elephant encounter

Did you all know that elephants are the second-most dangerous animal in the bush? only after hippos, which like to crunch morokos (little dugout canoes that tourists go around in) in half. hmm well i found this out literally the day before Jayne (the girl I'm staying with in Maun) and I decided to take a day trip into the Moremi Game Reserve, which is just next to the Okavango Delta. The day was absolutely amazing, the most beautiful and varied landscape I have ever seen, but lets skip to the highlight--the elephant encounter. Now, I have seen elephants before, even in the wild while I was in South Africa. But that was from the safety of a tarred road, in a vehicle driven by an experienced guide when our vanload of people spotted one, maybe two, elephants off in the distance. But last friday was just a bit different. Jayne and I had finished lunch at a campsite and were driving through the mopane forested woodlands (Moremi has no roads or permanent buildings or anything, just seasonal tracks in the sand that vehicles have created--it is so much more remote and isolated than any national park in the states, we only encountered a couple other vehicles during the entire day and otherwise it was pretty much just us and the wildlife), when we spotted a herd of elephants walking up ahead of us. we stoppped the car and watched them march through the cluster of mopane trees just a few meters in front--moms with babies, some "teenagers", some bigger bulls, and they just kept coming. i was a bit nervous, but mainly just excited to be seeing elephants, until jayne whispers, "look behind us". I turn my head slowly and see that more elephants are now walking behind the car, and then I notice that they are coming from all sides now too, literally pouring out of the trees it seems!!! Jayne and I must have sat there for a good 15 minutes, in total silence (i dont even think i breathed) until they all passed--an enormous bull bringing up the rear and giving our car a good hard look before moving on. We estimated that about 150 elephants walked in front and around our car, as they headed towards the river. It was honestly the most terrifying, exhilirating and awesome (in the true sense of the world) that I can remember having in a long while. you really feel small when you know that with just one swipe of its trunk an elephant could knock you and your car to pieces, and you are in the middle of at least a hundred of these creatures, praying that you dont somehow upset or annoy them somehow. yikes.

And that was just the beginning of our day! the rest included seeing a lion ( a few feet away), wild dogs, zebra, wildebeest, baboons, warthogs, vervet monkeys, lots of impala, lots of birds and hippos too! i could go on and on describing, but hopefully some of you will get to come visit and see this all for yourselves! it is such a breath-taking place, i really feel lucky for having been able to see it. and hopefully there will be many more day trips and camping trips in moremi to be had in the next 9 months!

ps. im still figuring out this blogging stuff myself, so i posted a comment in reply to amos comment on my last post--am i allowed to post comments on my own blog? im not sure, but amo, thats where i my response to you is! :-)

oops, address adjustment!

Ok, so it turns out, if you send anything to me express (they give you the option at the post office because its usually not much more expensive) or sending me a package, please send it to the following physical address:

Clare Gupta
c/o Botswana Predator Conservation Program
Private Bag 13
Ensign Agencies
Mophane Road (opposite BTC)
Maun, Botswana

and also put the Ensign Agency telephone number, which is 267 6860351, at the bottom

thats it, i think!

im back from the bush!

after a few days out in the field, im back in town, to get supplies so i can do longer trips into the bush. today i drove around in the rover looking for tents that can withstand the rainy season that is approaching, for storage containers that are lion and hyena-proof and i just purchased a big fuel drum to attach to the truck bed since the villages i want to get to are far far away from any petrol stations...lots to plan and buy! somedays i wonder what exactly i have gotten myself into, and other days im just excited about all the possibilities.
but the trip out into the field went well, actually--i got a start on my interviews with the villages, and it was very interesting to walk around from house to house (well really from mud hut to mud hut) and sit and talk to people and hear their stories. they have absolutely nothing but as soon as I walked up to their gate, I received a big "dumela" (hello in Setswana)and someone ran behind the hut to get a plastic chair for me to sit it (which made me a bit uncomfortable at first, since they all sit on the dusty ground, but I think it is one of the few ways they can show hospitality and generosity to guests). I have to say though, by the end of the day, I was exhausted from the heat, the dust, and having conducted surveys for 8 hours straight! i think from now on, i may not try to do some many in one day...:-)

so there are no canopy beds, toucans and netted windows, but plenty of indiana jones-style adventures to be had! we'll see what mix of british-explorer and setswana phrases im come back to the states with.

weather

weather is a funny thing. it has been so hot and dry that my whole body feels like it is cracking, not unlike the gritty brown earth that seems to stetch on endlessly here. i had almost become resigned to the fact that i had arrived in a place where i would perpetually feel dustier than those kids you see in the pictures of the 1930's american dustbowl era, when, i encountered a storm.
i had decided to take a trip a little bit out of town to visit the Okavango River Lodge, to investigate if it was somewhere I might be able to stay long-term (they rent out chalets and tented rooms along the river). There had been noises of thunder in the air at the house when I left, but the sky looked fairly clear and it seemed unlikely (to me at least) that much of anything would happen, given the fact that it hasnt rained in months and months. But alas, no sooner had I passed through town and out the other side towards the lodge, the sky darkened to the color of a bad bruise and big rain drops started splattering. i went to switch on the wipers,fiddled around a bit, but no go. hmm, so what to do when it starts raining, your wipers dont work, and you forget what your driving instructor had said about switching gears when its slippery on the road? i did the sensible thing and pulled over (lesley had said storms here usually pass through when they come in a matter of minutes). but minutes went by, and the rain drops only increased in size, then turned into literally sheets of water, rushing at the car with what felt like hurricane speed winds (imagine little brush trees being uprooted and bouncing around the ground everywhere), long streaks of lighting, and thunder. oh, and the car was sort of leaking at this point (well, water was coming through the cracks in the doors and ceiling). i looked ahead and all i could see was black sky, and i looked behind and could see blue sky in the direction of the house. So i turned around and headed home, figuring the okavango riverlodge could wait
So Im not really sure what the point of this story is, but maybe just to say that not being able to get to my destination because of the storm was plenty worth it, just to know that soon my fingers and toes and face will be much happier--the rainy season is coming!!

ps. and i did make it to the lodge later that afternoon--it is on a beautiful spot along the river and might be my new home in the future...i'll keep you all updated

i have arrived

after two sleepless nights on what felt like endless plane rides (4 in total) i have arrived in Maun! it is definitely a "frontier town" as the guidebooks call it...a few shops, some peoples homes, and a bunch of land rovers careening around, just like in the movies. and i have already had my first experience on the road! shockingly, nothing crashed into me, and i didnt crash into anything--despite the fact i was driving on the left hand side of the road (something ive never done before), driving stick (also something i have not done much before), and driving an enormous beast of a car that has never heard of such a thing as power steering. yikes. but im alive and doing well so far--the family im staying with is great and they have two adorable little boys (age 4 and 8). they have a swimming pool too which is fantastic because it is excruciatingly hot here. no lion sightings yet (so no dirty requests by them either), but maybe soon--i might be relocating soon out to a lodge near one of the national parks (Makadikadi park) to do my research. i'll keep you all updated!!

ps. EVERYONE GO VOTE!! i already sent in my absentee ballot, you all have no excuses. and someone better call me or post something about who wins.