The San, who is also called ‘bush people', is the last people living in the Kalahari. They eat wild animals, plants, berries, nuts and insects. Their lifestyle is very simple, ▲ . They use bows and arrows for hunting. They get their water from plants because they live in the southern Africa's hottest places and there is often no water.
They even get medicine from plants when they are ill.
The San people live in small groups of 25-50. There are no schools for children. They learn from the older people in the group. There are lots of things they have to learn so that they can live in a dangerous place like the Kalahari. In the evenings, the groups of people often sit around a fire and tell stories. Many of the stories are about animals and how to hunt them.
The Kalahari is a big area of bushland in southern Africa. It has two parts. There is less rain in south parts. It is drier and it's a lot more difficult for people to live. But when it rains at the end of the summer, the land becomes greener and more beautiful. For a few weeks, there are millions of little flowers and even butterflies! But soon, the grass and the bushes get dry and turn brown. Then life becomes more difficult again for people and animals.
Every year, thousands of tourists from all over the world visit the Kalahari. They love driving around the bushland to watch the wild animals. Their guides are often San bushmen and the tourists love listening to their stories about the wonders of the Kalahari. The tourists stay in small huts called ‘lodges'. They have comfortable beds and showers, but there is no electricity. When they go out of their hut, they have to be very careful. Sometimes there are lions or leopards around!
