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Today at WILD9 / Hoy en WILD9
Hoy en WILD9
WILD9 is a success! Over the 8 days of WILD9, we gathered together to THINK, FEEL and ACT.
WILD9 was opened by President Felipe Calderon, and attended by 1800 delegates from 50 countries, with 10,000 on-line participants from 100 countries. WILD9 conveyed an extraordinary atmosphere of hope and enthusiasm, hosted a diverse range of working session and featured a plenary program with world leaders such as Dr. Jane Goodall; Dr. Sylvia Earle; Dr Pavan Sukhdev; Chief Tashka Yawanawa; Grand Chief Samuel Gargan; numerous Ministers; the heads of land management agencies from North America and other regions; Heinz Center Director Dr. Thomas Lovejoy; Nobel laureate Mario Molina; Dr. Amory Lovins; Dr Exequiel Ezcurra; and many others.
Download the summary of WILD9 Accomplishments >
View Video’s of WILD9 Presentations >
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Tracks of Giants: The long haul across Namibia
May 21, 2012
18th May 2012 – Eighteen days and 880 kms later, its rest day at Andersons Camp in the Ongava Concession that lies adjacent to the Okaukuejo Gate of Etosha National Park. Thanks to Mike Wassing, Lious Nortje and all the staff at Wilderness Safaris for providing this sanctuary of comfort.
Since the last rest day at Etaambura Lodge, it’s been 9 days of cycling – mostly extremely pleasant and rewarding, but it has to be said, not without the odd day of agony and humour failure. Leaving the rugged beauty and tricky dirt roads of the highland regions, our route took us down to Opuwa, and shortly thereafter on to the primary arterial roads for the first time. These long open stretches of flat tar have certainly upped our average speed, but there is an element of unease that comes with the odd truck whizzing by inches from your handlebars. Once past Kamanjab and beyond, we reverted to the gravel back roads that link the commercial cattle ranching districts and numerous wildlife conservancies edging Etosha’s western and southern boundaries. While not as scenic as the drier highland regions, the ‘issue-levels’ have again ticked up as we have cycled through areas beset with human-animal conflicts.
Two days back we had a particularly worthwhile interlude when we stopped off for early morning coffee and sandwiches at the farm Vreugde belonging to the Brand family. Danie Brand Jnr got to hear about TRACKS through the local Namibian press and then took the trouble to contact us via the website. Our thanks go to the Brand’s for their generous hospitality and for taking time from farming duties to spend an hour or so discussing the range of attitudes that exist amongst those that ranch cattle and sheep alongside wildlife areas.
Given the value of these exchanges to the TRACKS information database, we would like to encourage others living or working along the route to be in contact. Whether a farmer, conservationist, researcher, ecotourism operator or someone that simply has a story to share, leave a short message on thePress/Media Page with a cell number and precise address, and if time and distance allows, we will endeavour to visit you.
Thanks also to all those wonderful supporters sending good wishes and messages of encouragement – they come from family, friends, sponsors and followers from around the globe. Your inspiration helps keep the focus – TRACKS is primarily a conservation awareness initiative that will hopefully bring greater understanding to corridor and transfrontier projects. It is also our way of collecting the stories of those conservation Giants, and others, that are so actively involved in the challenges of the day.
And then like any tightly-knit unit, spirits within the core team remain high. The daily task roster has been streamlined and tweaked, while everyone is getting time on the bicycles. And this morning’s game-drive into Etosha was a huge success – Mandla came back brimming with joy at his first Namibian lion sightings. For Frank and Anton, “it’s a huge privilege to be involved with TRACKS”, and for Frank, he has been particularly “impressed with the attitude of everyone we have met, especially the hospitality of the lodge owners and farmers.”
Tomorrow, we head due east along the entire southern edge of Etosha, before swinging south through Otavi and on to Grootfontein. With three consecutive 100 kilometre plus rides looming, there are going to be some long and butt-burning days in the saddle. And then at Roy’s Camp, we look forward to welcoming Dr Julian Fennessy and his wife Stephanie to the expedition. Julian is the Director of the Namibia Nature Foundation, a well established and highly regarded NGO dedicated to promoting sustainable conservation and development programmes across Namibia. Established in 1987, the NNF is now involved in over 90 projects on both a local and regional level. Julian will ride with us to Tsumkwe, where and he and the NNF have facilitated various interviews and visits involving the local San community.
