A minimalistic, hunter-gatherer expedition with Namibia's San Bushmen has been unveiled by Secret Compass, whose first team will enter the Kalahari in September.

“Minimalist and immersive in style, our team will learn how to use traditional San knives and axes, before testing their new bush craft skills on an extended foraging expedition in the remote Kalahari desert,” said Tom Bodkin of Secret Compass.

Bodkin explained, “Equipped only with tools, water and their own initiative, the team will join the San on a hunter-gathering expedition, tracking wildlife, locating nuts and berries and learning to survive in the wilderness.

“Despite exploring an area notorious for large game, the team will be protected by the San bushmen's intuitive ability to read the land, the animals and fresh tracks.”

The expedition is in partnership with the Nanofasa Conservation Trust whose CEO, Aleksandra Nilssen, is a Norwegian model turned wildlife ambassador and educator.

San bushmen expedition highlights

• Join the San bushmen's minimalist way of life
• Forage for food and resources with hunter-gatherers
• Make and use traditional bush craft tools
• Learn about natural healing and bush botany
• Support Nanofasa Conservation Trust's local initiatives

Nilssen described the expedition in more detail. “We'll join the community in the Nhoma bush camp, meeting the hunter-gatherers who'll teach us how to thrive in the Kalahari, bushman-style.

“For three days, the team will learn how to travel safely in harsh environments, how to make hunting tools and how to manage with bare essentials. Armed with our new tools, we'll enter Namibian wilderness on a week-long foraging expedition, testing the team's wilderness skills and sleeping beneath a blanket of stars.

“We'll emerge from the bush and bring the fruits of our labour back to the community who'll teach us more about the importance of sustainable initiatives for the San culture.”

Kerry O'Neill, marketing director of Secret Compass, said, “The San face a fast-moving world that inhibits their ancient traditions. Food security is low, few San learners complete their basic education and illiteracy and unemployment rates are high. This expedition will help Nanofasa spread its messages of local engagement, equality and sustainable growth to assist this marginalized community.”

With its military background, Secret Compass is renowned for offering adventurous expeditions to regions eschewed by many for their remoteness or inaccessibility.

Further Secret Compass expeditions in 2015

In 2015, Secret Compass is sending exploratory expeditions into the jungles of Panama's Darien Gap, the wilds of Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor and the Nagaland region of north-west Burma. It is also running two exploratory mountain bike (MTB) expeditions to Ethiopia and to Kyrgyzstan's Talas mountains.

In keeping with the back-to-basics ethos of this Namibian adventure, there are also two minimalist desert crossings, one to the southern Sinai in Egypt and one to cross the sand scapes and star dunes of Iran's Lut desert.

For more information visit the Namibia: Barefoot with the Bushmen expedition page.

For Secret Compass press information, please contact Kerry O'Neill:

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Secret Compass Expeditions

Secret Compass is a pioneering expedition company creating world-first experiences for teams of like-minded adventurers. Through group and bespoke adventures, Secret Compass helps each team member achieve the extraordinary in the world's wildest places. Founded by ex-British Army Parachute Regiment officers, its expeditions reach the planet's most remote regions in the spirit of exploration's earliest pioneers.

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Secret Compass TV and Film 
Secret Compass provides expert pre-production and in-country location management services to the TV and film industries. Clients to date include the BBC, National Geographic, Animal Planet and Channel 4, in countries from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan, South Sudan to Siberia. www.secretcompasstv.com
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