Passage B

Many people are looking for an adventure holiday. This advertisement, taken from a website,
offers travellers the opportunity to visit the Kalahari in Namibia, Africa.

Discover the true meaning of safari as you walk with the San Bushmen deep in the arid sun-lands of
the Kalahari. Our two-week expedition is not your average safari, it’s an experience – whether it’s being
awestruck by the staggering vastness of the landscape, that instinctive trickle of fear when you hear your
first lion roar, or simply basking in the steady heat of the African sun.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! Your adventure will begin in the rugged Erongo Mountains, a wild and
rocky landscape of steep escarpments on the southern edge of the Skeleton Coast wilderness. This
immersion phase enables you to acclimatize and learn how to move safely and easily through the
African bush. As well as learning desert survival skills, the art of tracking and protocols for wildlife
encounters, we will trek to undiscovered, ancient, bushman rock-art sites, far from the tourist trail, that few
people have ever seen.

From the Erongo Mountains we will journey into the Kalahari, to the remote Nyae Nyae flat-lands near the
border with Botswana. This area is a paradise for naturalists and photographers, with its abundant wildlife
and stunning panoramas. We will spend as little time as possible in vehicles; no drive-through game parks,
no secured observation hides and no gated lodges – only you, the people and nature. Our guide and good
friend Werner Pfeifer has a close relationship with the San Bushmen who live here; it is their trust in him
that allows us to gain an exclusive insight into their lives, which is simply not available to others.

We have been visiting the San with Werner since 2003 and can guarantee that you will cherish your
time with these wonderful, welcoming people. You will learn from their extensive knowledge of the bush,
and become immersed in their exceptionally skillful and resourceful way of life. These tribal people are
among the last bushmen in Namibia who are permitted to hunt using traditional weapons, and who
have retained much of their specialized ancestral knowledge and hunter-gatherer culture.

This expedition is a hands-on, survival-skills training course, and you will be expected to tackle a range of
physical challenges. You will sleep in the bush, under twinkling stars or canvas tents, cook over open fires,
and experience the sunset dances and music in the company of the San people. During this time you will
learn how to prepare your own traditional hunting weapons with bone, sinew and hide, and will receive
training in expedition skills.

Camping under giant baobab trees, next to sun-scorched desert pans of powdery white sand, you will
enjoy the privilege of going hunting with the men at dawn, searching for a quarry of small antelope,
porcupines and springhares. You will relax or work on crafts during the heat of the day, and go on
tracking excursions in the late afternoon twilight as the sun is dropping, when your San teachers will show
you how to look for the spoor of elephant, hyena, lion, leopard and cheetah. Our mission is to give you
the skills, knowledge and confidence to create your own independent expedition, to feel self- reliant as you
begin to master the art of bush travel. You can be confident that your visit will support the San community
and their determination to maintain their ancestral heritage.

© UCLES 2012 0522/02/INSERT/O/N/12

What the Kalahari expedition offers a traveller?
A trip to the Kalahari offers stunning panoramic landscapes worthy of photographs and the rare privilege of
visiting the artistic decorated rock sites. The traveller learns how to survive in the bush and gets to know and
share the lives of the San Bush people, thanks to the guide who is known and trusted by the tribe. There is a huge
range of wild animals to be seen, and the thrill of hearing the lions roar. The San teach visitors how to track
animals and how to make hunting weapons in preparation for going on a hunt. They also relax by enjoying the
music, dancing and crafts of the bush people. Other exciting experiences are sleeping and cooking in the open air
in the bush. The San community benefits from the support provided by visitors.