A Beautiful Life in Botswana

By Abaigeal Carroll of the University of Vermont

            As I sit down to write this blog it is 3 o’clock in the morning. The night sky? Full of stars. My dirty travel mug? Overflowing with coffee. The spotify playlist I just made? 12 hours long. One might ask themselves: “Abby, why are you awake at 3 in the morning?” Totally valid question. I would probably ask that as well considering there are few things I love more than snuggling up in my sleeping bag and counting impala (Aepyceros melampus) in my head until I fall asleep every night. Well, to answer your question, my procrastination got the best of me and I decided to stay up all night to finish my midterm work due tomorrow. Now, I’m sure pulling all-nighters is quite a shared experience amongst fellow college students with the all too familiar yellowish glow of your computer screen, musty aroma, and your glossy dry eyes fighting every urge to shut tight and never open. Let me tell you, when you’re in Botswana (one of the most awe-inspiring places on this planet), those feelings of distress do not exist. Every second awake is a second that you are experiencing life in full color. You truly learn how everything and everyone is interdependent and interconnected in a mosaic of similar shapes, colors, interests, habitats, patterns, textures. The list is limitless.

This interconnectedness can be seen from the similarities in shape of a mopane leaf (Colophospermum mopane) to the track of a wee little steenbok (Rachicerus campestris) or perhaps similarly illustrated in the dynamics of the research group that I have the pleasure of exploring with this semester. Arguably explained best by the queen of environmentalism herself, Robin Wall Kimmererer (author of Braiding Sweetgrass), “each person, human or no, is bound to every other in a reciprocal relationship…just as all beings have a duty to me, I have a duty to them.” Everyone in our 11-person group brings a different area of expertise and we celebrate the information we can instill in one another for a well-rounded approach to conservation.

            First, we have Emma, or more appropriately: the plant expert. Solanaceae? Fabaceae? Asteraceae? You name any herbaceous material and Emma will know what family it belongs to. I have the gift of completing a final project with said plant expert on…you guessed it: plants! We are making an herbarium of as many plant families that we can find throughout the Okavango Delta. The methods of our project mostly consist of me seeing a pretty flower whilst on transect, promptly asking for a halt to our vehicle, prancing out gleefully to collect the specimen, aggressively flipping through our plant book to no avail, and finally begging Emma for her expertise.

 Next is Guido, our resident fishing connoisseur. I mean this in the best way possible: I have never heard someone talk more about fish in my life. His fishing rod is always a welcomed passenger in our car, one day hoping that it can finally have open reign over the Botswanan waters. Nevertheless, we still look forward to a possible fishing lesson in our next concession. When he is not passionately conversing about Eastern Oregon, Guido spoils us with nightly strumming on his guitar around the campfire.

Leah is the soul of our group with such an in-depth knowledge and care for vegetation, grasses, and herbaceous material that her inquisitive nature encourages us all to participate. The way she learns is an inspiration for all as she attempts to ID every. single. plant. that she can find in each concession we go to. She learns by caring deeply about the world around her. You can also commonly find Leah beaming from ear to ear whilst humming “ke bonye phuduhudu maabane” in Setswana, or “I saw a steenbok yesterday” and conversing with the local people.

Kate is our graduated senior who warmly shares her wisdom on animals, tea-making, photography, whittling, fungus, and insects. Fungus attracts Kate like a magnet, especially on rainy day transects where she can be found entwined around her camera in curious positions, capturing every angle. Amazingly, Kate is my tent mate for this semester, and I could not be more thankful to grow in this environment with her. Our nightly routine includes being visited by various insects in our tent whom we graciously welcome and treat like our children.

The first memory I have of Josh, the next member of our group, was during our preparatory zoom meeting that we participated in before coming to Botswana. Our professor, Gen, asked us all what animal we were most excited to see and without hesitation Josh answered point-blank “cheetah”. Since I was on speaker and all of my roommates overheard, this naturally granted Josh the nickname of “Cheetah boy” which has carried on throughout our trip. Fueled by sea shanties and energy drinks, Josh can always be counted on to initiate the process of packing our cars up to move camp and cracking jokes while doing so.

Marcy is our Jane Goodall in training. Coming in with a plan to monitor elephant behavior towards the presence of vehicles, she has used her keen intelligence and attention to detail to initiate data collection. Her thesis project has truly blossomed under the help of all the local people we have met, and I can’t wait to see all that she accomplishes!

 To round off our group, there is Adrianne! Her family is from South Africa so she is no stranger to the 15 hour flight here. Additionally, being seasoned in safaris shows through with her extremely keen eye for spotting wildlife. One thing’s for sure, if we happen to spot a leopard, it will most definitely be thanks to Adrianne.

This is all well and good but we would honestly be nowhere without our incredible professors Gen, Gabe, and Dix. Gen is our fearless leader/mom/vulture-lover/heart. She is always there to spread kindness and gently lead others in the right direction, contently watching us prosper under her direction. I still remember one night as I struggled to start a fire for the first time, Gen gave me space to trial and error the situation, softly offering encouraging advice on what might help me. Struggling to light the semi damp kindling for about 20 minutes only made the eventual roaring fire evermore hearty.

Our other professor, Gabe, shares his endless knowledge on grasses, specifically how to remedy invasive species. He brings a joyous approach to photography with his captivating images and an equally merry attitude towards birding. It has become an ongoing joke amongst our group to treat the very common Cape Turtle Dove that we see at least 20 times everyday as an absolute luxury to lay eyes on. Transects with Gabe will most definitely include stopping everything we are doing to gaze at the majestic Cape Turtle Dove with ensuing laughter for all involved.

Our last professor is Dix, a resident of Sankoyo (one of the villages that we enjoyed visiting)! For a man so full of traditional ecological knowledge, he never fails to entertain our plethora of questions with a thoughtful response. Any time spent with Dix is a pleasure with his electrifying smile and jolly laugh. The other day we tried to take pictures with our hat backwards and an intimidating expression on our face but couldn’t last more than 3 seconds without laughing at each other.

Undoubtedly, one of the most important lessons I have learned is how knowledge overlaps with each other. The traditional American schooling system has an emphasis on choosing one area of expertise and focusing on that. The truth is, everything relates to each other. Even nature mimics itself in surprising ways! I am so thankful for all of the knowledge that we share with each other and can’t wait for our continuing adventure.