I chugged a weight gain shake and forced down a half pound of bacon while flipping through hand drawn flashcards of summer wild edibles in the Caprivi Strip of Namibia. It was February in Washington and I was preparing to go onto Naked and Afraid on the far side of the world.

I had Googled “Namibia survival tips” and found little specific information except a few cursory episodes from Les Stroud and Ray Mears. I found it very ironic that a 45 minute survival TV show could provide me so little information on survival in Namibia when I was preparing to go and take part in exactly that.

As I memorized plant morphology, I realized I was getting into position to provide the others just what I really wanted: an effective, quick and dirty guide to this seldom traveled corner of the Earth.

After my 23 days on the show I found out what worked from my notes and due to the graciousness of Renegade 83 Productions and Discovery Channel I was able to stay in Namibia and embed myself for 21 days into a village of Bushmen(Ju/wasi), the last few hunter gatherers of Southern Africa. With my IPhone and handycam I documented their amazing skills to thrive in this truly barren environment.

Please enjoy this trailer of We Do It Outside’s Kalahari Survival Guide. There is much more soon to come.

-Don Nguyen

This lake is so beautiful. It lured us from afar with its crystal blue waters cradled by a valley of snow that fed into this little glacier lake.  It’s like a little nasty trick saying you can look, but don’t touch because the moment you do your heart will turn to ice. None the less, we enjoyed the chilly air that blew off its pure water and danced around on the jagged rocks. We gingerly made our way to the snowpack on the other side where Don taught me technique on the proper use of my ice axe.

The trek was far, but worth it. Our Chihuahua, Kodak, made the hike as well – even if he protested a little bit along the way. He HATES being cold; but, then again, so do I.