1
I belong to the Sand People.
I'm a bushman.
We've been living here in Africa
for thousands of years...
... and we know this country, its nature
and animals better than anyone else.
We not only live here, we actually
exist in harmony with nature.
We eat nature's fruits,
we sleep on nature's ground...
... and we honour our nature
and celebrate it.
Namibia is a large country...
... and when we have to travel...
... we only use what nature
provided us with...
... our feet.
Now let me take you on
a stunning and fantastic trip...
... across this wonderful land.
I will show you my country,
my Namibia.
The most wonderful thing for me
in this beautiful country...
... is the variety of animals.
Namibia has an almost infinitely
rich biological diversity...
... starting with the big cats...
... through to small insects and
large birds, to the tiniest of rodents.
You'll encounter many of these
animals while we're travelling.
The sand bushmen are not
the only inhabitants of Africa.
There are several other tribes
that we used to be at war with.
But thank heavens,
this is a thing of the past...
... and today, we can all
live together peacefully.
When we are travelling
through our country...
... we don't carry much with us.
Just a few tools to hunt
or to collect roots.
And of course, we have to extract
drinking water to survive.
This is necessary in order
for us to remain flexible.
Nature doesn't just offer us
the food we need..
... it also harbours certain
risks and dangers.
There are several animal types that
would literally love to feast on us.
But you don't have to be
afraid of the cheetahs.
They're shy, and definitely much
more afraid of us than we are of them.
Before they'd even
consider attacking us...
... they'd much rather
just run away and hide.
The cheetah is mainly
found in Africa.
The predatory behaviour of
the cheetah is highly specialised...
... and is regarded as
the fastest land mammal.
Its basic colour is yellowish...
... whereas the stomach
is significantly lighter.
It's covered with black spots...
... which are noticeably smaller
than those of leopards...
... and don't create rosettes.
The face is darker and unspotted.
But it has two dark stripes
running from the eyes...
... to the corners of the mouth...
... tear stripes.
Cheetahs are pure steppe
and savannah animals.
They prefer to live in regions
with high growing grass...
... to provide protection
and hills for lookout posts.
Densely wooded countryside
is inappropriate for cheetahs...
... because it would
slow them down.
Now, the leopard
is a different matter.
He would love
to have us for dinner.
Whenever I see one of them...
... I stand still at a respectful
distance and just watch him...
... in awe.
What leopards eat,
actually depends on...
... what the territory
they live in has to offer.
Leopards have an extraordinarily
wide prey spectrum.
It ranges from bugs to reptiles...
... as well as from birds
to large mammals.
Whenever possible, leopards
will try to capture prey...
... weighing somewhere
between 30 and 50 kilograms.
Leopards are normally
looked upon as night hunters.
But a specific or preferred hunting
time has not been confirmed.
The time of day has most likely to
do with the availability of the prey...
... and their hunting territory.
Basically, you can watch
two kinds of hunting methods.
The leopard either stalks
or passively ambushes its prey.
He likes to climb up
into trees to do so...
... to just sit and wait for it.
The leopard is an
outstanding climber.
Just watch how precisely and fast
he can climb that tree.
Just watching is a great
experience in itself.
Lions are the kings of the animal
kingdom, and are my favourites...
... even though they're the most
dangerous for the bushman.
We treat them with respect.
And by reading in their eyes...
... we've learned a lot about their
movements, and also their behaviour.
If a lion has just eaten
and isn't hungry...
... you could almost pat him
without fear of being eaten alive.
A lioness, however,
protecting or defending her cubs...
... cannot be compared to this.
You should never
get too close to a lioness.
The lion is a big cat.
In comparison to other cats,
he lives in prides...
... and can be identified
by the male lion's mane.
Their natural habitat is Africa...
... as well as the
Indian state of Gujarat.
This is the largest carnivore
in Africa...
... second only to
the tiger worldwide.
Lions have a short
sand-coloured coat...
... or a yellowish
to dark ochre tone.
In addition, the males
have a long mane.
It's mostly dark brown...
