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Instead of asking how are you, our escort guides would ask, where are you? Are you here? Le teng? And in the bush, re teng. We are here. I think that phrase encapsulates our time at Mopane Camp. We are here, present in the moment, just us in the bush.
Our goal (team 4) for the day was to survey the Los Coigues trail and the remainder of the Los Carpinteros trail. We hiked along quickly, taking many data points, and only stopping to eat lunch at a lakeside beach, finishing the 12k day at 2:30pm. As we drove back to basecamp to return to the other 3 teams, I was left feeling grateful that I was able to spend the past days in beautiful Tamango, surrounded by wildflowers and songbirds, doing research I enjoyed.
The stories told by these pans, I realized, would soon include our story; the 9 sets of sandal-tracks or bare footprints running through the open pan, stopping occasionally for photos or to look at an interesting animal track, reveling in the beauty of being surrounded by so little. We spent our time on the pan, reflecting, before loading into our trusty land cruisers and heading off to our next adventure.
by Isabel Masi of Montana State University WINTER Waking up to torrential rain and soggy tents, we crawled out of our safe sleeping bags and prepared for our departure. The day was October 27th, and we were not stoked. We…