Edwin, a fairly new guide to Sunway Safaris, however with years of experience as a guide in Zimbabwe tells us about the mysterious San people living in Botswana. He visited the San people whilst on the Cape Town to Victoria Falls Explorer tour. Other tours that visit the San people include:Cape Town to Victoria Falls Grand Explorer CVa21the camping Namibia Botswana Desert and Delta NB21and the accommodated Namibia & Botswana Southern Circle NBa21 that visit Namibia and Botswana.
We arrived at our camp at around 4pm. It is located in the central Kalahari district and is home to the oldest Southern African tribe people the “San”. As we walked into their home, they welcomed us positively with open hands, wearing their traditional regalia “animal skins”. After an hour of resting and settling into camp we were taken for a bush walk.
The wonderful clients we had on our trip all remarked how interesting this experience was for them. The San people showed us how they survive in the bush away from civilisation including some medicinal plants they use in treating different ailments. These were the best moments for our clients because they were interested in knowing how the San people survive naturally in the wild.
Besides the medicinal plants they also demonstrated how they light a fire using soft wood and hard wood without using modern lighters. Above all, the traditional utensils like the ostrich egg shells used for carrying water, was an awesome attraction for our clients. It was really wonderful seeing these people preserve their heritage and culture.
Below is a few interesting facts about these fascinating people:
There is approximately 90 000 San people. 55 000 in Botswana, 27 000 in Namibia, 10 000 in South Africa, less than 5 000 in Angola and 1 200 in Zimbabwe.
The language is broken into 3 different groups: Khoe, Kx’a and Tuu all of which are fairly similar sounding to the Western civilizations ear.
They have their own religion of which has mythical figures and resembles animals such as snakes, eland and caterpillars found in their region. Other related ethnic groups are: Khoikhoi, Xhosa, Basters and Griqua.