... but it can also be black
or light to reddish brown.
The mane covers the cheeks,
and goes up to the shoulders...
... but seldom across
the stomach and chest.
The mane's shape
and colour varies...
... not only between
individual animals...
... it can change
during a lifetime...
... depending on
the lion's physical condition.
Particularly long and dark manes...
... are evidence of good health
are fighting strength.
The length and thickness
of the mane...
... is result of the hormone
and nutrition status...
... of the individual animal.
Lions favour a savannah habitat.
But may also be found in
dry forests and semi-deserts.
They hunt mainly at night
or during the cool morning hours.
The lion's prey includes antelopes,
gazelles, gnus, buffalo and zebras.
But also rabbits, birds
and sometimes even fish.
Contrary to the widespread belief
that the male lion lives off the prey...
... the female hunts down,
it seems they do hunt a larger part...
... of their prey themselves.
A new study at the
Kruger National Park...
... has shown that even
territorial male lions...
... leading a pack are very
successful and regular hunters.
Namibia's vegetation took millions
of years to become what it is today.
We now have deserts, steppe
and rich dense forests.
Namibia is versatile and every region
has its own challenges for us bushmen.
My forefathers taught me
how to provide myself...
... with water in the desert,
how to find edible roots...
... and even medicine
in the solitude of the desert.
The most beautiful tree
to me is the quiver tree.
It's one of our national shrines...
... and also adorns
the flag of our country.
Our favourite foods are tubers
that we find in the ground.
But of course, we would never
reject a good piece of meat...
... which we prepare on an open fire
and enjoy very much.
Our nature has plenty of animals
we duly respect and worship.
But we will hunt them
if necessary...
... in order to feed
our families and children.
This is a kudu.
The bull's coat
is a greyish brown.
The cow and calf's coats
are middle brown...
... and have 6 to 10
white cross stripes.
The kudu's ears are large and
round and their tail is bushy.
The bucks have twisted horns
that can grow to a length of 1 metre.
The greater kudu lives mostly
in philopatry herds...
... of 3 to 10 individuals...
... roaming an area of
about 50 square kilometres.
The males live in their own
bachelor groups or as loners.
They only come to visit the females
during the mating season.
As a general rule,
kudus have one kid at a time...
... that weighs about 16 kilograms...
... and is born during
the rainy season.
The heraldic animal of the Republic
of South Africa is the springbok.
The springbok's appearance
resembles that of the thomson gazelle.
They also have a dark
reddish brown stripe...
... that divides the upper side
from the white stomach side...
... going from the eyes down to
the upper corner of the mouth.
The longer back hairs can only be
seen when the animal is pronking.
This means jumping up with
stiff legs and bent backs...
... which gives the
springbok its name.
Both genders, male and female
have curved wire-shaped horns.
That of the female, however,
is slimer.
They got the name springbok, thanks
to their vertical jumps into the air...
... whenever they are
frightened by something.
They can jump up to 3.5 metres
high from a standing position.
While they are pronking,
they keep their legs stiff...
... and their backs
are arched upward.
And only then a skin fold opens up
and the white hair becomes visible.
This behaviour may well be
a warning that a predator is near.
The damara dik-dik is the
smallest of Africa's antelopes.
Even though it prefers
dense vegetation...
... it can also be found in biotopes
with meagre grass growth.
Kirk dik-diks are able to exist
even in areas with sparse vegetation.
Their main habitat lies in
the rich shrub territories...
... of Central and North Africa...
... where they can feed on the
large number of plants available.
They are very selective in choosing
only certain parts of the plants.
Kirk dik-diks are monogamous
and they live in fixed territories.
The males are very dominant...
... and defend their territories
against intruders of any kind.
As soon as the male offspring
are half-grown...
... they are chased away
by their fathers.
Although they have not yet
reached sexual maturity...
... they go out to find a partner...
... and immediately start
marking their territory.
My brothers and sisters
of the Sand People...
... belong to one of the
oldest tribes in the world.
We prefer to live
in large groups...
