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Sasi's Bushman Paintings

My friend from school is a travel journalist and at least once a year we go away together to talk about life, love and all things in between while we capture the essence of where we are. In December 2021 we stayed at the newly opened Sasi Bush Lodge for 2 nights where we got to visit the Bushman Paintings they preserve.

Ukusa, Couple Unit. A luxury tent.

The lodge overlooks the world renowned Drakensberg Mountain Range with unimaginable panoramic views.

Your eyes can only but stare out into the distance where the mountains rise up from the valley below.

With pride, the owners spoke about how they are restoring a once overgrazed landscape by bringing natural wildlife back onto the hills where they once roamed. This is something close to my heart with the regenerative agriculture I am involved with.

The herd of giraffe we encountered on our morning walk.

Our afternoon drive had Nthoko take us on an adventure to see the Bushman Paintings, across terrain that definitely needed the 4x4 to go up the hills, over the boulders and through the river crossings.

The road was very steep in some places.

We carefully crossed natural rivers that were flowing from all the rain that had fallen.

Nthoko is knowledgeable about the landscape and the different fauna and flora found in this area, so the three of us spent a substantial amount of time on the drive talking about the indigenous plants that were returning to the area which also aids in the return of critters and birds.

The natural grasses and flowers that are now able to grow on the land from good management.

Hiding behind the bushes like a secret, we were lead down to gate which indicated it was time for us to descend down the age-old pathway created by the San people to where they left their stories behind for us to interpret.

Our trusty guide showing us the way to the Bushman Paintings.

At the bottom of the short but steep path of rocks opened up this enormous cave where we could walk underneath ancient sandstone rock.

Dwarfed by the overhanging rock.

The paintings were pointed out to us one by one, some of which are around 700 years old. Some of the paintings are more faded than others if you look closely, unless it was intended to be like that to show numbers in the herds.

An impala herd.

Over time the rocks have been weathering away which has caused degradation to some of the paintings. I do however like it as it shows age.

San people possibly preparing to go out hunting or in a tribal ritual.

The Eland is the largest of all the antelope and was a spiritual creature to the San people. This animal is depicted in many paintings all over Southern Africa, often using brown, yellow, black and white paint.

Two San people much smaller than the Eland.

The giraffe is my second favourite African animal. Seeing them depicted on the rocks really confirmed to me that Sasi Bush Lodge is doing the right thing by bringing a herd back to be apart of what was once theirs in years gone by.

A painting of a giraffe.

The use of colours fascinated me. We sat for a moment and just thought of what it would be like 500-1000 years ago, moving through this area and finding a cave maybe to sleep in, for protection, to tell stories in and then record them through art.

San people were not tall in stature, you can see them depicted here again above the lower Eland.

With the Bushman Paintings in the background we stopped for a moment after taking it all in and snapped a modern day memory.

Just the three of us, in all this history.

The San people lived in harmony with nature, with each other and were always humble when giving thanks for anything they received. We each took a moment and looked out into the distance and gave thanks for the opportunity to have just been where these peaceful people once walked.

Walking out the cave, one last time to look out.

The view from inside the cave looking over the Northern Drakensberg.

At the top Nthoko poured us each a Gin & Tonic and we all admired the beauty in which we were surrounded. This rock that I was standing on had the paintings right underneath me, hidden again amongst trees and away from the bustle of the world, no one would know that they were there unless you were taken to them.