The San Bushmen are indigenous people of Botswana, with one of the oldest continuous hunter gatherer histories in southern Africa. Many San communities live in and around the Kalahari Desert today, and travelers can meet San guides on safari.
This guide explains who the San Bushmen are in Botswana, their languages, traditional skills, rock art, and the land rights issues that shape life today. It also shows how to visit San communities respectfully, and why approaching people as hosts and teachers rather than as a spectacle leads to a more meaningful visit.
The San are indigenous people with a deep history in southern Africa
The San are a group of indigenous peoples who have lived across southern Africa for a very long time. Archaeological evidence and rock paintings suggest that San ancestors were hunter gatherers here through the Stone Age, long before farmers and herders arrived. Many researchers think this history stretches back tens of thousands of years.
Genetics points to an even deeper story. A 2017 study in the journal Science estimated that the earliest split between human populations, which left the ancestors of today’s Khoe-San on one branch, happened roughly 350,000 to 260,000 years ago. Such estimates describe ancestry, not a single unbroken culture.
Scientists often describe the San as the oldest surviving culture in southern Africa, and genetic studies have compared them with other human populations. That phrase hides how varied San groups are, so treat it as a starting point rather than a label.
San communities did not live in one place or speak one language. San lived across what is now Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Today they are indigenous minorities in most of those countries.
Counts in Botswana vary. According to Minority Rights Group, about 73,600 Basarwa live in the country, while the 2026 edition of the Indigenous World report from IWGIA gives about 76,231. Figures shift between editions and survey methods.
Why you will hear both “San” and “Bushmen”
Visitors meet both words, and both are contested. “Bushmen” was a colonial term that many people find offensive, yet some communities and advocacy groups use it for themselves. The term San is a collective term from a Khoekhoe word. It broadly refers to diverse groups, and it is not a name any one group chose.
The most respectful habit is to use the name a person or community uses for itself. Ask your guide. Many say Ju/’hoansi, Naro, G/wi, or Bugakhwe, depending on their group.
San culture is varied, not frozen in the past
It is easy to picture the San as a single ancient tribe in loincloths. That picture is wrong, and it does real harm. Modern San work as guides, trackers, teachers, farm workers, artists, and activists. Many wear jeans and carry phones.
San culture does include real traditions: detailed knowledge of plants and animals, storytelling, music, and healing practices. Those traditions sit beside modern life rather than replacing it, though change is putting some practices and languages at risk. Where the older way of life is harder to sustain, some families depend partly on government support.
San societies traditionally lived as mobile hunter gatherers in small family groups, and many still value sharing and egalitarian decision making through group consensus. Oral traditions pass ecological knowledge from one generation to the next, and cultural preservation efforts matter for keeping that identity alive. For wider context on the country, read our Botswana culture guide.
San languages include clicks and are still spoken
San languages are known for click consonants, which are written with symbols such as the exclamation mark or the slash. Several languages are spoken in Botswana, including Naro, Khwe, and ||Gana, and each has its own grammar and history. They are not dialects of one tongue, and neighboring peoples have absorbed San clicks into their own languages.
Some of these languages have only a small number of speakers, and they were traditionally oral rather than written. Language is a major part of social identity, and elders worry about what children will keep. Many children attend school mainly in Setswana or English, which can weaken transmission.
If you wonder what San speak at home, the honest answer is that it depends on the family and the region. If a guide teaches you a click word, practice it and thank them.
San hunting skills turn a walk into a lesson
Traditional San hunting skills have drawn admiration for generations. Trackers read footprints, bent grass, and droppings to understand what an animal did and when. San hunting methods also relied on bows, traps, and close knowledge of animal behavior.
Hunters used bows and, in some groups, arrow poison made from plant materials and insects. San men were especially known for tracking and pursuing large game, and hunters often worked as a team and shared the whole animal widely. They also dug a deep hole covered with branches near water sources or game paths to trap animals.
Gathering mattered as much as hunting, and San women usually led it. They knew which berries, roots, nuts, tubers, and other plant materials to collect, along with melons and medicinal plants. People stored water in ostrich eggshells and found it in the desert by reading the land.
Today, hunting is tightly regulated in Botswana, and restrictions on hunting and gathering have threatened traditional livelihoods. Most visitors see these survival skills demonstrated on a bush walk rather than used for food.
Indigenous knowledge has real value, and communities want credit for it
San traditional knowledge of medicinal plants has attracted outside interest. A well-known example is the hoodia plant, where San communities in southern Africa won a benefit sharing agreement over the use of their indigenous knowledge. The case is often cited because it shows that communities can claim a share when their knowledge becomes a product.
San rock art and trance dances show a rich spiritual world
San rock art is among the most famous in Africa. Paintings and engravings show animals, people, and symbolic shapes. Related San rock paintings are also found in South Africa, including the Eastern Cape.
Many researchers link the images to trance dances, in which Kalahari San healers entered a trance to heal people and connect with the spirit world. Many San groups also believe in a powerful god alongside other spiritual beings. Some images carry symbolic meaning beyond daily hunting scenes, and they are seen as both spiritually significant and records of ceremonies, animals, and hunts.
