San village in Namiba on the edge of the Kalahari desert. A San hunter with bow and arrow.
The San are excellent archers. The bows are fairly small so the range of an arrow tends to be below 25 metres, hence the San have to approach and shoot their prey at close quarters, a skill that requires the greatest patience. When an animal is hit by an arrow it can not escape as the tips of the reed-shafted arrows are coated with a very toxic poison that is obtained from a beetle larvae. The poison is fatal to humans even in tiny amounts (no antidote is known), the recipe is only known to the San. Various plant ingredients are also added in order to intensify the effect. The Living Museum of the Ju/'Hoansi-San was initiated by the Namibian tour guide Werner Pfeifer and the teacher Ghau N!aici from Grashoek. Since July 2004 the ju/'Hoansi run their museum completely by their own.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: The Living Museum of the Ju/'Hoansi-San, 171km from Tsumke, Namibia.
Photo credit: © Neil Harris / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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