By Martica Drury of University of Vermont
Botswana Student Program – Fall 2019 Semester
Thanksgiving in the bush started out like any other day. The radiant sun crested the tops of the Kalahari Apple Leaf trees, sending rays of orange light streaming through the window of our tent. The temperature inside of our canvas oven climbed well past the 90 degree mark, the heat pulling its three inhabitants out of their slumber. I rubbed the sleep out of tired eyes and exchanged “good mornings” and “Happy Thanksgivings” with my tent buddies, Jo and Rose. The three of us clumsily gathered our belongings, shoved Chaco’s onto sandy feet, and extracted ourselves from our sweltering home, ready to take on the day.
Camp was already abuzz with early morning activity. Granola was poured, tea was steeped, teeth were brushed, hair was braided, bags were packed and research materials were collected. Six students and two instructors prepared equipment and cars to conduct raptor transects. Raptor transects are one of the less time consuming methods of data collection that we complete on a weekly basis, only taking only two hours or so – leaving us the entire rest of the day for cooking. Cosmos (our instructor), Jo, and myself departed camp at 6:30 AM sharp. While our raptor transect yielded only a handful of raptor sightings, we were lucky enough to stumble upon a herd of over 300 Cape Buffalo.
Cosmos and Jo and I were back in camp by 9AM, ready for the full day of cooking ahead of us. Different teams were assigned to different dishes and cooking was divided into shifts to spread out over the course of the day. Pots and pans bubbled over the stove and the open cook fire from 9AM till just after 7PM.
If any of our family members back in the North America were worried about the state of our Thanksgiving dinner, I would tell them to worry not. Our food was lacking in neither quantity nor quality, which was especially impressive considering our somewhat limited and unconventional cooking resources. I had a whole lot of things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and the culinary talent and ingenuity of my peers was most certainly one of them. Our little propane stove and open fire yielded a long list of delicacies: fresh bread from homemade dough, garlic mashed potatoes, caramelized carrots, ingeniously crafted turkey-less stuffing, brussel sprouts with toasted walnuts, stewed Kudu (a species of antelope), and not only one but TWO pies from scratch – apple and squash. A meal for queens!
Dinner was finally served at 7PM. The nine of us students, our four instructors, and five guests from a nearby village settled into our feast around a crackling fire. The sky above us was vast – inky black and salted with stars. The combination of good food, better company, all in the best location I could possibly imagine, made it my favorite Thanksgiving meal yet. We went around the fire and everyone said what they were thankful for. I personally had a great deal to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
I said that I was thankful for family and friends near and far, and for the support and joy they bring me. Thankful for my wonderful companions and teachers on this program. For all that I have learned from each and every one of them over these past 3 months, for the support that we give each other, and the overwhelmingly positive atmosphere fostered within our group. Thankful that we get the opportunity to be in Botswana and to experience and learn about such an extraordinary landscape and culture. As the tide of human development slowly and steadily rises, I find myself exceptionally thankful that oases’ such as this one still exist.
With the replacement of turkey for antelope, oven for open fire, football-watching for buffalo watching, consumerism for minimalism, Thanksgiving in the bush felt distinctly different. Although the pace and ambiance of the day was wildly different compared to back at home, the core sentiment was unchanged. We spent the day relaxing, cooking, and spending time with people we love. While I missed my family at home, my family in Botswana made it my favorite Thanksgiving ever.
All photos by Johanna Griggs.