It’s then a short hop to the Namibia/Botswana border and another exciting day – if all goes to plan, Tessa van Schaik, my beloved partner, and Liam, our adorable son, will be there to meet us. They will be driving in from Maun with PJ Bestelink, a great friend to both Ian and me, and one of Botswana’s ecotourism pioneers and a “Giant” of the Okavango Delta. PJ has been a mentor, and both Ian and I have been fortunate to have had many incredibly valuable times, as well as much fun, with PJ and his wife, Barney, over the years. He will be our guide through the first stages of the Botswana section – what a true pleasure and privilege to have him along.
>View photos from the field, May 3-9
>Visit the Tracks of Giants website
Tracks of Giants: Hiking the Horuseb Valley
May 19, 2012
Hiking up the Horuseb Valley, across the Skeleton Coast, was a lifetime experience. As we turned inland from the coast we saw our first elephant spoor (tracks), those of a large bull that had walked to the coast, turned, and ambled all the way back up the valley. We started the expedition as promised….in the tracks of giants.
Namibia’s coastline is in continuous protected area status from the northern border with Angola to the southern border with South Africa. Occasional 4 wheel drive vehicles traverse this area. However, we know of only one other person who has (willingly) hiked this 74 km stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to the dusty, desert, inland village of Purros in NW Namibia. That was Chris Bakkes (also with us on this trail) who did it with a back-up vehicle. Our Tracks of Giants team of 11 people — plus one tenacious and remarkable Jack Russell terrier (“Tier”, or Tiger) – was unsupported, and each person toted 23kg (50 lb) backpacks. We had the necessary luxury of just one, pre-arranged cache of water deposited several days earlier along a particularly dry, 16 km segment of the river valley. The fact that the water tasted like detergent from the ample cleansing in base camp of the 60 litre containers was little noticed. A rooibos teabag in my water bottle took care of that.
The cool, delicious Atlantic breeze quickly dissipated after we headed east from the mouth of the river. The “river” is underground, of course, and we hiked along what appeared as a sandy, cracked-silt, dry valley, with awesome sand dunes up to 150m (500 ft) high on the south side and rolling desert to the north. Occasional rose-colored granite outcrops emerged from the sand dunes.
We made 3 night camps on sand bars. We rationed our water carefully until we finally found surface water seeping from the rocks, which we drank un-treated. Each day we walked out of camp in the pre-dawn darkness, until about noon, when we would find a bit of shade to lay in and lunch on dried fruit and crackers. By midday the heat was an unapologetic 44 C (111 F). During these necessary respites the documentation aspect of TRACKS occurred, with the local conservationists interviewed on camera about the nature conservation challenges, issues, and accomplishments in their work and region. When the slanting rays of the sun cooled a bit, we continued hiking until dusk.
Memories and images from the trail:
- Blisters on our feet…laughter…muscle pain…avoiding soft sand if possible!
- Night watch — The waxing moon, almost full. As always on a Wilderness Leadership School-type trail, there was a prescribed night watch (each person doing an hour or so) around the small campfire. It was a treasure of silence, stars, and feeling. I’ve done the night watch dozens of times in Southern Africa, but this was special. It was deeper, quieter. The stars hissed. A brown hyena howled. A leopard grunted as it lapped the shallow water of a seep in the Horuseb. The last night, after the moon set, I saw 15 meteors in the hour before first light.
- Plenty of gemsbok (the striking desert oryx) – one herd was over 30 animals — and the smaller springbok.
- A nice, close-encounter with a solitary, young bull elephant feeding in the reeds along the edge of the river. These “desert” elephants are one of only two such desert-adapted populations, the other in central Mali where WILD also works with that herd of +/- 500 animals
- Laying on our backs in the sand, under the almost-full moon (an unusually large “supermoon”), with Chris Bakkes reciting from memory “The Man from Snowy River,” word by word…and Ian McCallum reciting Carl Sandberg’s Wilderness ….”there is a wolf in me”…
- Bird life was frequent though not plentiful. The ubiquitous call of the Bokmakierie (bush shrike)echoed thru the poorts, or granite-walled canyons; noisy, garrulous Egyptian geese wherever the river seeped to the surface; flocks of chattering, Common waxbills in the reed beds; rock martens wheeling along the cliffs; a solitary Auger buzzard perched atop a rock.
