Feb 18th – Feb 23rd
By Phoebe Howe (Middlebury College)
We each began our trip to Botswana in different places – Susanna and Sam from DC, Sarah from Boston, Jack from Burlington, and I (Phoebe) from New Hampshire. It’s pretty surreal to spend so many hours crossing time zones, oceans, and continents, yet be so far removed up in seat 46D from the places and distances over which you are traveling. As we met each other in the Johannesburg airport while waiting for our flight to Maun, Botswana, things began to get real. Names and schools quickly turned into faces and personalities, and conversation came easily given how excited we were (and still are!) for the next three months.
Although Susanna, Sam, Jack, and Sarah all go to the University of Vermont and I spend my school year just forty minutes south of Burlington at Middlebury College, none of us knew each other before meeting in the airport. During this first week, we began to learn more about each other and get to know our leaders, Matt, Susie, and Sixteen. After arriving in Maun on Monday afternoon, Matt, Susie, and Sixteen picked us up from the airport and then we headed to our first camp at Island Safari Lodge, located ten minutes south of town on the banks of the Thamalakane River. Because we are here just before the peak tourist season (which is in the Southern Hemisphere winter), places like the Island Safari Lodge that are tourist destinations are relatively quiet and we appreciated having some space to spread out and relax. It was beautiful to listen to the chorus of frogs and birds from our tents as we fell asleep at night and watch spectacular sunrises in the morning over the river and surrounding wetland.
Our week started off with introductory talks about safety, Round River policies, and curriculum. We have five courses: Natural History of Botswana, Human Ecology, CBNRM (Community Based Natural Resource Management), Introduction to Biological Field Methods, and Conservation Biology. These are based around some combination of readings, discussions, lectures, and our work and experiences in the field. Typically, we will have one scheduled discussion/lecture each day and might also take a walk to identify tracks, trees, grasses, etc. as part of the formal academics.
The other major component of our program here is a Standardized Natural Resource Monitoring project (if anyone has catchy acronym suggestions, let us know!) that gives us an opportunity to work with local and regional conservation groups.
On Tuesday, we met with several of the stakeholders in this project, including Dr. Gas Masunga (our liaison at the Okavango Research Institute), a representative from the federal Department of Wildlife and National Parks, and several representatives from the communities in which we will be conducting fieldwork. We came out of the meeting with lots of information about how conservation and research interests interact here in the Delta, particularly in terms of wildlife and natural resource management.
After a second meeting with Sven, a local biologist who is developing the methodology for our project, we developed more of an understanding of what we will be doing for the next three months. Our time will be split between three Delta communities: Sankuyo, Mababe, and Khwai with time in Maun in between. Because we are only the second Round River group in Botswana, our time will be focused on creating and refining a sustainable methodology for this Standardized Natural Resource Monitoring project. If all goes as planned, future Round River groups in Botswana as well as local communities will be able to use this methodology as a tool to monitor resources within community-managed concession areas.
Another highlight of our time at Island Safari was a morning boat cruise on the Thamalakane and Boro rivers with Cobra, a guide from the Lodge. On the banks and in the surrounding wetland, we identified tons of bird and plant species, including the African Jacana, which is also known as the “Jesus bird” because it hops from lily pad to lily pad and appears to be walking on water. Also, we learned about traditional and medicinal uses for many of the plants; for instance, the stalk of the lily pad has a mesh-like core and can be used as a straw to filter river water for drinking.
African jacana on the Thamalakane River (photo by Susie Dain-Owens)
On Thursday, we packed up camp and headed north to Sankuyo, a community of about 500 and the first area in which are working. Sixteen, one of our leaders, grew up here and has been showing us around and introducing us to his friends and neighbors. We situated our bush camp 3 km south of the village in some Mopane woodland – plenty of shade! There are certainly animals around, as we have seen leopard tracks in camp and can hear hyenas and lions at night. Foodwise, we rotate cooking, which is mainly done over a fire, and so far have enjoyed delicacies ranging from grilled zucchini to scrambled eggs. However, we are becoming increasingly creative with beans and potatoes as our limited fresh food runs out.
Our plan for all three communities (Sankuyo, Mababe, and Khwai) is to work with local guides to conduct driving transects around the concession areas and herbivore (elephant, zebra, giraffe, etc.) surveys. These guides are employed by the community trusts, which are organizations in each village that are in charge of managing tourism, hunting, conservation, etc. in their concession areas. So, as five guides accompany us on our driving transects, we work together to collect and record data on a survey spreadsheet and via GPS. In this way, the trusts and their guides will have the methodology down to conduct the monitoring in the future.
On Friday morning (Feb 22), we attended a kgotla meeting in Sankuyo, which immediately felt like and reminded me of New England town meetings. The kgotla, in the center of a village, serves a ceremonial as well as administrative function. The chief presides over meetings, and this one was conducted primarily to discuss development within the village. Because kgotla events are held in Setswana, we weren’t able to understand much, but appreciated the chance to introduce ourselves and our project through Sixteen, our de facto translator, and meet more people from Sankuyo.
All in all, it has been incredibly satisfying so far to be learning and working in such a beautiful place. Because there are seven other people who are each excited to be here, not a moment goes by unappreciated and it’s fantastic to know that the next three months will be equally positive and rewarding.
From left: Sarah, Matt, Jack, Susanna, Sam, Susie, Sixteen, Phoebe.