is still some form of photo etiquette that still needs to be followed right!?

The bushman showed us how they make fire and the most interesting part was that we finally got to hear the ‘click click’ language.  It is a truly fascinating language, with a click said every 4 or 5 word.  I just closed my eyes at one point just to listen to the main bushman say his thing and take in this amazing language.  The main Bushman who took us around was lucky to be 5ft.  He was a buff little guy, all muscle and no fat, also wearing an animal thong, he looked happy, had a weathered face and his skin looked as tough as nails.  At one point I asked how old he was, which the reply came back that he didn’t know.  This is the life they lead.  We walked around the bush with 2 of the woman and our bushman and translator for around 2 hours, he was showing us how and where they get their local medicines from, how they use them and what it cures, with ailments from tummy pains to tuberculosis.  He also showed us how they make traps to catch birds and other critters on the ground, and all they used was natural things from the ground, albeit he had a small piece of rope, but I guess that could have been made from a local tree.  He carried a small bag slung over his shoulder that had all his bits and pieces and he had what I would describe as an arrow bag, that carried his arrows, sticks and fire making sticks and a bow was attached to this.  That’s it – that was his life right there.  What a simple life.

We circled back to the village and when we got back there were more Bushman/ladies there to say hello.  They were all sitting on the ground on animal skins, just doing their thing.  There were females checking their hair, like monkeys do, making sure that there were no bugs, there were young children, who wore no clothes at all, and there were older women and men all just talking to each other, about us I am sure.   They were all smiling and seemed happy, with no cares in the world, and they may have some worries, but, it’s hard to explain, they just seemed at peace.  It sounds so cliché but that’s how it felt.  We were lucky when we got back that Ben had bought the truck up and lunch was being served under a massive tree that had plenty of shade, which was just as well as we were all starting to fad in the heat.  I know heat, I am from Darwin, but it was bloody HOT and I felt sorry for the English couple who seem to be really struggling with it all.

We also got a chance to finally get a look into the open air shop, where the San Bushman ladies have made jewelry from local materials.  It was a pretty cool set up, the ‘shop’ shelves were made all of branches and all the wares were just hanging off the branches.  Each piece had a name and price on, so the actual person who made the piece knows it was sold and I guess gets some cash back for it?  It was beautiful stuff, but three quarters of the goods were made of nuts and seeds, so lucky (or unlucky) that ruled out most of the shop for me, but I did manage to find a beautiful bracelet that looked like it was made from stone.  After I had paid and I was proudly showing off my new purchase I found out it was actually ostrich egg.  Hmmm I am not sure if that is any better than seeds, but it looks good and it only cost me 8AUD, so if I do lose it through a customs point somewhere it is not too much of a big deal.  There were woman also there showing us how they make one of the bracelets, and the amount of time it takes for them to cut out the bead, out a hole in it and thread it, paying only 8AUD doesn’t seem quite right with the amount of work that goes into each one.  Lisa gave the drilling a go, and it’s harder than it looks.  She did a good job though and the hole was the size of a pin.  Nice one Leese.  So the San Bushman experience was amazing and I think the main thing I take away is their click click language was just fascinating and also their way of life.  Maybe we all need to take a few leaves out of their book and re-introduce them back into our society.  They live a million miles away from our culture but are still happy without all the wang fangled things.  Something to ponder.

So after 3 hours and an awesome, and I have to say, another once in a life time experience we hit the road and headed for Roy’s Camp.  We only had to drive for an hour getting us into camp at 2.30pm.  It is nice to get in early, set up and then have some free time before cooking duties and/ or dinner.  As the weather has been so HOT, most sites the last few days have had pools, and Roy’s was no exception.  It was a great set up, the whole camp was signed and made up of old and second hand materials, it had a great ambience and the pool was no exception.  It had a bath tub waterfall into the pool, which was freezing, but we don’t care anymore how cold the water is, as we are so hot, it has come to the point where we don’t even feel the temperature of the water at all, we just strip off and jump in, and then suffer the cold consequences later.  It is funny to see the shock of the cold on people’s faces after they get in and Dave is a classic example.  It gives me a laugh every time I think of his face.  We got a few hours to chillax and after the pool, there was a green square near the camp, so we pulled out some tunes, bought some cold beers and just chatted the rest of the afternoon away.  It was amazing to just change pace and reflect on the day.  This is the life and TIA baby!!!

Low key dinner, with a night cap at the bar and into bed by 10.30pm.  We are all so tired, and it has to be the heat zapping all our energy, it really is hot during the day, but at night the temperature drops nearly 20C, so we have to make sure we are rugged up before going to bed.  It is interesting on how people handle the cold.  Manu has a sunvisor on the floor, then a Masai, then a sleeping bag.  Sean sleeps with just a Masai and the love blanket, Lisa lines her mattress with her Masai and then her sleeping bag and I just have my sleeping bag and my woolen blanket on top.  Well each to their own, as long as you stay warm and it works then we are all literally happy campers!!