By Caledonia Jobin-Leeds from the University of Vermont, Patagonia Fall 2024 View this post on Instagram Learn more about Naturaleza Pública through their Instagram page: Naturaleza Pública (@naturalezapublica)
The past 12 days we conducted wildlife monitoring at the most recent concession, Khwai Private Reserve (KPR). We saw so much including elephants, hippos, buffalo, hyenas, jackals, leopards, and of course… Lions.
While in Kasane we had the incredible opportunity to go to Caracal Wildlife Sanctuary in Kasane Botswana there we spent the morning looking and interacting with wildlife some of which we hadn’t seen while on the trip.
The next morning groups were assigned and we headed out on our transects. There was a variety of different stories and experiences when we all returned and almost everyone was just a little sunburnt. Some transects passed through the administration area of Patagonia National Park, others took transects into knee-high mud and others climbed up in elevation and were able to look down on the valley.
Being in the middle of nowhere, with no way to contact those I left behind, created a space for growth. I found it both exhilarating and challenging—being disconnected from the world I was used to felt like flipping a coin. On one side was the thrill of living entirely in the moment, unattached to the steady ping of messages or the urgency of news. On the other side was the gnawing awareness that those I loved were still living their lives without me, and I couldn’t instantly be part of their moments or share my own. This experience, however, taught me something profound: there is beauty in this disconnection, a freedom that opens space for the unexpected and the new.