culture

Meet the shy clicking San people of Namibia

On my second day in Namibia, I was introduced to a fascinating yet shy group of people called San people. Also known as the bushmen or Basarwa, they are the oldest inhabitants of southern Africa where they have lived for at least 20,000 years. While many San people have adapted to modern ways and no longer live the traditional lifestyle in Namibia,  it was fascinating to learn about their culture and see how they lived off the harsh African landscape and nature.  We listened to the chief of the group speak in the click language ‘Khoisan’ as he showed us how to hunt wildlife in the traditional San way using poison[…]

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Why the Samburu of Northern Kenya are called Butterfly People

The local people that live in Samburu National Park are called ‘ Butterflies’ because of the beautiful colourful clothes they wear. They are a proud race of semi-nomadic people who still maintain their warrior culture. Samburu also have a special and deep relationship with elephants. They believe that God created man and elephants as brothers and that elephants have special powers. Whenever they come across an elephant carcass, they’ll place pieces of grass or greenery on the skull of the animal as a sign of respect. According to legend, the first elephant who lived with Samburu as their brother was working with a[…]

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