- Despite the most recent summer rainy season being very sparse, the previous year had been very wet, so by day three the very shallow surface water was almost continuous, necessitating dozens of splashy crossings.
On day four we began to see a different spoor – cattle. We were approaching Purros. By mid-morning the back up team met us. For part of the last 8 kms we were joined by Tessa and Liam (Ian Michler’s partner and their 4 year old son), Sharon McCallum (Dr Ian’s wife and the core of the logistics effort), and Anton Kuuypar the fabulous “do-everything” gap-year student. It was very hot. We learned later at base camp that they recorded 46 C (115F) in the shade.
We walked thru the midday heat, stopping frequently in the shade of a camel thorn trees (acacia erioloba). Tier, the Jack Russell, was beginning to suffer…imagine how hot it was as close to the heat-reflecting sand as he was! Chris would pick him up frequently, douse him with a splash of water, and he would perch on top of Chris’ backpack for awhile. In great contrast was Robbin — a long-legged, easy–gaited, quiet, 34 year old local Himba who works with IRDNC – who strolled along like it was a walk in a park. I saw him drink once, briefly, during the entire morning and early afternoon. For the rest of us, it was impossible to stay hydrated.
By 1:30p we walked into base camp as we had left Rocky Point four days earlier…to the welcoming, soft sound of Frank Raimondo’s harmonica. The cool water was a treat, as was the cool beer.
That evening we were joined by the remarkable duo of Garth Owen Smith and Margie Jacobsohn, pioneers of community-based natural resource management. Garth joined the core team of Ian and Ian for the next, 3 day sector on mountain bikes, starting after a day of rest.
Before sun-up the next morning I left with Tessa, Liam, and Festus for the 14 hour drive to Windhoek, the first 6 hours of which was through the many communal “conservancies” (initiated by Garth and Margie with local communities) that constitute a major part of Namibia’s remarkable conservation success story. From the Land Rover we saw desert elephant, ostrich, giraffe, gemsbok, springbok, Hartman’s zebra and more.
TRACKS is well-launched….only 4,900 km to go!
>View the Horuseb River Valley photos
Tracks of Giants: Crossing the Desert
May 18, 2012
I have been to the tiny dusty village of Puros a number of times, but never had this collection of drab tin and pre-fab dwellings been such a welcome sight. Lying on the edge of the Hoarusib River that splits the true Namib Desert from the pre-Namib and Escarpment to the east, it is where our trusty back-up team had been camped out for a week or so. And after 4 gruelling days and 85 kilometres hiking through the Namib, as we exited the river canyon, all minds shifted to the rituals and comforts associated with a familiar and well laid out campsite – fresh water, shade, shower, wholesome food and of course, the friends and family awaiting our arrival.
It was at once a truly inspiring and humbling way to start the TRACKS expedition – some of the most spectacular desert wilderness found anywhere on the continent, tempered by the testing environmental conditions. Awe and respectful awareness soon became our travel companions.
After a somewhat emotional send-off from the back-up team and family on 1st May, we headed south from Rocky Point along the endless beaches that dominate the far northern reaches of the Skeleton Coast National Park. Hours later, the route took us into the mouth of the Hoarusib and away from our last comfort – the cool sea-breeze that sweeps in off the cold Atlantic waters.
Despite the searing 42ºC plus daytime temperatures, the next few days passed in a blur of tremendous rock and dune scenery, thirst, and the ever-present banter of a growing camaraderie. At first sight, these landscapes appear barren and seemingly devoid of life, but time soon unveils the faunal and floral delights, and the intricate balance that defines every plant and creature’s existence.
Highlights on this leg included a close-up elephant sighting, plenty oryx and springbok at the water seeps and the occasional jackal and ostrich. The last evening provided a real thrill when the sounds of a grunting leopard echoed along the canyon walls. And then as we set out in the first light of the last morning, the squeals of two brown hyenas broke the dawn.
