In 2020, Shamwari Private Game Reserve will expand its offering by opening a unique Indigenous San Tracking Experience where guests will be able to enjoy insights into the ancient wisdom and skills of San hunter-gatherers during a specialized two-day trail adventure.
Pairs of renowned Ju/’hoansi trackers from Nyae Nyae in remote north-eastern Namibia will be teaming up with Shamwari guides to offer something really special. The Ju/’hoansi are the last of the San people in Southern Africa who still command the full suite of hunter-gatherer skills.
In January, two of the very best, Master Trackers /ui-Kxunta and /ui-G/aqo, will join with Shamwari’s own skilled rangers on the first trail, limited to a maximum of six guests on each excursion.
Joe Cloete, CEO of Shamwari Private Game Reserve says, “We can imagine no better way to experience the African wilderness than on foot with these custodians of ancient wisdom and unsurpassed skills of tracking and bushcraft. This is a rare opportunity and one to be seized upon and treasured: tracking in the bush with custodians of millennia-old skills, combined with unsurpassed luxury at an Explorer Bush Camp,” says Cloete.
Dates of the Specialized Explorer Trails
Only a handful of bookings are available:
28 – 30 January 2020
31 January – 02 February 2020
14 – 16 April 2020
17 – 19 April 2020
About Explorer Camp
This unique Indigenous San Tracking Experience is available from R8000 per person, per night sharing at Shamwari’s Explorer Camp.
Explorer Camp takes guests on a guided walking safari of the surrounding land, allowing you to get up close and personal with nature.
The Camp is discreetly fenced for safety reasons but retains true explorer ambiance. The tents are placed in close proximity without encroaching on the other tents’ privacy, while the camp is located on a plateau set among the only basalt and granite extrusions on Shamwari – a truly magical setting.
The tents of the camp are simplistic yet comfortably equipped with all the modern amenities required to add extra ambiance and comfort.
How we are helping the trackers
Like all the San, the Ju/’hoansi are a marginalised and poor community. Their way of life, “the old way”, is under threat.
In an effort to protect and preserve an ancient skill set, Clive Thompson of Discovery Trails has assisted in the formation of the Ju/’hoansi Trackers Association. The Association has brought to together the remaining nucleus of top Ju/’hoansi trackers. Its job is to lend prestige and recognition to the local trackers, to seek out employment and income avenues for them and to transfer skills to a next generation.
Shamwari is intent on assisting the Ju/’hoansi with these objectives, providing them with engagement opportunities at Shamwari, in the Eastern Cape landscape.
Book this unique experience today to secure your spot.
