Kalahari Bushmen Expedition / Namibia

- Partly new program, much more focused on tracking & trailing and learning from traditional Bushmen Master Trackers! -

Africa!
Still a magical place, and one that somehow touches the soul.

Namibia is a vast country with an enormous variation in landscapes. We will visit several different places, including the Kalahari, the Erongo Mountains and the Waterberg Plateau. All different, wild and unique.
You will get the opportunity to see all kinds of wilderness and wildlife such as desert elephants, hyenas, all kinds of antilopes from the tiny dik-dik to kudu and oryx, klipspringers, ostriches, warthogs and baboons. And you will have the feeling to be watched by wildlife too.

Our first stop will be the Erongo Mountain region, a wild and rocky landscape overlooking the vast wilderness of the Namib Desert.  A million year old volcanic landscape with enormous boulders piled one on top of the other.
This is your first getting to know Africa: the sounds (watch the video below with sound on!), the smells, the heat, birds and insects in incredible colors. Small and big game.
It is simply amazing.

In the middle of this ancient wilderness we’ll set up our bushcamp. We’ll definitely scout the area. You'll get to see several maybe-thousand-year-old rock paintings once made by the Bushmen in this impressive valley. As well as ancient campsites once inhabited by Bushmen tribes.
The Erongo's are home to amazingly colored and adapted reptiles and birds. Water turtles in a tiny pool in the middle of the desert, baboon sounds for breakfast, when lucky we might find tracks of rhino’s.

After a few days in this ancient landscape we travel East, covering a huge part of Namibia’s desert country. As distances are enormous and road conditions 'African style', we need an overnight stay at Roy’s Camp before heading towards Bushmenland.
The Kalahari and her Bushmen are a world on it’s own; fascinating, ancient and modern at the same time, full of mysteries and hands-on tracking experiences.
We’re delighted to be able to offer a chance to experience their culture.
Still a few of our Bushmen guides have been born and raised as traditional hunter-gatherers! Their knowledge for survival in the desert is incredible and their tracking skills are unprecedented.

We will stay near the newly opened little Tracker School of the Ju/’hoansi People, located in the shade of a huge baobab tree.
New to the program is the presence of Bushmen Master Trackers (certified by the CyberTracker system). Which makes for fantastic new opportunities!
With them we head out into the bush looking for and learning about tracks and sign, trailing antilopes, visit the Kaudom National Park and -if possible because of occasional floodings- the Nyae Nyae waterholes.

In their thousand year old tradition we’ll head into the Kalahari wilderness tracking and trailing with the people that have lived this for generations ahead. We are sure you will get your share of tracking experience!
Depending on interest and availability (we are in Africa for sure ;-) we can head out into the desert with Master Trackers, making a Bushmen bow & arrow, cordage, digging sticks, go out trailing in the early mornings or maybe even participate in a Cyber Tracker Evaluation run by the Masters Trackers themselves.

We will visit the close by Living Hunters Museum to dive into the ancient life of the Bushmen, get to know their songs and games, go for a bush walk with elders, women, hunters and kids like it has always been. Meeting and learning from these skilled crafts- men and women will be an unforgettable and unique experience, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immerse yourself in their unique hunting and gathering culture.
Some of the Bushmen speak Afrikaans which will be an advantage for the Dutch speakers among us.

Our philosophy in joining the Bushmen is to support and boost their ability to earn an income from their own culture. This has reciprocal benefits. If nothing is done to help, their knowledge will be lost forever and where will they be then? In this way our journey helps contribute to a sustainable future.

Our last stop will be the Waterberg Plateau for a one night stop. The Plateau is a beautiful place on it’s own and totally different from what we’ve seen so far.
Unfortunately we only spend the evening here, but those eager to walk up to the top will be rewarded with a (last) incredible view of Africa’s fantastic landscapes. On the campsite itself we most likely will be able to see baboons, francolins, gekko's, mongoose and genets before we had back to the airport and another life.

The Kalahari Bushmen Expedition is truly facinating and impressive! Food for the soul and a once-in-a-lifetime experience not to be missed.

During this tour Werner Pfeifer will be our local guid. He is a German-Namibian with a limitless knowledge of Namibia and the Kalahari Bushmen.