Because of the harsh and vast terrain, as well as the intense heat, the first two legs of the TRACKS expedition were always going to be tricky ones. Fortunately, for the Namib crossing we had the vast experience of Chris Bakkes and Festus Mbinga, both from Wilderness Safaris, and Mandla Buthelezi from the Wilderness Leadership School to lead the group. For this leg, we were also joined by Vance Martin from The WILD Foundation in the USA, John Kasaona and Boas Hambo from the Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC), Jerome Mukuyu, a university student from Windhoek, and Robin from the Puros Conservancy. Nick Chevallier, the filmmaker and cameraman, walked (and documented) the entire trail.
For the next leg, approximately 110 km on mountain bikes, we were joined by Garth Owen-Smith and Margie Jacobsohn, founders of IRDNC, a hugely influential community-based conservation organization instrumental in the success of northern Namibia’s conservancy policy. Garth cycled with us while Margie assisted the back-up crew.
These last two days in the saddle have been as testing as the Namib walk – no let up yet in the daytime temperatures, and then the extremely demanding task of steering a bicycle through long patches of soft sand and loose gravel, or over nasty corrugations. Despite the incredible mountain scenery and the numerous wildlife sightings, which included elephant, cheetah with cubs, aardwolf, and bat-eared fox, there were times on that first afternoon as we slowly ground our way out of the Khumib River bed and then up and over the rocky Oharondua Nomanga Pass that I questioned the sanity of it all.
But now, as I write this first blog, we are enjoying a comfortable rest day in Etaambura Lodge, the region’s premier self-catering community establishment. Extremely well crafted from local materials, it sits perched up on one of the numerous basaltic outcrops that comprise the Etendeka Range, and with splendid 360º views of the surrounding countryside – all is at ease and there is nothing insane about what TRACKS is about.
Which brings me on to the issues – already we have encountered a number of them and the documentation process is well under way. Land-use competition, tender and stakeholder disputes, the human-animal conflicts, and the vital importance of corridors for both wildlife and the rural nomadic Himba people have all presented themselves. Our most demanding challenge is going to be recording these disputes, challenges and successes as accurately and authentically as possible.
In ending this first blog, an introduction to the Buck-up Crew (BUC’s) is long overdue. Johnny Frankiskos and Frank Raimondo are behind the wheels of the two vehicles, and they are being ably supported by Anton Kruyshaar, who also doubles us our bicycle technician, and Mandla Buthelezi. They have done an incredible job and without them, TRACKS is simply a non-starter. Our sincere thanks and appreciation go to them.
As I mentioned earlier, we’ve been extremely fortunate to have Nick Chevallier, a well-known and highly regarded professional film-maker with us for both these legs. His professionalism has been an example to all.
>Visit the Tracks of Giants website
Tracks of Giants: Hiking the Skeleton Coast
May 17, 20121 May 2012 wake-up call at 0500 – it was very dark and damp on the little promontory of Rocky Point, jutting into the Atlantic Ocean on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast. After years of discussion, an announcement of intention during WILD9 (Mexico, 2009), and two years of planning, Tracks of Giants was finally on its way.
There was a palpable sense of anticipation and slight nervousness. Everyone was anxious to get going so packing was quick, and followed by even quicker breakfast of cereal and rusks with some hot tea. Suddenly it was time, and the banner was unfurled in the mist and the bobbing lights of headlamps – cameras whirred and flashed. As the initial hiking team of 11 of us tromped off into the sand to the wonderful, soft sound of Frank Raimondo’s harmonica, there was a faint, rose-colored strip of light across the desert horizon to the east. Tier, Chris Bakkes’ feisty and famous 7 year old Jack Russell, gave a few excited barks and ran off ahead of us. The back-up team stayed behind to pack and do the return journey to the base camp at Purros. The 5000 km journey across Southern Africa had begun.
The hikers moved out, and our wilderness trail started with a 14km trek south to the mouth of the Horuseb River, the largest of Namibia’s west-flowing, seasonal rivers that drain into the Atlantic. We set a fast pace across loose sand, working off the nervousness and settling into our packs.
As the eastern sky lightened, the sun finally started to glint off the rollers and whitecaps to the west, and the mist cleared. The Skeleton Coast of NW Namibia is a fabled and mysterious strip of ancient desert along the Atlantic Ocean. The cold, north flowing Benguella current comes directly from Antarctica and hits the arid western coast of South Africa and Namibia, often generating a thick marine layer of fog and mist that has been the cause of many shipwrecks along its shores…hence, its name. The Benguella is also a nutrient rich current, supporting a significant commercial fishery and numerous, huge colonies of Cape Fur seals along the coast.