... so we can share the work
that needs to be done.
We only live off the things
that nature has to offer.
We live in straw huts and
spend the whole day together.
We stay in our village
or go out into the nature.
We have no bosses or kings...
... nor rankings or any sort
of relationships of dependency.
Anytime we can't
come to an agreement...
... we just vote
and the majority wins.
Everything we need
for our everyday life...
... we produce ourselves.
We can make great tools.
String, shoes, clothing...
... and containers
to store our food.
But what we are best at,
is our handmade jewellery.
And we wear it
on every possible occasion.
We live off nature.
We have a very
great knowledge of it...
... that helps us to survive
everywhere and anytime.
We even find water
during the dry season...
... and something to eat
in the barren landscape.
We're famous for
being able to do so.
In successive generations...
... we've learned to use plants as
remedies to cure various diseases.
We've found working remedies in
preparations for stomach pains...
... fever, muscle aches,
headaches, the flu...
... and many more
successful remedies.
European pharmaceutical
corporations have repeatedly...
... come to us to get
information on our cures.
Our hunting methods
are also extremely creative.
We can build weapons
and traps which help us...
... in providing food
for our families.
My grandfather
was a very wise man...
... and he told me a legend
about a giraffe...
... that helped our tribe to
survive over several decades.
The bushmen legend says that
ever since the beginning of time...
... the sun could not find
its way across the sky.
The giraffes though, had the nosy
habit of staring at everything new.
It came to the Creator's mind
to give the giraffes the task...
... of watching the sun
so it wouldn't get lost.
The giraffes took
this duty very seriously...
... and in fact,
they did a very good job.
Because the sun
remained on course...
... and has never taken
a wrong turn since.
The Creator was
so proud of them...
... that he created a giraffe
figure of stars in heaven.
This Zodiac sign
can still be seen today.
The bushmen call
this sign "Tutwa"...
... giraffe.
And it's still used today
for orientation...
... on their nightly excursions.
The giraffe is a mammal...
... and is one of the
even-toed ungulates.
It's the tallest living
land animal in the world.
The giraffe's neck
is exceptionally long.
Nonetheless, the cervical spine
is made up of...
... seven strongly extended
cervical vertebrate.
The neck is always supported
by one very strong tendon...
... at an angle
of about 55 degrees.
The tendon runs from the back
of the giraffe's head to the tailbone...
... and is responsible for
the hump that you see...
... between the neck
and the body.
If there is no movement...
... it holds the neck and head
in an upright position.
But in order to move
the head downward...
... to i.e. for drinking purposes...
... the giraffe has to do
actual muscle work.
On account of
the length of the neck...
... the giraffe's heart
is particularly powerful.
On average,
it weighs 12 kilograms.
It can pump 60 litres of blood
per minute through the body...
... and ensure a blood pressure that
is 3 times as high as that of humans.
Giraffes prefer to graze in treetops,
and their favourite is the acacia.
With their tongue, they grab a twig
and pull it into their mouths.
And while pulling their heads back,
they strip the leaves off.
The consistency of
the tongue and lips...
... make sure that even if the twigs
have thorns, the giraffe is not injured.
Everyday, the giraffe consumes
about 30 kilograms of food...
... and it takes them
about 16 to 20 hours.
The major part
of their liquid demand...
... is covered
by the food they eat.
This makes it easy for giraffes to go
without water for weeks at a time.
The African elephant is a member
of the mastodon family.
It's the largest
land mammal in the world.
In contrast to the Asian
and Indian elephants...
... the males and females
usually both have tusks.
The male elephant's tusks can
occasionally measure up to 3 metres...
... and weigh 100 kilograms.
One difference from the Asian
elephant is the noticeably larger ears...
... which can be
up to 2 metres long.
On the end of his trunk,
the African elephant has two "fingers."
The Indian elephant only has one.
Most of the time, he has
4 toes on his front feet...
... and only 3 on the hind feet.
African elephants are active
night and day.
They usually rest during the midday
heat, or after midnight...
... while laying against, or more
often, leaning against a tree to sleep.
