These beautiful Boabab trees are all over Bushmanland. Baobab trees frequently live for 1,000 - 3,000 years. The Afrikaans name for the baobab is Kremetart, a corruption of 'cream of tartar' tree.
Out gathering Veld foods
San men making their traditional arrows
Bushmanland is a conservancy for the San Bushman. Tsumkwe is a small settlement in Bushmanland in the northeastern section of Namibia, about 40 kilometres from the border of Botswana and 60km south of the Kaudom Game Park. The nearest reasonably big town is Grootfontein, which lies 250 km to the west.
The people: The San or Bushmen villagers
Here, amidst vegetated, fossil dunes, the Ju/'hoansi !Kung Bushman (sometimes simply called the 'Kung') lives, scattered around in small villages. These are Bushmen of the Kalahari, also known as the San Bushmen.
The conventional view is that less than a century ago these people's ancestors were a traditional hunter-gatherer society using Stone Age technology. Yet they possessed a knowledge of their environment that we are only just beginning to understand.
Their understanding of their natural environment is amazing to witness, and their survival skills are beyond belief for many Westerners. In placing a high value on traditional skills and knowledge, it is hoped that it will help to stem the erosion of their cultural heritage.
Wildlife in Bushmanland
The wildlife is a major attraction – centred largely, but not exclusively, on Khaudom National Park (see below). During the late dry season, around September and October, game gathers in small herds around the pans. During and after the rains, from January to March, the place comes alive with greenery and water. Birds and noisy bullfrogs abound, and travel becomes even more difficult than usual, as whole areas turn into impassable floodplains. From April the land begins to dry, and during July and August, the daytime temperatures are at their most moderate and the nights cold. But whenever you come, don't expect to see vast herds like those in Etosha or you will be disappointed.