By Henry Dodge (Colby College)
HQ! It’s hard to believe that this program is coming to an end and we’ve all been reflecting on the good times we’ve had over the last few months. We are currently back at where it all began: HQ camp in NG-34 was our first camp in the field and now it’s the second-to-last. We’ve completed our wildlife monitoring and projects in Xai Xai, Mababe, and Khwai and now we’re back at HQ to complete our monitoring work here.
HQ looks a little different than when we were here two months ago. The record rains this year helped the grass grow incredibly tall, and the pan was very full of water in early February. Driving in this past week, I think we were all shocked to see the wilting grass and nonexistent water. Everyone set up their tents in the same spots and it felt good to be back at a familiar campsite.
Although the place is the same, the tasks at hand for the next week are completely different. We are officially in “finals week” and everyday there’s some sort of essay or exam that we have to complete. Luckily we’re all professionals by now at completing transects and our days are packed with drives in the mornings and exams/studying in the afternoons. Everyday is busy but I think everyone is enjoying our time in NG-34 and our last field stint.
Because the water has dried up so much in and around the pan, more wildlife has visited our campsite this time around. A resident buffalo herd comes to drink in the evenings and elephants are constantly around. We’ve also all enjoyed watching the giraffes drink and the other day a breeding herd of around fifty elephants walked within forty yards of our camp! Everyone was in the middle of an exam but we all stopped and enjoyed the herd’s presence. The impalas have also recently entered their breeding season and we go to bed every night hearing their barks as the males fight each other to breed with certain females.
All of our knowledge of the landscape and ecosystem is leading up to our final practical exam, which will happen on one of our last days here in HQ. Unlike our practicals at home in the US, this test will be a walk in the bush around camp and our instructors will point to all kinds of plants, animals, insects, and tracks which we will need to identify. Looking at all of the information on paper is a little daunting, but we’ve been studying for the exam all semester through our transects, walks, and game drives.
Yesterday we got a much needed break from studying and went to the pan to swim, although it was a little muddy, everyone enjoyed cooling off in the water and before we knew it, a mudfight ensued. The outing also gave us an opportunity to look at tracks and practice for our upcoming exam. Tracks have been one of my favorite things to learn about and it was fun to see which species had come to the pan to drink throughout the last few days.
It’s crazy to think that the program will be ending relatively soon and everyone is relishing their last few weeks in the field. The rain has subsided and we’re able to hang out outside at night until the mosquitos force us into our tents. All of us are going to truly miss Botswana. More updates to come soon!