Meet the Community
Your stay at Nhoma is centred around the interaction with the village. Activities depend on what individual people are doing, such as cooking, making crafts, preparing hides, making hunting equipment such as quivers or arrows. Traditional games and dances will also be played on one of the two afternoons.
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Bush Walk / Hunt
Guests accompany three or four Ju/'hoan San hunters in the wild.
During your bush experience you will learn about
- collecting and eating bush foods
- medicinal plants
- building traps
- fire making
- surviving without water
- identification of animal tracks
Depending on season, rain year and availability.
The finding of a bee's nest is just as important as hunting an animal. The traditional medicinal use of different plants are also highlighted along the way. The walk does not follow a fixed route and the intensity/ duration of the hunt can be adapted to guests' physical abilities. The making of fire by various methods and other survival techniques, such as making rope and setting traps as well as finding plants to provide water are demonstrated during the course of the day.
If fresh tracks are found, the walk will turn into a hunt. The chances of killing an animal are rare, although the walk is very entertaining and showcasing the broad bush survival skills. If any animal is killed, all parts of it are utilised.
There is lots of interaction between the hunters and the visitors. Your local guides will accompany the walk to translate and try to answer all questions during your excursion.
Usually the hunters take you along for a full morning. If the hunt turns out to be successful the return will be considerably delayed. During rain season hunting might be postponed or cancelled due to precipation.
Healing Dance
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A healing dance is a social affair as well as an important curing ceremony.
The giraffe or elephant dances are usually performed when somebody in the village is ill. The "owners of medicine" (n/umkxaosi) use the dance to heat their n/um (the power to heal), to reach a state of consciousness where they can communicate with their ancestors, asking them not to bring bad things onto the community. In this state, they can see things they can't normally see and are able to pull the arrows of sickness out of a sick person.
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Although the community is asked to dance for the tourists, it still serves the purpose of curing the ill and is attended by most villagers. It is the expression of their religious beliefs and for this reason we cannot force the community to perform it. The chances of experiencing it is good when staying more than one night.
The actual activities may vary from the descriptions above due to variables such as weather conditions, decisions of the Ju/'hoan community around whose lives the activities are centred, and possible emergencies.
We do our best to keep the programme interesting and the guests engaged. Activities usually start at 3 pm in winter and 4 pm in summer.
Late arrivers will be catered for.
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