By Colin Moody from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga So far during our trip in Botswana, we’ve had many great memories throughout the first month, with hopefully many more to come. This picture is of one of the many…
By Brendan Hamill-O’Neil from the University of Vermont
By Brendan Hamill-O’Neil from The University of Vermont After days of blazing heat combined with midterms in mopane camp, we were all excited to drive out to the Makgadikgadi national park for a fall break of sorts. When we arrived…
By Andrew Corcilius of Northland College Thank you for letting us visit the glacier and giving us the opportunity to see Grizzly and Moose tracks along the shoreline of the glacial lake as I very well will never have that…
Created by Daniel Folweiler from Westminster College, UT
Written by Daniel Folweiler from Westminster College, UT From November 2nd to 8th, the students of Round River Patagonia Primavera ‘23 stayed at a very diverse group of rural homestays near Cochrane, Chile. Groups of two or three went to…
By Gwen Casey from Carleton College Around 6pm, as the sun becomes red from the dusty horizon, we all pile into 3 trucks and drive to an open savannah several kilometers away from our Kaziikini campsite. We are headed out…
By Brendan Deppen from Bowdoin College
By Brendan Deppen from Bowdoin College Group Hued Hued spent October 4th through October 13th camping and working in the Chacabuco Valley of Patagonia National Park. This block of 10 days presented many hurdles and challenges, but will be looked…
By Elena Prichard from Carleton College
By Izzy Anderson from The University of Vermont
By Izzy Anderson from The University of Vermont Our trip began with an eventful travel day from our basecamp in Cochrane, Chile to El Silencio Campground in the Jeinimeni Sector of Patagonia National Park. We had a long drive, but…
By Elena Prichard from Carleton College In between our woodpecker surveys in the Jeinimeni sector and volunteer work in the Furioso sector of Patagonia National Park, we drove across the border into Argentina in order to renew our Chilean visas and…
By Caroline Loescher from Carleton College
By Lilian Frank from Bowdoin College Our recent Khwai adventure was blessed with the presence of Professor Lance Newman of Westminster University. Our cohort was so thankful to have Lance around for 3 days of our trip, during which he…
In addition to the wildlife, this trip is a journey of growing close to a group of people in a way that feels so different from other relationships. We were all strangers when we met, only knowing each other’s names and universities. We still don’t know much about each other’s lives before this trip, but we know about each other’s reactions to camping, heat, bugs, and wildlife. That is to say we know each other emotionally even if we don’t know the conditions of others’ upbringing or grades in school. I like it this way.
One afternoon, a few of us went on an exploratory hike, and when crossing a stream, we met a park ranger who was fishing with a snare pole in a clear and crisp creek. He showed us how he poked the snare under logs and clumps of grass to chase fish into the sunlight so he could scoop them up. Even though it was early in the spring for fishing, the ranger had success. Jose had bought us a truly massive rainbow trout for dinner, and we watched as the ranger cleaned the fish with a single slice of his blade. This connection with local people who are at home in this landscape was a highlight of the trip. The fish made a delightful addition to our burritos as the evening wind picked up again.
The group fans out and I find myself drawn to murmurs and shouts of more scat peppered throughout this flat and open terrain. Dr. Watine visits each person and I notice a smile curling on her lips. She marches proudly to the front of the group and clears her throat “This might very well be a wolf rendezvous site…” An explosion of whispers erupts between us but is quickly silenced by Dr. Watine “…and therefore I will be performing a wolf call in an attempt to bring some in.”