Tsodilo Hills in northwest Botswana is a well-known place to see rock paintings, and it is listed as a World Heritage Site. UNESCO, which inscribed it in 2001, says more than 4,500 paintings are preserved in an area of only about 10 square kilometers. It also notes that the archaeological record there covers at least 100,000 years, though not continuously, and that local communities respect the hills as a place of worship. Rock art sites are fragile and sacred to many people. Stay on the path, do not touch the paintings, and follow your guide’s rules.
Land rights and the Central Kalahari remain unresolved questions
Land is central to San life, and it is also a painful subject. For generations, displacement and conflict have affected San communities through Bantu-speaking expansion and the arrival of European colonists, who took many groups’ ancestral lands. European colonization pushed San families from their traditional land across southern Africa, from the Cape to the Kalahari. According to South African History Online, the Dutch East India Company settled the Cape in 1652, and as settlers moved inland many Khoikhoi and San were killed, displaced, or forced into farm labor. Historians describe violence and genocide against San peoples during this period, so read published histories for specifics.
Land law added to the pressure. Cultural Survival notes that Botswana’s 1968 Tribal Land Act tied land allocation to tribal membership, which left many non-Tswana communities, including Basarwa, without equal rights.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, many San families were moved out of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. IWGIA says the relocations began in earnest in 1996, that only some 700 people remained by the end of 2001, and that the last removals came in early 2002 after the water supply was disabled. Minority Rights Group describes forced evictions in 1997, 2002, and 2005. The Botswana government has described the moves as part of development policy. San representatives said they were forced from their traditional land, and critics argued the removals also cleared the way for diamond mines.
On December 13, 2006, the High Court ruled in a majority decision that the removals were unlawful and unconstitutional and that residents could return. San organizations and allies have worked locally and internationally to secure land rights. Disputes over access, water, and permits continued afterward. Minority Rights Group notes that many Basarwa now live in Remote Area Dweller settlements, which are usually run by other groups, and that land tenure there is uncertain. A UN Special Rapporteur reported that residents kept calling on the government to discuss how the 2006 ruling would be carried out. Details change, so read recent news from reputable sources before you travel.
You can learn about the region itself in our Central Kalahari guide.
How to meet San Bushmen guides respectfully
The best experiences are led by the community or developed with it. Ask who owns the experience and how guides are paid. Good camps and operators can answer clearly.
Treat a bush walk as a lesson from an expert. Ask permission before taking photos of people. Do not ask people to perform or “dress up” for the camera.
You can combine a cultural visit with wildlife in places such as the Makgadikgadi Pans or the Okavango Delta. For help building a full trip, start with our Botswana safari guide.
Most travelers reach the Kalahari through Maun or a long drive from another hub. Whether you start in Cape Town or closer to home, plan extra days, because distances are large. Our etiquette guide covers greetings and manners.
Practical tips for visiting San communities
- Ask who benefits from the visit, whether there is a clear benefit sharing agreement, and how guides are paid.
- Ask permission before taking photos, and accept a no.
- Learn the name a group uses for itself and use it.
- Skip any experience that asks people to stage a “primitive” show.
- Buy crafts directly from makers when you can, and do not haggle hard.
- Do not give sweets or gifts to children. Ask your guide what is appropriate.
- Confirm access rules, permits, and costs with the operator or park authority, because they change.
- Travel in the dry season, roughly May to October, for easier walking. The green season, roughly November to April, brings heat, rain, and muddy tracks.
Frequently asked questions
What did the San people look like? There is no single look. San people are as varied as any population, and San tribes include distinct groups such as the Ju/’hoansi and Naro. Do not expect to recognize anyone by appearance.
How tall are the Bushmen? People of any group vary in height, so there is no useful single answer. Stereotypes about size are a poor guide to meeting real people.
Are Botswana people primarily Black or White? Most people in Botswana are Black Africans, mainly Batswana, alongside smaller communities including San, Bakalanga, and others. Our Botswana culture guide explains more.
Are San Bushmen still hunter gatherers? A few families still gather wild foods, but most San Bushmen in Botswana live in villages and towns or work on farms and in tourism. Hunting is regulated. For generations, San hunter gatherers lived in ways adapted to the Kalahari rather than domesticating animals. They also used ostrich eggs for food and the emptied shells to store water.
Where do San Bushmen live today? San Bushmen live in settlements across Botswana, including the Kalahari, the northwest, and towns. Many also live elsewhere in southern Africa.
Is it safe to visit Botswana right now? Botswana is widely considered one of the safer safari destinations in Africa, but conditions change. Check your government’s travel advice, and read our Botswana visa guide for entry rules.
Which term should I use, San or Bushmen? Use the name a community uses for itself. If you do not know it, “San” is the more widely accepted general term, but ask.
What happened to the San during colonial rule? European colonization pushed many groups off their ancestral lands, and communities suffered violence, displacement, and disease across southern Africa. Read published histories for specifics rather than relying on a short summary.
