Well, in turned out we had a great time and learnt a lot about traditional San culture, and it was obvious the local community was also very welcoming to this initiative and concept of a Living Museum.
Visiting the Ju’/Hoansi San in the Naye Naye Concession
Day 6: Divundu – Ju’/Hoansi San tribe, Naye Naye Concession
We drove from Divundu southwards towards Grootfontein, and just after the vet fence our GPS sent us east, onto a dirt road and deep into traditional Ju’Hoansi San tribal land.
The story of the displacement of these Indigenous people of Namibia became instantly obvious: large cattle farms followed one after another… This used to be the San people’s tribal land, but all gone and converted for commercial use.
Eventually the scenery turned more wild, and we started to see some wildlife rather than cattle. This was the area where the Ju’Hoansi San were settled, nowadays living in fairly basic small villages. Our destination was what is called a living-museum, an effort to preserve traditional culture, combined with low-impact tourism to generate some income for the local community. We were initially a little sceptical about what kind of experience this would be.
We arrived at the village before noon, where we met the local San guide to discuss the program. He explained where we could set up camp and that they would visit us early afternoon.
After lunch the San community came out in full force, men, lots of women, and children of all ages. Impressive, to say the least! It may be called a museum and these people actually live in basic brick-and-mortar houses rather than their traditional makeshift bush huts, but it really gave a very authentic feel. The guide and his assistant referred to themselves as “actors”, but also explained that their traditional daily life had not completely changed since settling in a permanent small village and that a lot of cultural practices still survive until today.
Day 7: Ju’Hoansi San – Halali Camp, Etosha National Park
We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise and a relaxed morning, without our usual early morning game drive. We had asked the San women to come see us before breaking up camp and move to our next destination.
And that was our visit to the Ju’/Hoansi San. It turned out really nice, and immersive. We learnt a lot about traditional San culture, and it was obvious the local community was also very welcoming to the initiative and concept of a Living Museum.
For a much more in-depth story, check out my photo essay about the Ju’/Hoansi San tribe.
Time to drive to our next destination, the Etosha National Park. It would be my third visit to the park, and I couldn’t wait to see again the larger elephant herds, the rhinos, giraffes, lions, and hopefully again cheetah. So far, I have seen them every visit to the park!
