The Nyae Nyae Conservancy, the first registered conservancy of Namibia, is named after one of the pans in this temporary wetland, which is the eastern edge of the Kalahari Basin. The centre of the area is inhabited by the Ju/'hoan San.

We started at Muramba Bushman Trails where we learned how the San used to survive as hunter-gatherers. Crossing 100 km on the tracks of Elephants we explored this area where a new lifestyle is being practised by the inhabitants, for example gardening, subsistence livestock-farming and tourism. This is already starting to replace their traditional lifestyle.

With a great diversity of wildlife and a shortage of water resources we saw examples of human-wildlife conflicts. The elephants are a big problem for the local people: they topple water tanks, dig up pipes, ruin gardens and can be dangerous for those who come too close. At the same time they play a key role in nature as they provide dead wood and spread seeds with their dung.

The Kalahari teach us to handle precious resources like water with care. During the hike we had only 2 litres of water per day - for washing, brushing teeth, cooking and cleaning eating utensils. Just like the Bushmen in earlier times who often had to survive on only one ostrich egg filled with water per day - that is about 1.5 litres.