"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."