> KALAHARI DESERT
>
> The word "Kalahari" comes from a Tswana word meaning "the great
> thirst." The desert, itself, covers 70% of Botswana and extends south
> into South Africa, west into Namibia, and north into Angola and
> Zambia.
>
> More a semi---arid zone than a true desert, one of the essential
> features of this region is a geological formation known as a \"pan,\"
> a round mostly hard, gray clay formation. Pans are hollow shallows
> which gleam in the sunlight from the salt in them; these salt deposits
> are important to the animals in the area. During the rainy season in
> March and April, large migrating herds of animals come for the water
> that collects in the pans. During this rainy season, the Okavango
> delta, a significant wetland system north of the Kahalari, attracts an
> incredible number of birds; including cranes, egrets, herons, and a
> variety of raptors. The wildlife and the land\'s scenic beauty make
> this part of Africa a popular wilderness destination for tourists.
>
> In this region also live the San Bushmen, who comprise an endangered
> tribe of people, protected by the Central Kalahari Game Reserve,
> founded in 1961. The Reserve is meant to provide a homeland for these
> people in their natural environment, the only place they seem able to
> survive.
>
> Early African tribes that moved south into the Kalahari over a
> thousand years ago discovered a group of unusually small people whose
> average height was under five feet, and whose skin had a yellowish
> tinge. Archaeologists believe that these Bushmen have been living in
> this area for 20,000 to 30,000 years, based on the rock art found. As
> successful hunter---gathers, the Bushmen taught the newcomers their
> practices, and it is felt that they successfully co-existed until the
> arrival of Europeans into southern Africa in the 17th century.
>
> The tribe first encountered Europeans when Dutch explorers and
> travelers to east Asia stopped near the Cape of Good Hope, where the
> bushmen lived at that time. The threat of being taken as slaves drove
> central and east coast tribes farther southward. Hostilities grew, and
> the remaining former herders and farmers moved into the Kalahari
> Desert.
>
> Early Boer settlers in the area killed about 200,000 people in 200
> years. The Europeans shot and drove away the wild game on which the
> Bushmen depended, and they retaliated by stealing and killing the
> imported livestock. Consequently, this was a war the Bushmen could
> never win. In 1802, a famine also weakened the tribes in southern
> Africa, and there was increased warring among tribes. In 1869, the
> last band of Bushmen was attacked and decimated. By the beginning of
> the 20th century, very few Bushmen remained.
>
> In the 1800\'s, a Botswana leader named Khama appealed to England for
> help. On March 31, 1885, Great Britain put "Bechuanaland" under its
> protection but, in 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed,
> the protectorate was not included. In spite of British authority
> expanding with advisory councils and standardization of tribal rules
> from 1920 through 1960, it was not until June 1964 that Britain
> accepted Botswana's proposal for democratic self-government. A 1965
> Constitution led to the first elections and to independence in
> September 1966.
>
> Approximately 33,000 San Bushmen live in the Kalahari Reserve, with
> some 19,000 living in Namibia, and others scattered throughout
> southern Africa.
>
> For those living in the Reserve, their life style is that of the
> nomadic hunter---gatherers. They camp in one place for as long as the
> area will sustain them and, then, move to another area. They plan
> their moves so as to arrive when the wild plants are ready to harvest.
> Using digging sticks, the women gather the available melons, bulbs,
> roots, tubers, nuts, fruits, and leafy vegetables.
>
> Water is obtained in resourceful ways: from the plants, from the
> stomach contents of animals they have killed, and from depressions in
> logs. When possible, the Bushmen store water in ostrich eggshells,
> which they bury in the ground for use during droughts.
>
> The men hunt giraffes, wildebeest, antelope, and other animals using
> bows with poison---tipped arrows and spears. Clothing is made from
> animal skins. They wear short leather aprons, skin sandals, and beads.
> Shelters are usually structures made of branches covered with grasses
> or caves.
>
> The San Bushmen are skilled at rock engraving. Scholars continue to
> study the petroglyphs on the walls of some of their caves. The San
> have become experts at mixing berries and plants to make paints,
> poisons, and medicinal remedies. They know how to innoculate
> themselves against snake bites, and they have a substance they put
> into their campfires to ward off lions.
>
> Very little is known about the religious beliefs of the San. Their
> religion seems complex, with several gods. There is a large oral
> mythology of fabled beasts and legends of transformation.
>
> In summary, the San Bushmen of the Kalahari have survived the extremes
> of their environment through hundreds of years of resourceful
> adaptation. It is hoped that their skills will allow them to continue
> to survive in an ever changing world.