On average, they cover
12 kilometres daily...
... at a speed of about
10 kilometers per hour.
If neccessary, they can speed up
to about 40 kiolmetres per hour.
Unthreatened elephants
are peaceful animals.
Cow elephants with
young cubs on the other hand...
... can very quickly become agressive
if you get too close to them.
Both genders threaten by raising
their trunk, swaying their ears...
... whirling up dust, and shaking
their head back and forth.
Before attacking,
they trumpet a warning.
The other mastodon
is the rhinoceros.
Actually, the rhino is a peaceful
and quiet fellow.
But when you scare them,
they'll start chasing you.
So you should always be careful
not to come too close to them.
They can weigh several tons.
After the three elephant species...
... the white rhino is the fourth
largest land mammal.
It grows two horns of which
the front one reaches a length...
... of over 150 centimetres...
... and the back horn
stays noticeably smaller.
The lower lip has a horny edge
that replaces its missing incisors...
... with which they
tear off the grass.
With a remaining population
of only 8 animals in captivity...
... the white rhino is the rarest
large mammal in the world.
The white rhinos are grazers...
... and prefer grassy regions
with low growing bushes...
... which offer them
sufficient cover...
... and enough bushes and
thickets to provide shady areas.
In addition, they also always
prefer to be close to water.
If this is not available,
they travel to find water...
... and dwelling points
on a regular basis.
They are mostly active during the
day, but avoid the blazing hot sun.
The white rhino
is rarely aggressive...
... but can turn into
a dangerous enemy...
... and will then use their
long horn as a weapon.
Their normal trotting speed is
about 15 to 30 kilometres per hour.
But while attacking or escaping...
... they can gallop at around
40 kilometres per hour.
Their eyesight is as poor
as that of old rhinoceroses'.
And since they don't have a noticeably
visual expression or behaviour...
... we find the rhino
very unpredictable.
We are not the only
people here in Namibia.
There are several
other tribes as well.
A lot of the other tribes
live in smaller or larger families...
... helping each other with
everything just like we do.
The women and children of the
Himba people live together in villages.
Their men go out hunting
for several weeks...
... sometimes even months
at a time.
During these periods, the women are
responsible for everything in the village.
We don't like this idea very much.
We enjoy seeing our wives
and children more often.
This tribe lives in
a similar way to us.
They live together in villages, and
there's a strong solidarity among all.
Unlike us, they have a strong hierarchy
and have something like a king.
They have great dances and songs that
they all enjoy and celebrate together.
Their handicrafts
are very elaborate...
... and they have a comprehensive
knowledge of nature and its animals.
We look upon ungulates,
such as the gnus or zebras...
... more like our brothers
and sisters.
We hunt them only
during drought periods...
... when we don't find
enough other food.
Blue wildebeests, the antelopes
of the gnu family are grazers...
... and can be found in the African
open steppes or tree savannahs.
The blue wildebeest has a shoulder
height of 140 centimetres...
... and the front of their body
is very sturdy...
... which drops towards
the hind legs.
They can weigh
up to 270 kilograms.
They have a large head
and wide mouth.
The coat is brownish
or a shimmering bluish grey.
Dark horizontal stripes run down
from the neck to the hind quarters.
A long black mane covers the area
between the neck and the shoulders...
... and a black beard
grows on their throats.
Both genders have horns
that remind us of cattle horns...
... but the horns
of the males are stronger.
The tail of the blue wildebeest
reminds us of a horse tail.
At birth, the calves are of
a light reddish brown colour...
... with a darker face.
My personal favourite
animal is the zebra.
The grevy zebra is the largest zebra
and the largest wild horse species.
They are characterised
by their stripes...
... but show a significant difference
in the outer appearance.
Whenever several zebras
are standing together...
... it's difficult to recognise
a single zebra's outline.
There have been several attempts
to explain the benefit of their stripes.
One is the assumption that
they serve as camouflage...
... while the zebra lingers in
high grass or in the scorching sun.
But it's also possible that
the stripes make it very difficult...