It’s one of the most unusual ecosystems in the world, and endlessly fascinating. As we hiked south we saw ample, fresh tracks of the brown hyena, readily identified by the clawed, large front paw print with a smaller, hind paw print right next to it. Often cris-crossing these spoor were lots of smaller tracks of the fox-like, Black-backed jackel. These predators and scavengers exist off the Cape Fur seals, snatching young from the fringes of the huge colonies, and feeding on the many carcasses that wash up on the beach.
Namibia is a remarkable country and unusual country with a commitment to nature conservation. 42% of its land is under some sort of formal protection, with good ecological connectivity, making it a superb, global example of Nature Needs Half. It is also the only country in the world whose entire coastline is under formal conservation protection. Yes, there are still many issues and challenges, but it is rightly a remarkable example of nature conservation and a true, global model.
We first identified the Horuseb mouth by the towering sand dunes along its southern bank, and we finally arrived there by mid-late morning. The weather was clear and the sun warm, but the cool ocean breeze was perfect. Packs off, we sat in a loose circle for our “indaba,” the traditional Zulu gathering where stories are told and issues clarified. This is the way that every Wilderness Leadership Schooltrail begins, with each trailist taking as much time as they need to share who they are and why they are on the trail. This is just one of the many ways that makes a WLS experience more than an adventure hike, with all the normal excitement and banter. It is also and most importantly an inner journey, in which discovery is both around and within each person. In wild nature is the perfect place to better understand your own personal nature.
>View the photos of the team: Hiking the Skeleton Coast
>Visit the Tracks of Giants website
CHIMPANZEE – The Taï chimpanzees are featured in the new Disneynature film
May 16, 2012
Oscar, Freddy and Isha are the stars of the new Disneynature film CHIMPANZEE which opened Friday April 20th! This marks the first time ever that a feature film was shot entirely in the wild, and uses footage from the chimpanzees living in the Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire and in the Kibale National Park, Uganda. The 3 main stars, Oscar, Freddy and Isha, belong to the chimpanzee groups that Max Planck Director Christophe Boesch and his team have studied for the last 33 years in Côte d’Ivoire.
The movie is based on one of the remarkable cases of adoption that has been observed in the Taï chimpanzees. After the tragic loss of his mother, a chimpanzee infant was serendipitously adopted by Freddy, one of the most experienced adult males in his group. The story follows the powerful relationship between the two as Freddy cares for the little orphan as if he was his own offspring.
CHIMPANZEE is an amazing and unique opportunity for people to learn about the behavior of our closest living animal relatives and will allow them to understand why research in evolutionary anthropology is so fascinating and important.
Chimpanzees from the Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire
The faculty, students and field assistants of the Department of Primatology at the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig were involved in the day-to-day filming of the movie and helped make the movie possible. Christophe Boesch served as the principal scientific advisor for the film and was directly involved in developing the script to make sure it reflected the many facets of chimpanzee life and behavior. Please visit the following webpages to learn more about our research:
MPI EVAN: Department of Primatology: www.eva.mpg.de/primat
The Ngogo Chimpanzee Project: www.ngogochimpanzeeproject.org
Wild chimpanzees are threatened across their natural range in Africa due to illegal hunting deforestation and habitat destruction and this is also true for the chimpanzees of the Taï forest.
“This film will allow the public to see into the lives of wild chimpanzees and learn about the personalities of individual animals. I really hope people will feel connected to the animals they see on screen and will feel moved to support conservation initiatives for the survival of this endangered species” said Christophe Boesch.
Everyone interested in learning more about the wild chimpanzees featured in the movie and supporting chimpanzee conservation is encouraged to get involved and visit the following webpage: Wild Chimpanzee Foundation: www.wildchimps.org
The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation is an official partner of the WILD Foundation. The WCF has been working for many years to save the chimpanzee in its natural habitat. With a motto “Now or Never,” WCF has always set its priorities through grass-root activities where wild chimpanzee populations and their forested habitat is being threatened. >Learn more!
