July 2019

July 2019

We at Planet Hoppers want to applaud our extended team of fabulous international partners, guides, and tour operators who are involved in ensuring your exceptional experience while on holiday. One of our partners, Phil Bennett with On Safari-in, an Africa naturalist and guide, is featured this month. Read about the complex work and in-depth care that went into creating lifetime memories for our Planet Hoppers guests as they interacted with Ju!Hoans! Khoisan Bushmen in Botswana. 

Featured Trip Of The Month

PHIL BENNETT INTRODUCES THE VERMA FAMILY TO THE JU!HOANSI BUSHMEN IN BOTSWANA

Phil Bennett has been a naturalist walking, driving, and boat safari guide based in Africa for 12 years. He has managed lodges in some of the biggest wilderness areas in Africa and has trained guides, giving him an expert background. He does privately guided specialist and conservation safaris where he personally goes with our Planet Hoppers guests as their naturalist guide for the whole trip. 

The Khoisan are the oldest bloodline of people on earth, of which, the Ju!Hoansi are one tribe. They are the original hunters/gatherers. They have been living off the land of the whole of southern Africa since prehistory. They are diminutive in stature with caramel complexions and peppercorn hair. They have this fantastic ability to store fat and moisture. You will see a lot of stretch marks along their belly because their belly distends and holds fat and water. They are the master trackers. They can follow a single, extremely difficult-to-track, animal across rough and rocky terrain.  
Phil's colleague, Rob, owns a mobile luxury tented camp in Botswana. This luxury tented camp is transported via a 6.5-ton military truck that was rescued after the South African war with Angola. You can’t just set it up in the middle of nowhere, there are only a few allocated campsites in various areas for this type of mobile luxury camp. Before the Vermas arrived, Phil flew to Africa and then drove with his colleague and a team of locals for a full day across the Kalahari Desert to set up camp. They then had to be sure the bushmen, being semi-nomadic, were actually there and not off in the bush. 
"The bushmen experience is unique and only possible in one or two very remote locations. We interact with the tribe, forage with them, and make friends with them - as much as our language allows us to communicate. We spend two full days with the tribe.

We set up camp a discreet distance away from the tribe's settlement. In the morning, we wake up and head to their camp and they will start the process of foraging. The beginning is called “throwing the bones.” Three shamans sit around and throw 5 or 6 small sticks. The way the sticks fall is discussed by the elders. This may happen 5 or 6 times before they decide which direction to forage. And then off we go through the bush in single file. 

It’s all very interactive. The guests are spread out in the middle of the line. There are bushmen in front and bushmen in the end. All the guests and guides are in the middle with the translator as he explains everything that is happening. Guests can ask questions and they can help. At some stage during foraging, we'll take a break and this may be where they teach us how to make fire by rubbing sticks. 

The entire time we take our lead from the bushmen. We want to experience just what it is like for them and how they live, so we just go with the flow. It’s all about what they find in the bush and what the bushmen need to do to live their lives."
"In the evening, we'll come back to the luxury mobile camp and have dinner and we’ll leave the bushmen to do the same for themselves. We may start hearing the bushmen chanting and singing so we’ll go down to their settlement to find the ladies around the campfire in a semi-circle and a lot of the men dancing and stamping their feet walking around the circle and the fire. This dance brings some of the shamans into a shamanistic trance. It’s not drug-induced, they don’t take anything. It’s all about the rhythm the ladies are chanting. They wear leg and ankle wraps with seeds to make a rattling sound. The heat of the fire also has an influence on the process. Some of the older shamans are going into a trance. Sometimes they will remember what happened during their trance and sometimes they won’t, but after the trance experience, they will almost always be completely exhausted. On occasion, the elder shaman may go into such a deep trance, that they communicate or go off to their ancestors." 
"It is hugely important to allow the bushmen an opportunity to rescue their culture and it needs to be facilitated by us with as little interference by us as possible. This is something in its infancy and what we’re doing is part of that. Bringing awareness and necessary cash is needed to make this happen. This kind of tourism needs to be very low impact and low numbers, otherwise, we will affect their culture to the detriment. 

The bushmen experience is more of a cultural experience, not a wildlife experience. Seeing animals is always what people dream of when on safari, but the addition of an authentic, cultural experience with the Ju!Hoansi Khoisan can elevate a very special safari into something completely mind-blowing.

Planet Hoppers and On Safari-in’s great working relationship is possible by our shared values placed on highly personalized, unique and ethical eco-tourism in addition to a sense of fun.” 

Where In The World Is This Planet Hopper?

Read about this fantastic trip in next month's issue.

Planet Hopping In Progress

June Travelers
  • Nerella family roots for their favorite team at the Cricket World Cup
  • Alison and Matthew’s romantic honeymoon in Europe
  • Pham family’s luxury vacation in Italy
  • Rennie family’s adventure in Europe
  • Peggy’s expedition cruise along the Norwegian Fjords
  • Chaudari family reunion in tropical Jamaica
  • Brian discovers Azerbaijan & Georgia
  • Thomas family journeys through Italy and Germany
  • Erling family cruises the Mediterranean
  • Olsen family hike and sail the Greek Islands
  • Magdalin family visit the best of Spain
  • Paul and Carmi’s sweet honeymoon in Italy
  • Jason and Katherine enjoy sun on the Greek Islands

July Travelers
  • Danielle and Chris Honeymoon in London and Paris
  • Jody and Rafael circle Iceland
  • Sarah and daughter hike and bike the back roads of Spain
  • Campits' anniversary in Easter Island and Chile
  • Alcantar graduation celebration in Italy
  • Kimberly and Jason discover Australia and New Zealand
  • Crim family's road trip in Iceland and beyond
  • Karla and daughter cruise the Mediterranean
  • Sarwate family explore Europe
  • Klein family play in Disneyworld
Mongabay is a non-profit conservation news service. Check out their newsletter News and Information from Nature's Frontline
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Book Recommendation - Last Chance To See. Although this book is older, it is just as relevant today as it was in 1990. The late Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide books, travels the world in search of endangered species. This is a wonderfully written book about conservation that will make you cry with both laughter and sadness.
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