Written November 15, 2015
By Louise Bishop (University of Alaska, Fairbanks)
Today marks one month left until the end of our time in Botswana and one month until we will all attempt to integrate ourselves into society again. I, along with much of the rest of the group, do not have high hopes and I am sure all of us will be back in the bush soon; if not in Africa then at least back home in the USA.
The camping spot we arrived at four days ago is one of the best yet. It is located on the Khwai River outside of Mababe village. The second we arrived here we all knew it would be a wonderful spot. We drove up and there was a herd of impala running through and a young bull elephant munching on some small rain trees in our designated spot. Every night since we arrived we have been joined by lions calling to each other from the dark nearby bushes. They echo each other’s calls from every side as we huddle around the campfire listening. Although we know they are close, we still have yet to find anything except a couple tracks in the morning along the road leading away from camp. Hopefully we will find them by the time we have to leave and the next blog can update you.
During the day life has gone on as usual with early morning bird and herbivore transects and hanging around camp. I am currently writing this from my hammock tied up between a couple fever berry trees and a termite mound. Yesterday sitting in this same spot I was visited by a bearded woodpecker and black backed puffback along with the ever-present, yet still charming, red and yellow hornbills (Zazoo birds) and various bird calls from the trees around. Elephants also marched along in the distance and some tree squirrels tried to gather the courage get close enough to climb the termite mound I am set up next to. The animals (including us) are still waiting as patiently as possible for the rains to come. The word is that they are around a month late so far and the trees are trying their hardest to leaf out despite the lack of water.
Yesterday afternoon we got a solid sprinkle, but none of the torrential downpours expected of November. The positive side for us is that the closer we are to a water source the more wildlife we get to see because of the lack of water in mud pans and everywhere else. A couple days ago on transect it was a particularly hot day (around 105 F) and we were driving back to camp through the Mababe Depression at the same time huge herds of elephants decided it was time to cool off in the water and mud. We saw over 300 elephants that morning, including three babies less than 4 months old following their mothers closely into the mud puddles to wallow. On the same transect we also saw a male and a female leopard trying to find shade under mopane trees as well as the only oryx sighting of the trip so far.
The leopards we think may have been in the long process of mating that large cats must go through, so they were relatively skittish. The oryx was also a bit like seeing a desert unicorn. He ran across the road in front of us stopping only twice to look back at us, showing us his impressive black and white patterns and foot long horns. We drove the rest of the way back to camp very pleased and were greeted with even more elephants drinking and spraying themselves at the river next to our campsite. In conclusion, Botswana has been nothing but good to us and I am so glad to be taking part in helping to conserve such a wonderful place.