... to recognise an individual animal.
Since zebras live in herds, it's much
more complicated for their enemies...
... to pick a single one
out for prey.
Another theory is that the stripes
are a disguise to trick tsetse flies...
... which carry dangerous diseases,
such as sleeping sickness.
Due to their faceted eyes,
they're unable to detect the zebras.
Zebras are herbivores
like all horses...
... mostly feeding on grasses.
The animals I envy
most of all are the birds.
They can just spread their wings and
rise into the air, almost weightless.
I can spend hours watching them fly
and listening to their chirping...
... or have a quarrel,
like each other...
... crack nuts and seeds
and clean each other...
... and sing with one another.
The larger birds, like the eagle
though, have to be watched carefully.
An eagle could very easily see one
of our babies as a nice bit of prey.
But now I'll be quiet for a while,
so we can enjoy and watch...
... a few minutes of their very
entertaining hustle and bustle.
One of the few animals that can
stand up to poisonous snakes...
... is the not at all dangerous
looking but cute little mongoose.
Most mongooses live
in sub-Saharan African.
A mongoose can live as a loner,
as well as in complex...
... organised groups,
depending on the species.
One big advantage of a social life...
... is that they are protected
from potential enemies.
Because if several members of one
group are on the lookout for danger...
... the quicker they notice
an attacker...
... and it gives them more time to
return to their dens or shelters.
The mongoose is a predatory animal,
feeding on insects and its larvae...
... and vertebrates
and smaller vertebrates.
Some species are known for their
ability to kill poisonous snakes.
Mongooses have a remarkable
immunity to numerous toxins.
The mongoose only has
very few enemies.
But they have to watch out
for the black-backed jackals...
... even if they look
innocent and harmless.
Although they have a wide range
of food, 50% consists of...
... larger insects such as
grasshoppers and beetles.
The rest may very well include mice,
bird eggs, lizards and mongooses.
The South African seal is
a species of the Southern seal.
And the name can lead
to misunderstandings...
... because it can be found
on the South African coast...
... as well as in Australia.
This species was seriously close
to extinction in the 19th century.
But their population
has recovered noticeably.
There are more than 1.5 million
seals living on the African coast...
... most of them
on the Namibian coast.
And single colonies can contain
more than 200,000 animals.
For example, at Cape Cross.
The very lively and high-spirited
porpoises and dolphins...
... constantly jump out
of the water.
Performing somersaults and
just jumping high into the air...
... and back in the water again
in their cheerful way.
Dolphins are members of
the toothed whale family.
They are marine mammals.
Dolphins usually have a length
of one-and-a-half to 4 metres.
The dolphin's brain is big and it has
a very complex cerebral cortex.
This is the reason why
zoologists think of them...
... as one of the most
intelligent animals ever.
Dolphins are fast swimmers...
... and can reach speeds
of up to 55 kilometres per hour.
They jump out
of the water frequently...
... and at times perform
acrobatic stunts.
These jumps are interpreted
as a natural play instinct.
Dolphins are fast predators and
they hunt their prey very actively.
They spot their victims
through echolocation...
... using a specialised organ,
the melon.
The dolphin's teeth are generally
evenly shaped and conical...
... and serve merely
to hold on to their prey.
The fish or squid is almost
always eaten in one bite.
Well, we've almost come
to the end of our trip.
I am very tired now and it will
shortly be getting dark too.
It was fun having the opportunity
to traval across my country with you.
I hope you enjoyed getting to see
the different kinds of animals...
... plants and natural landscapes.
And that you'd also
respect nature...
... as we have been doing
for thousands of years.
I've heard that we can learn
quite a bit from you.
You have schools, heating systems
and houses made of stone.
But believe me,
you can learn from us too.
We know a lot about friendship,
respecting each other...
... and our hearts are of
real flesh and blood.
Maybe it's possible to share our
qualities and learn from one another.
Why don't you come by
sometime and visit me?
We've been here
for a very long time...
... and we will stay here
even longer.
I'm looking forward
to seeing you.