Hunting with the Ju/hoasi is the best thing I have ever done.
  
There are a number of reasons why...
  
My passion for the Kalahari began at a very young age and I was very lucky to have one of the greatest teachers and mentors, my father, Jack Bousfield, who came to Bechuanaland from Tanganyika in 1962. Having grown up on safari, and having hunted as a professional his whole life, my father worked with some of the greatest traditional hunters and trackers in Africa. His respect for the Bushmen as trackers was obviously going to rub off on me, and from a very young age, I had the good fortune to spend all of my free time on safari with my father and his team.        
  


Although gathering brings in most of the food, hunting is central to Bushman culture, and whenever a large animal is killed it is the occasion for much feasting, and celebration. Accompanying a group of  Bushmen on a real hunt with the very serious purpose of a young man's rite of passage into manhood reminds me of the old safaris of my childhood. A serious job has to be done, there is a huge amount of camaraderie, a lot of laughs, but most of all, one never knows what is going to happen....        
    

It is very rare nowadays to have an authentic "experience" in travel. Everything is so sanitised and packaged, and therefore so predictable. The area that the Bushmen hunt in is incredibly wild, with no roads at all and only elephant
paths and game trails to follow. It is also one of the last areas in the Kalahari outside of a national park, where there are still good numbers of animals, including leopard, lion, wild dog, and cheetah as well as all of the antelope species.
  
This all adds to the excitement.        
 


The combination of human and wildlife interaction is, I suppose, the most interesting aspect of the safari. This really is our true position in the natural order of life. It all comes to us so naturally. Without even realizing it; we slip into a daily rhythm of hunting and gathering. It is only afterwards, back in our supermarket shopping life, that one really fully appreciates the experience. God, life is easy in town!     
       

From the 5th - 19th of September 2009, I will be leading a fantastic safari with some incredible Guests. We'll be experiencing an 8 night Bushmen initiation hunt, 2 nights at Jack's Camp, followed by 4 nights at the enigmatic Tsodilo Hills. 

If you'd like to join us, or just find out more about this once off safari, please follow this link