Ghanzi Trailblazers Ghanzi Botswana

Why Visit Ghanzi Trailblazers? Due to enormous economic and social pressures, the San lifestyle and culture has been all but destroyed. Julian Butler, a local businessman, realizing this, set aside a former cattle ranch in Ghanzi in order to recreate an authentic hunter/gatherer community of the San/Bushman.

email: ghanzi@go.botswanatravelservice.com

Ghanzi Trail Blazers caters for visitors wishing to have a genuine glimpse of this fast disappearing unique and ancient culture. We offer a number of activities to interact with the San/Bushman, and to discover how the San/Bushman survived in the Kalahari.

The San/Bushman have few educational skills to survive total domination by Western political and social culture. Ghanzi Trail Blazers offers them an opportunity to utilise their own specialised skills in a work environment at which they are totally at home. Your support of this ecotourism venture gives the San/Bushman a sustainable income and helps keep their culture alive.

Accommodation at Ghanzi Trailblazers Ghanzi

Accommodation is in recreated San/Bushman grass huts, which have been suitably modified for your comfort. The huts have stretchers with mattresses, lights and mosquito nets. There are communal ablutions with flush toilets and hot showers.

Meals are mainly traditional South African cuisine, mostly braai's (barbecues) and potjies (casseroles). Conventional Western-style food can be made on request. You may sample traditional Bushman cuisine as well, if your stomach is strong enough.
A bar is available for the thirsty.

What to do at Ghanzi Trail Blazers:

Accompany a small band of Bushman, men and women, with a translator, as they go about a number of their traditional activities.

Around the campfire at night, you can experience the ancient dance rituals of the San/Bushman. On special occasions this could be a healing or trance dance, which can continue all night, and is an intense spiritual experience for both participants and visitors alike.

What to Bring when visiting Trail Blazers:

A very warm sleeping bag and pillow, if we are not providing linen.
Mosquito repellent.
Personal toiletries and towel.
Sun Hat.
Swimwear.
Walking shoes or boots.
Long trousers for riding.
Riders should bring their own hard hats, if they wish.
Warm clothing for winter nights and early mornings.
Cool clothing for daytime.
Comfortable walking shoes or boots.

We experience extreme temperature changes in winter (0-25 degrees Celsius).
Any special dietary requirements should be advised. Maximum weight for horseback riders is 95kg.


Activities:

Accompany a small band of Bushman, with an interpreter, as they go about a number of their traditional activities:
Awake to the birdcalls of the Kalahari and prepare yourself for another day in the bushveld.

our guides will be the San/Bushman women. Accompanied by an interpreter, they will give you a glimpse of how the San adapted to the Kalahari Desert, by gathering an astounding array of edible foods, medicinal roots, and other veld products.
The Hunter-Gatherer life of the San/Bushman has all but disappeared. There are few remaining Bushman who still retain the survival skills of their ancient way of life.

During the walk, your San/Bushman guides, through an interpreter, will share their rich heritage of accumulated knowledge that makes the San/Bushman masters of this harsh environment, helping you to learn about the botany of your surroundings.

The San/Bushman men's hunting, tracking and trapping skills are fascinating and offer some clues as to how they were able to survive and unlock the secrets of the Kalahari Desert. The San/Bushman women will gather an astounding array of edible foods, medicinal roots and other surprises. This intimate knowledge of survival in a harsh but natural environment, which has been lost to us, remains a reminder of all humankind's evolution.

The walk is a slow meander through the bushveld, for about an hour and a half, of not more than four kilometres. All ages, from six years on will be able to enjoy the experience. In the summer, the best time for the walks are either early morning around seven or late afternoon around four-thirty or five. In winter, the best time for the walks, are either late morning around nine or ten or mid afternoon around four.

Horse riding:

Horse rides for experienced horseman only. The horse are farmed trained and mainly ridden by Bushman. These horses do not respond well to inexperienced riders, semi experienced riders or people, who think they can ride. The ride will last approximately an hour and a half.

Inexperienced riders can be led through the Kalahari sandveld, seeing the natural landscape from the view that the earliest settlers of the Kalahari enjoyed, on horseback.

The experienced riders can pit their horse skills against the Bushman, who have mastered the equestrian art, since the introduction of horses to the Ghanzi District in the late eighteen hundreds.
Experienced riders are allowed to ride, where they wish, with a guide.

The maximum number of riders per guide is six and all riders will need to sign an indemnity form.

Swimming at the old quarry:

Enjoy a swim at the 'gat', with the bream, in the crystal clear waters purified by the Kalahari sand. The 'gat' is a man made quarry, about ten minutes ride from Xana Camp.

Packed or cooked lunches can be served, on request, in the shade of the old rock walls, where you may be lucky to find a 600 million year old arkosic fossil.

Traditional dancing with the San:

At sunset, you will arrive back at the Xana village after your guided walk, and enjoy a refreshing hot shower. A traditional campfire dinner will be served after which you can witness the ancient dancing rituals of the San.

These dances are not only a celebration of life but are also a means of passing on historic folklore from generation to generation.
The dances have probably not changed in the last 20 000 years of San/Bushman culture.

The harmonizing and nuances of this music is initially disturbing to the Western ear, but with careful listening, gains a fluidity and resonance, which is tranquil to the mind.

Ghanzi Trail Blazers is located far enough away from the main road to enjoy the real African bushveldt (approximately 4km).