A Walk With the Bushmen

We spend Monday evening on a walk through the bush with Felix and Rion.  They are here to share with us the history of their ancestors, the San Bushman.  The San Bushman are some of the oldest inhabitants of our planet and today are mostly found in the Kalahari region.  Their belief systems are quite superstitious when compared with the  advancement of science today and yet they had amazing survival skills that enabled them to live off the land, taking only what they needed.

It is interesting to learn how they hunted with poisoned arrows, using different potions and varieties of poison, depending on their prey.  They set traps that did not harm the animal so if they had a big kill, they could for example let a smaller prey (such as a porcupine) free. 

They were a nomadic group of people and often the entire village would move to the location of the next big kill once such an animal was brought down.  This could be anything from a giraffe to an elephant.  They left their houses behind so the next clan to come around could make use of their huts.

Making fire is of course one of the key survival skills, and Rion and Felix demonstrate just how easy it is to get a fire going with a few blades of grass and a stick!  That day at dinner, Sarah gives this technique a go and is delighted to find that after about 15 minutes of hard work, she has a fire!

The bushman had interesting mating rituals.  A woman was given a present of arrows dipped in honey.  If she accepted it and started eating it, the man who presented her would shoot her with little arrows.  If she broke the arrow in two, it meant she was rejecting his advances but if she accepted it, then he was in luck!

It is fun to be out in the bush with the boys and here about their traditions.  We are amazed these traditions have withstood the test of time, especially that of using a witch doctor.  Most Africans here would still visit a witch doctor and believe in the power of voodoo to cure their ailments and bring them luck.  The sun is setting and it is time to head back for dinner.  We have had another lesson from the African Continent.

 ‘If you want to hit home runs, you’ve got to be willing to take some calculated risks and be prepared to strike out.’