Houwhoek Hiking Trail

Danie Kotze

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Jun 11, 2026, 3:32:53 AMJun 11

to Tracks4Africa

Good morning,

Would anyone know why the Houwhoek hiking trail is broken in this area? From the Google Earth image, it looks like there could be a washaway where the green arrow points. However, the upper loop back to the hotel looks fine. The red circle is more or les here S34.20274° E19.15706°.

Thanks.

Danie Kotzé

+27 64 045-2693

Marc Hall

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Jun 11, 2026, 4:19:39 AMJun 11

to tracks...@googlegroups.com

Possibly damage from the torrential flooding a few weeks back?

Marc

On 11 Jun 2026, at 09:33, Danie Kotze <danie...@gmail.com> wrote:

Good morning,

Would anyone know why the Houwhoek hiking trail is broken in this area? From the Google Earth image, it looks like there could be a washaway where the green arrow points. However, the upper loop back to the hotel looks fine. The red circle is more or les here S34.20274° E19.15706°.

Thanks.

Danie Kotzé

+27 64 045-2693

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Danie Kotze

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Jun 11, 2026, 6:05:48 AMJun 11

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Maybe just to clarify. The trail lines are broken on the map and you cannot route through it towards the washaway (that makes some sense, although it will not be from the most recent floods as the map would not have been updated to reflect that yet). But then also not towards the top loop, which doesn't look right.

Anyway, we are planning to go there on Tuesday, then I can confirm the situation.

Thanks.

Danie Kotzé

+27 64 045-2693

From: 'Marc Hall' via Tracks4Africa <tracks...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, 11 June 2026 10:19
To: tracks...@googlegroups.com <tracks...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [T4A] Houwhoek Hiking Trail

To view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tracks4africa/A08499A0-C1B7-484D-93A3-9C84B094EB5D%40icloud.com.

cha...@homelands.je

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Jun 11, 2026, 6:17:36 AMJun 11

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Hi

This may seem like an unusual question, but we are preparing for an overland trip into Angola and will be navigating with a Garmin 66 loaded with the Tracks4Africa (T4A) maps. (Crossing at Ruacana) We have been advised by several experienced overlanders that some of the lesser-used secondary roads and tracks may still not have been fully cleared of landmines.

Is there a reliable way to identify roads or areas that may still present a landmine risk, either through map data, official sources, or GPS overlays? We would like to ensure that we avoid any potentially unsafe routes and stay strictly on roads that are known to be cleared and safe for travel.

Kind regards

Charles St.Clair

Johann Groenewald

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Jun 11, 2026, 6:43:45 AMJun 11

to Tracks4Africa, Charles St.Clair-Bolam

Hi Charles,

Thanks for your email. You ask a very relevant and important question.

We are aware of the landmine risk. When we started mapping Angola about 25years ago we realized that maps from before the war showed many more roads than we currently have. We could not rely on pre-war maps for input and we already had a mapping philosophy to include only roads for which we received actual GPS tracks from people who travelled there.

Every road shown on our Angola map has been driven by someone within the last 25 years. These roads are clear of landmines. No realistic maps show where landmines are but we know infrastructure was targeted, meaning the risk increases near things like bridges and railroads. More landmines are located east of the country where the Halo Trust is still actively clearing them.

My advice is to follow the paths on our maps and if you must take roads not on our maps, do so only after seeing vehicle tracks upon them. Also take care not to go off-road and pay attention to local advice.

Despite the above, we cannot take responsibility for the data's accuracy. Trust you understand.

Kind Regards

Johann Groenewald

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S.A. Airborne

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Jun 11, 2026, 6:48:04 AMJun 11

to Tracks4Africa, Charles St.Clair-Bolam

Very good advice - learned first-hand, when we went bundu-bashing cross-country through the bush, and hit what was obviously an old 'legacy mine' planted many years ago, nowhere near any existing road, path, or track...

We were just south of Ongiva, to give you an idea of the relevant area.

Enjoy your trip, and be safe!

P
.