Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
This is not a commercialised or much visited tour. Dries Alberts, one of our members has lived and worked for the past 7 years with this tribe, so has built trust and friendship with these people.
Every tourist will contribute £ 10 per day towards the Tjokwe village and £ 5 per day towards the Nyae Nyae Conservancy. Thus, 10 % of the tour costs in total. Please note that this amount excludes activities like dances and bush food collection. If these activities are included, the percentage will increase to 20 %.
The Ju’hoansi are easy-living people. Tourists can dress in comfortable safari clothes that offer protection against UV radiation as sunlight is plentiful in this area. It is not recommended to show off jewellery as it might come across as showing off wealth. Our local Ju’hoansi guide will translate from Ju’hoansi to English and will provide, at the spot, all required information about the tribe, culture and beliefs. The cultural exchange will stretch through-out the tour via the local guide.
At the start and the end of the trip bungalows forms the main accommodation type. When living with the tribe we share their huts, or most likely get huts for our own use. Tents will be available for the “not so brave”. People will have to share. Each tour will differ regarding the environmental policies, depending on where our visitors decide to stay over. With the Ju’Hoansi tribe, nature forces them and the visitors to be environmentally friendly. Water is scarce so will not be wasted on cleaning or bathing; only for drinking and cooking purposes. No electricity is available. The only light will come from a fire in the evening. Waste recycling is a thing not known with the tribe, as they have no waste to recycle. If the visitors take other food with them, these tins and papers will be brought out again, and then placed in recycle bins in the nearest town. It is the same on our camping tours as well. All waste taken in is brought out again, and then recycled. With the Ju’hoansi, each village chief or headman is regarded as the custodian of his area, which includes all natural resources. Thus, he calls the shots on what may and what may not be harvested or used.
We only employ local Namibians. The guide is a local Namibian, and if any other staff is need these people is drawn from the tourism sector in Namibia. A local Ju’hoansi guide and translator will be hired from the village where the tour is hosted itself.
This tour is something of a novelty. Not many people ever try and do this. This in itself makes it very special. When walking with the Bushmen you will follow game trails where possible. Trying to gather food sometimes dictate that one must leave the game trails and walk into the bush itself. Since different trails are used for different purposes, impact is very low. The Ju’hoansi truly live off the land. They know quite well that if they jeopardize nature, they jeopardize their own way of life and subsequent future. This is the way they have lived for centuries and we will not attempt to change their way of life, nor would we even consider spoiling the beauty that is Bushmanland and Namibia in a whole. Leave only a footprint is the motto of the tour.
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