Birds and houseguests

I just returned from 4 days in northern Namibia (just west of Etosha NP) at the Ehirovipuka (pronounced Eee-hero-vee'-puka) communal conservancy. I traveled with Uapii, our friend and Polytechnic student, who translated my survey on ecotourism to the OshiHerrero-speaking farmers. We were also joined by Aaron Price, a recent graduate of U. Nebraska, who has just arrived in Namibia for a 6-month stint with World Wildlife Fund.

We performed 36 surveys in 2.5 days--not bad considering travel time and the fact that each survey takes about 30 minutes to complete. The survey documents opinions about the value of conservancies to the resident farmers, as well as the level of their participation in ecotourism activities. Last, the farmers (both men and women--heads of households who make management decisions) are presented with 10 photos of wildlife species in Namibia, and they are asked to share how much they value each species. A "10" indicates "I value this species highly" while a "0" indicates no value, with the range between 0 and 10 available for ranking.

I included photos in the survey of 3 predators (hyena, cheetah, leopard), 3 meat animals (kudu, zebra, oryx), 3 animals who can cause damage (elephant, warthog, rhino) and on 'control'--a bird called a hornbill. It causes no damage, but is too small to eat. I was interested in how people felt about a species that doesn't harm but doesn't really help them. You can see a photo of a hornbill from a previous camping trip here.

We learned that no one like hyenas and everyone loves hornbills. My first favorite quote of the trip came from the farmer at right. He had worked for the Ministry of Environment and Tourism in the past in Etosha, so had an appreciation for wildlife. He still gave predators low rankings, but said this about the hornbill. "Ah, I like this one. You know, the veld* without birds is like a house without children."

On our last night, we ended up camping at Uapii's uncle's house. The family didn't know we were coming, as our plans for camping changed at the last minute. We arrived after dark, and they arrived home from town soon after to find they had guests camped in their front yard. They were incredibly hospitable, and we had a great evening talking. His uncle is a principal at the local primary school, and his aunt teaches 1st Grade.

While talking and sharing our supper with them, his uncle commented, "We have an African proverb...it says 'Sometimes the guests to a home rescue the host.' "

It was his way of thanking us for sharing our food. Thinking of how glad our family had been to see our recent visitors from Nebraska, I had to agree.

I'm adding these two quotes to my list of all-time favorites. Photos of the trip start here on our Picasa photo site.

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*"veld" is the word folks in this next of the woods use for 'range'--we teach 'veld management' instead of 'range management'--it essentially means the habitat around them with bush and grass.