THE BUSHMEN

The next day, it was off to visit the Bushmen. It all sounds quite exciting to head out into the bush and camp with a local tribe that uses the click language still but unfortunately I think there are very few of those left. In reality we turned off the main road at a sign posting that said “Come experience a living Bushman village – 6km” with an arrow. We bounced down the dirt and sand road for the 6km only to arrive at another sign posting that said “Wait for your guide here.” and had a list of activities that could be done while in the “bush”. We were greeted by two men and a woman wearing western clothes and told to wait. About 15 minutes later, the same three returned wearing various animal skins draped over their bodies and carrying bows, arrows and crudely fashioned axes. They then took us on a little tour of the bush and showed us the plants that they use for medicine and to eat. It was actually quite interesting but still felt very contrived given that after the tour of the bush, we were invited, for a $7 USD fee, to visit the “Nowadays Village”, which is really how they live. There was a selection of other activities we could watch them do (jewellery making, hunting, marriage ceremonies) that afternoon as well, but all with a fairly hefty price tag attached so we all opted to enjoy a lazy afternoon of relaxing.

Had a fun night of watching the bushmen dance, or really, watching them shake their butt cheeks at us – looked like Jello being furiously jiggled – and toasting marshmallows over the fire. Hoping to sleep under the stars that night, Jules (tent mate) and I fashioned a very crude cover out of tent poles and mosquito netting. Just our luck, it started to sprinkle around 3:00am and we were up, along with everyone else, sorting out how to stay dry. While the camp area rang with people hammering in pegs for their rain covers, Jules and I simply picked up our contraption and carried it under the awning pulled off of the truck that had been put up for shade earlier in the day and fell happily back to sleep.