GHANZI (Bots) San hunters-gatherers
Aug 16th, 2011, 03:40 PM
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Hi aby
We had a great experience in 2009 at Grassland Lodge near Ghanzi – I wrote about it in this trip report Affordable Botswana Part 2: the return trip http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...eturn-trip.cfm but I’ve copied it here again in case it’s of interest. As I said in the report I’m not generally keen on this type of 'cultural activity' but it was one of the most memorable things we’ve ever done and highly recommended.
_______________________________
I have to give a recommendation to Grassland Lodge.
grasslandlodge.com/
I first read about it in Predator Biologist’s report a while ago, (Predator Biologist: Grassland Bushman Lodge report, Posted by: PredatorBiologist on May 13, 2008 I think this is the link).
http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...dge-report.cfm
He’s covered just about all aspects of what to expect and I endorse everything he says, so I won’t repeat it, and he can give info on the lodge whereas we camped. So this is my experience:
Grassland Bushman Lodge is west of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and about 60km east of Ghanzi, along a sandy track, not too difficult but quite slow, it took us longer than anticipated, also because of the many farm gates we had to open/close (stopped counting at 15). Tip – volunteer to be the driver or you’ll be the one hopping in and out of the car endlessly. Most guests arrive by plane.
The Lodge is owned by the de Graff family, and Neeltjie and her husband Tiaan manage it now. She speaks fluent Naro bushmen and is a licensed guide who worked in the Delta for many years at Ker and Downey camps.
We had a very warm welcome from Neeltjie, I know it’s a fairly common experience for self-drivers to be treated like a bad smell by some lodges– get ‘em out of sight quickly’ – but Neeltjie couldn’t have given us a warmer welcome. We had a drink and a chat at the lodge before she explained where to camp and what activities we could do. She completely understood that camping in the bush was to us a luxury we can’t do elsewhere, more of a luxury than staying in a comfortable lodge.
The campsite is well away from the lodge (about 3 kms) and we were the only ones there – just how we like it. We had a lone wildebeest sleeping near the tent, he snored more than my husband, but it was comforting in a strange way!. There were 2 toilets and 2 showers in the open but screened off, with another sink in the open. There was a donkey boiler for hot water but we didn’t use it (wood was supplied) because we found that the sun warmed the water in the pipes enough to have a shower with warm water. Being in the open the showers were frequented by many birds, so there were a lot of droppings, but they were otherwise clean. They also had visitors of other types – I found a puff adder in the toilet area one day (next to my foot), which was probably a good thing because it reminded us not to be complacent about wandering around the bush. After that incident we always took a large stick along with us to bang on the ground and on the sides of the shower so that any other occupants were forewarned! (hubby had a similar experience at Kazikiini camp near Moremi when he’d approached the open shower quietly and a squirrel shot out and used his leg as a springboard, accidentally giving him quite a scratch – moral of story, make your approach known to allow the wildlife to make an exit!)
We’d chosen Grasslands because we could join in the activities on offer at the lodge - I’d mentioned in previous posts that I was frustrated about finding a place where you didn’t have to pay an excessive amount of money for accommodation and still find activities to do. We are willing to spend what it takes to experience something special (like a flight over the Okavango) but do not want to spend our time in Africa cosseted in a lodge, we want the sounds & smells of the bush! Grasslands fits the bill perfectly. I’m not sure they can always accommodate campers on activities if they have a max number of guests, but it’s worth asking when you book. They certainly need to know in advance if you want to do the Bushmen activities because they have to track down their Bushmen first! (I’ll say Bushmen because we asked about the correct terminology and they themselves are not offended by that term)
As Predator Biologist said, you do not see a great deal on the game drives, but for us it was good to be driven around for a change. The San driver showed us various plants and animal tracks when things got a bit slow.
However the Bushmen activities exceeded expectations, and judging from others’ reports I think we got the best experience going! This is particularly why I wanted to write about Grasslands – it’s worth going for the Bushman experience alone, and of course it generates income for them.
