By Hailey Everett (University of Vermont)
(this blog was written during the week of March 2nd)
After a busy 12 day stay in Sankoyo, it was time to move on to Mababe. All of us had grown quite comfortable at Santawani Camp, in the Sankoyo Concession area north of Maun, on the outskirts of the Okavango Delta. We loved sitting around in the mornings and watching to see if any animals walked through the expansive grassland next to our camp, and had enjoyed getting to know our two local community escort guides, Wago and KG. We had even learned to recognize a distinct herd of giraffes and also usually knew that there would be two black-backed jackals hanging out at the pan a kilometer from camp. The Sankoyo Concession was full of a mixture of grassland and woodlands, with the Gomoti River running along its edge. Most of the time when we were on our wildlife transects, we would be driving through grass and shrubland, trying to spot animals.
When moving day came, we all said good-bye to our beloved Santawani Camp, loaded up the cars with everything we had, and drove away. Move day is always an adventure because it involves packing absolutely everything we own in the cars, and making sure everything fits. As we drove away, we stopped a few times to look at plant species or animals. There is always a chance that some species won’t be as common in our next locations so we have to be sure to take note of them now.
On our journey north to Mababe, we got to stop in the actual village of Sankoyo! Here we saw where one of our instructors, Sixteen, grew up. He also gave us a tour of the of the village. There are maize fields on one side, and houses, the school, the health center, and other buildings on the other side. It’s fun to get a taste of what Sankoyo is like and see where Sixteen grew up!
When we finally arrived in Mababe, it was completely different. Our campsite was larger, with big “rain trees” for shade. It was also surrounded by short shrubs, so we couldn’t see very far into the distance like we could at Santawani. We spent the afternoon doing lots of work around the campsite to clean it up and clear the grasses. By dinner time the campsite looked amazing and felt like home!
As we sat around the campfire that night, we heard strange noises we hadn’t heard before. We learned these noises were hippos! The campsite was within 100 meters of a river, so every night we got to listen to hippos getting out of the water, elephants coming to drink, lions out hunting, and hyenas calling to each other. This area has a whole new habitat we will learn about over the next 9 days.
Finally, one thing we have been seeing a lot of lately is baby animals! We have seen baby elephants, buffalo, warthogs, zebras, hippopotamus, wildebeests, mongoose, leopard, birds, giraffes, impalas, and many more! Everyone loves the baby animals, they are always a highlight as we rush to get our cameras and take as many pictures as we can. There is talk of making a ‘Baby Animals in Botswana’ calendar, so stayed tuned for more baby animal news!