24 March to 30 March
By Phoebe Howe (Middlebury College)
Our sixth week began with a move up to Mababe, the second of the three communities that we’re working with during our time here. Having nearly mastered the art of packing up camp, these moves get easier and easier as folding tents and cramming the backs of the Land Cruisers becomes routine. After leaving Island Safari Lodge in Maun, we made a supermarket trip to replenish our store of mangos, yogurt, avocados, cheddar, and other such fresh necessities. So far, we’ve been able to resupply about once every week, but have learned not to take this for granted! Heading north once again, we arrived in Mababe village, about an hour north of Sankuyo and similar in size and layout. However, whereas Sankuyo is predominately made up of people of Bayei ethinicity, originally from further north in Zambia and Zimbabwe, Mababe is majority Basarwa (also known as San, or Bushman) with strong ancestral roots throughout southern Africa. When in Mababe, we usually hear Sesarwa (the Basarwa language) spoken among young and old alike, and are learning more about the historically strained relationship between the Basarwa and government at both the local and national level.
Crowded around the map of NG 41 with Mababe Trust’s community escort guides, planning transect routes
Our Mababe camp is located at Dizhana, a campground that is operated by the Mababe Trust (check out their website at www.mababetrust.org) and currently staffed by some of the Trust escort guides that we will be working with over the next couple of weeks. Flowing past the camp, the Khwai River supports a healthy hippo and crocodile population as well as a series of smaller waterholes and wetland areas. Our campsite is located at the edge of one of these waterholes, and the hippos astound us on a regular basis with their massive size and proportionally powerful methods of communication. Only emerging from the coolness of water to graze during the night, our hippo neighbors seem to be most active and talkative from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. If you ask Susie, she’ll tell you that hippo calls sound like chainsaw motor. Jack is reminded of trying to start a broken car, and I think of my dirtbike-riding neighbors revving and racing up and down my road. The absurdity of waking up at three in the morning a couple of very vocal hippos lumbering around camp has proven entertaining, but rather disruptive to REM cycles.
Jack at our campsite at Dizhana
Sarah, Monageng, and Just at a pan in northeastern NG41, taking a break during one of our transects
Headed by a particularly enthusiastic chief escort guide, the group of guides in Mababe have been excited to spend time in the bush on transects and equally earnest to learn about data entry and management as we enter our transect and point count sightings into spreadsheets. Because Dizhana and the village are located on the far eastern side of NG 41 (Mababe’s concession) we decided to temporarily move camp from Friday through Sunday over to the western side in order to efficiently collect data on as much of the concession as possible. Accompanied by Just and System, two of the escort guides, we appreciated their constant stream of knowledge of the area and retelling of stories from their lives and Mababe’s history. We all enjoyed the change of scenery afforded by our weekend escape, and are looking forward to being back at Dizhana and working in Mababe for at least another week.