Page 90 - Discover Botswana 2021

Previous Pages: A spattering of rain Irecently picked up a book that I had been
sends a group of Ju/’hoansi San to shelter under a tree. A small harvest of edible food is stashed in animal skins to be shared later.
Above: The ability to control fire is what became one of the most important advancements for the San. Here, two men begin the task of starting a fire using rubbing sticks, friction and small amounts of kindling.
“First People”. They still use ancient click languages, and have intricate knowledge of their environment, available food sources, and medicinal values of plants. These, together with a wonderful social system of ancestral worship, speak of some of the last links connecting us to our ancient past.
The village of Xai Xai, set at the base of the Aha Hills in a remote part of north western Botswana, is well worth a visit. It is home to the Ju/’hoansi Bushmen who have lived, hunted and gathered here over time immemorial. In the present time, through modernisation, the people have settled here on a more permanent basis, but still rely on the bush for many plant- based protein sources, as well as foraging for plants that hold medicinal values.
Although the people do not usually move around in animal skins anymore, but rather in modern day dress, language, beliefs
90 www.discoverbotswanathebook.biz
wanting to read for some time: Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind, by author Yuval Noah Harari. Word by word and sentence after sentence, the author recounts the tale of the long
history of our past, played out here on earth under a sparkling milky way.
With our human roots firmly in Africa, our ancestors forged a way of life on the savannah plains mostly by gathering food from the bush, and later scavenging meat and marrow from predators. More recently – some 300 000 years ago, our ability to control fire for warmth and cooking meant that we could now soften food for digestion, prepare it faster, and have more time to develop other intricate social skills and languages.
Today, the Kalahari San are one of the last remnants of the people known as the