Neeltjie took us to see them on 2 occasions – once to their small temporary settlement to see them playing traditional games and dancing, and a second afternoon to follow them around whilst they gathered food and explained – through Neeltjie – how they use certain plants, then made a fire and cooked various items of bush food for us. We were extremely lucky to have what seemed like the whole community with us, the kids were not at school (“When do they go to school?” “When the truck comes for them” ) and joined in enthusiastically. They were gathering some food ‘for real’, not just for show, in fact it got quite late but we couldn’t make for home until they’d found a particular plant they wanted that day!
Photos again:
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/ShareL...localeid=en_GB
I am VERY wary of so-called ‘cultural experiences’, and usually find even the idea of them excruciatingly embarrassing. This was something totally natural and you didn’t feel that you were intruding, on the contrary they were so happy to be able to show guests their traditional ways, and got terribly offended if we didn’t take photos. We were the only guests with Neeltjie (as translator) on this activity, so it was truly personal and intimate. It was also good to hear that it’s a good day’s entertainment for them too, they did it with such good humour and obvious enjoyment . We agreed that it was the highlight of this trip.
One little point, Grassland Lodge does not accept credit cards at the moment (their bank won't allow them to) but that may change soon.
Needless to say the whole trip was a fantastic experience, and we wouldn’t hesitate to return and do the whole thing over again (maybe minus close encounter with puff adder!)
We had a great experience in 2009 at Grassland Lodge near Ghanzi – I wrote about it in this trip report Affordable Botswana Part 2: the return trip http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...eturn-trip.cfm but I’ve copied it here again in case it’s of interest. As I said in the report I’m not generally keen on this type of 'cultural activity' but it was one of the most memorable things we’ve ever done and highly recommended.
_______________________________
I have to give a recommendation to Grassland Lodge.
grasslandlodge.com/
I first read about it in Predator Biologist’s report a while ago, (Predator Biologist: Grassland Bushman Lodge report, Posted by: PredatorBiologist on May 13, 2008 I think this is the link).
http://www.fodors.com/community/afri...dge-report.cfm
He’s covered just about all aspects of what to expect and I endorse everything he says, so I won’t repeat it, and he can give info on the lodge whereas we camped. So this is my experience:
Grassland Bushman Lodge is west of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and about 60km east of Ghanzi, along a sandy track, not too difficult but quite slow, it took us longer than anticipated, also because of the many farm gates we had to open/close (stopped counting at 15). Tip – volunteer to be the driver or you’ll be the one hopping in and out of the car endlessly. Most guests arrive by plane.
The Lodge is owned by the de Graff family, and Neeltjie and her husband Tiaan manage it now. She speaks fluent Naro bushmen and is a licensed guide who worked in the Delta for many years at Ker and Downey camps.
We had a very warm welcome from Neeltjie, I know it’s a fairly common experience for self-drivers to be treated like a bad smell by some lodges– get ‘em out of sight quickly’ – but Neeltjie couldn’t have given us a warmer welcome. We had a drink and a chat at the lodge before she explained where to camp and what activities we could do. She completely understood that camping in the bush was to us a luxury we can’t do elsewhere, more of a luxury than staying in a comfortable lodge.
The campsite is well away from the lodge (about 3 kms) and we were the only ones there – just how we like it. We had a lone wildebeest sleeping near the tent, he snored more than my husband, but it was comforting in a strange way!. There were 2 toilets and 2 showers in the open but screened off, with another sink in the open. There was a donkey boiler for hot water but we didn’t use it (wood was supplied) because we found that the sun warmed the water in the pipes enough to have a shower with warm water. Being in the open the showers were frequented by many birds, so there were a lot of droppings, but they were otherwise clean. They also had visitors of other types – I found a puff adder in the toilet area one day (next to my foot), which was probably a good thing because it reminded us not to be complacent about wandering around the bush. After that incident we always took a large stick along with us to bang on the ground and on the sides of the shower so that any other occupants were forewarned! (hubby had a similar experience at Kazikiini camp near Moremi when he’d approached the open shower quietly and a squirrel shot out and used his leg as a springboard, accidentally giving him quite a scratch – moral of story, make your approach known to allow the wildlife to make an exit!)
