When the San, or "Bushmen" as they were called at the time, were first brought to the attention of Europeans, there was a tendency to see them as living a utopian life unspoiled by contact with others. Living in the huge and inhospitable Namib Desert did in fact protect them to some degree, but their contact with any other group of people, including their neighbors like the Herero and the Nama who are pastoralists and agrarians, was never positive. The San had no concept of property, so other people's livestock and crops were considered fair game, and of course their neighbors took a dim view of that. The San are still discriminated against in Namibia today. That they cannot roam and hunt and gather at will has destroyed their culture, and they often live a debased, poverty stricken life with alcoholism as a major problem, much like many Native Americans on reservations.

In any case, no one but a total nut would even try to duplicate their original lifeways, and it would be impossible to find a group of people who could do so for even a week. I had survival training in the military, and even with some modern equipment the idea of trying to survive in the Namib sends a chill down my spine.