adri and johan snyman's namibian and zambian trip diary

Tuesday 4 September
We had a very quiet night and awoke to the toc-toc-toc calls of the hornbills roosting in the trees
before continuing along the sandy track until we reached the Veterinary Control Point on the
D3831. Meat may be transported to the north of this position but may not be transported south.
From there we continued along a good gravel road until we entered the Nyae Nyae
Conservancy and turned off onto the Nyae-Nyae Eco Trail to Tsumkwe. The scenery changed
with more open grasslands and some huge baobab trees.
The local bushman villages were a bit of a disappointment to see as the people have adopted
western-style culture and seem to be struggling to survive. There is no attempt made to grow
any crops and meat is obtained by hunting. As the area is so dry at present, a bowl of water is
used as bait in traps to catch birds. They are also setting fire to the veld to improve visibility and
stimulate new growth of grass to improve hunting opportunities. One of these veld fires got the
adrenaline going when the wind changed direction and we almost got caught up in the flames.
© J Snyman Page 8 of 45