Thought I'd post a link to a gallery of some of the photos I took the last time I was in Botswana.
Here is a link to the gallery:- http://img204.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=xhaseportrait54jv.jpg&cols=4
This gallery is of some bushmen we spent a day with whilst in the Kalahari. On a day to day basis they work as trackers at the nearby lodge. These are some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Quick to smile and constantly laughing and they are fantastic people to be around.
I'll just explain some of the photos so that you get an idea of what went on that day:-
Going out for a walk:-
Malaki dug a tuber (the type of plant escapes me at the moment ..... can anyone tell me?) out of the ground. After scraping away the outer skin he dug into the pulp inside rolled it into a ball and then squeezed it in his fist releasing a fluid (alot!) that he guided to his mouth using his thumb. I had a go and the water released was quite bitter and tasted of turnips!:-
He also took us to an area where he had previously hidden some some ostrich eggs that held water:-
He had buried them and the hole in the egg was plugged with some dry grass. He had to hide them quite deep underground as the animals can smell the water.
One thing that amazed me was that the area was quite flat and featureless (as you can see in the first photograph) with a low scrub. We walked for quite a while (an hour or two) and seemed to weave or way through the bush. After about 10 mins I was completely disorientated but they unerringly navigated their way to a single plant/trap that that they had set the day before more often than not they didn't even raise their heads as they were intently looking at the track and plants around them ...... built in GPS!
Here Malaki and Xhase set a spring trap:-
Preparing the fire stick:-
A scene many of you will be familiar with!:-
This was one of 2 methods they showed us. The second was using a small piece of flint that I picked up while we were out on the walk.
Here they are drilling holes in fragments of ostrich egg to make a necklace or bracelet:-
Showing off their hunting skills:-
Here Xhase hit my 0.5 liter water bottle (empty) that was a good 40 - 50 meters away ........ I thought that was quite a distance for such a small bow?!
I hope you enjoy the photos. Some aren't very good as it was about midday so the photos are quite dark!
I'm off to Tanzania in the next couple of weeks ): so hopefully will have more soon!
Here is a link to the gallery:- http://img204.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=xhaseportrait54jv.jpg&cols=4
This gallery is of some bushmen we spent a day with whilst in the Kalahari. On a day to day basis they work as trackers at the nearby lodge. These are some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Quick to smile and constantly laughing and they are fantastic people to be around.
I'll just explain some of the photos so that you get an idea of what went on that day:-
Going out for a walk:-
Malaki dug a tuber (the type of plant escapes me at the moment ..... can anyone tell me?) out of the ground. After scraping away the outer skin he dug into the pulp inside rolled it into a ball and then squeezed it in his fist releasing a fluid (alot!) that he guided to his mouth using his thumb. I had a go and the water released was quite bitter and tasted of turnips!:-
He also took us to an area where he had previously hidden some some ostrich eggs that held water:-
He had buried them and the hole in the egg was plugged with some dry grass. He had to hide them quite deep underground as the animals can smell the water.
One thing that amazed me was that the area was quite flat and featureless (as you can see in the first photograph) with a low scrub. We walked for quite a while (an hour or two) and seemed to weave or way through the bush. After about 10 mins I was completely disorientated but they unerringly navigated their way to a single plant/trap that that they had set the day before more often than not they didn't even raise their heads as they were intently looking at the track and plants around them ...... built in GPS!
Here Malaki and Xhase set a spring trap:-
Preparing the fire stick:-
A scene many of you will be familiar with!:-
This was one of 2 methods they showed us. The second was using a small piece of flint that I picked up while we were out on the walk.
Here they are drilling holes in fragments of ostrich egg to make a necklace or bracelet:-
Showing off their hunting skills:-
Here Xhase hit my 0.5 liter water bottle (empty) that was a good 40 - 50 meters away ........ I thought that was quite a distance for such a small bow?!
I hope you enjoy the photos. Some aren't very good as it was about midday so the photos are quite dark!
I'm off to Tanzania in the next couple of weeks ): so hopefully will have more soon!