We’d chosen Grasslands because we could join in the activities on offer at the lodge - I’d mentioned in previous posts that I was frustrated about finding a place where you didn’t have to pay an excessive amount of money for accommodation and still find activities to do. We are willing to spend what it takes to experience something special (like a flight over the Okavango) but do not want to spend our time in Africa cosseted in a lodge, we want the sounds & smells of the bush! Grasslands fits the bill perfectly. I’m not sure they can always accommodate campers on activities if they have a max number of guests, but it’s worth asking when you book. They certainly need to know in advance if you want to do the Bushmen activities because they have to track down their Bushmen first! (I’ll say Bushmen because we asked about the correct terminology and they themselves are not offended by that term)
As Predator Biologist said, you do not see a great deal on the game drives, but for us it was good to be driven around for a change. The San driver showed us various plants and animal tracks when things got a bit slow.
However the Bushmen activities exceeded expectations, and judging from others’ reports I think we got the best experience going! This is particularly why I wanted to write about Grasslands – it’s worth going for the Bushman experience alone, and of course it generates income for them.
Neeltjie took us to see them on 2 occasions – once to their small temporary settlement to see them playing traditional games and dancing, and a second afternoon to follow them around whilst they gathered food and explained – through Neeltjie – how they use certain plants, then made a fire and cooked various items of bush food for us. We were extremely lucky to have what seemed like the whole community with us, the kids were not at school (“When do they go to school?” “When the truck comes for them” ) and joined in enthusiastically. They were gathering some food ‘for real’, not just for show, in fact it got quite late but we couldn’t make for home until they’d found a particular plant they wanted that day!
Photos again:
http://www.kodakgallery.co.uk/ShareL...localeid=en_GB
I am VERY wary of so-called ‘cultural experiences’, and usually find even the idea of them excruciatingly embarrassing. This was something totally natural and you didn’t feel that you were intruding, on the contrary they were so happy to be able to show guests their traditional ways, and got terribly offended if we didn’t take photos. We were the only guests with Neeltjie (as translator) on this activity, so it was truly personal and intimate. It was also good to hear that it’s a good day’s entertainment for them too, they did it with such good humour and obvious enjoyment . We agreed that it was the highlight of this trip.
One little point, Grassland Lodge does not accept credit cards at the moment (their bank won't allow them to) but that may change soon.
Needless to say the whole trip was a fantastic experience, and we wouldn’t hesitate to return and do the whole thing over again (maybe minus close encounter with puff adder!)
Aug 23rd, 2011, 02:04 PM
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Thanks tockoloshe!
sorry for my late reply, but i'm in Namibia & missed wi-fi for a while
thanks for taking the time to write these informative remarks
i do understand your attitude towards <so-called ‘cultural experiences’>
cheers
aby
sorry for my late reply, but i'm in Namibia & missed wi-fi for a while
thanks for taking the time to write these informative remarks
i do understand your attitude towards <so-called ‘cultural experiences’>
cheers
aby
Aug 23rd, 2011, 02:13 PM
#5
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Lynn
it so happened this summer, that i have an especially ight "series"
started in Alaska + rockies (& a week in the big apple where i haven't been for more than 40 years!!...) now Namibia & a bit of Botswana, then scheduled to costa rica + Galapagos
(so i've given up east africa in October)
it so happened this summer, that i have an especially ight "series"
started in Alaska + rockies (& a week in the big apple where i haven't been for more than 40 years!!...) now Namibia & a bit of Botswana, then scheduled to costa rica + Galapagos
(so i've given up east africa in October)
Aug 31st, 2011, 06:19 PM
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Lynn: i meant "tight" (tight schedule)
tokoloshe: i'm at Ghanzi. i've just had a day that started with a scenic flight over Okavango delta and ended with a San gathering near Ghanzi
Grassland was way off my route...
tokoloshe: i'm at Ghanzi. i've just had a day that started with a scenic flight over Okavango delta and ended with a San gathering near Ghanzi
Grassland was way off my route...
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