I had an incredible time working with my research team this summer in Botswana. However, I can’t fully describe how rich my experience was without mentioning some of the adventures I was able to have outside of work.
My home base in Bots was the capital city, Gaborone. Gaborone has the feel of a sprawling, bustling town. While it is the most populous city in Botswana, in many ways it feels like an intimate community where everyone seems no more than 2 degrees of separation apart. With friends made both at work and in my housing community, we quickly began weekly traditions, including spending Wednesday sunsets at a local overlooking a reservoir in Gaborone, enjoying a braai (South African barbeque) with neighbors, exploring the local Phakalane farmer’s market on Saturdays, and taking pottery classes in Gabane.
Pottery class and friends, local artisan hand-woven baskets from market
Braai with neighbors, sunset dinner
Another huge draw of living in Botswana was the proximity to the bush, giving the perfect opportunity to explore all the natural beauty and wildlife sub-Saharan Africa has to offer. This was particularly incentivizing for me as I have previous experience in field wildlife ecology and conservation, and my prior extended stays in Africa (Cameroon, Kenya, and Tanzania) had revolved around these. Botswana has a variety of regional landscapes depending on the part of the country you’re visiting. Much of the country is made up by the dry landscape of the Kalahari Desert. During my first weekend in the country, I was able to drive a few hours north to the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, which are dry in the winter months. We made the drive in a little Volkswagen Polo, which felt like a decent size when we first rented the car, but infinitely smaller when we had to stop for multiple elephant (with the occasional ostrich and zebra) road crossings along the way.
Elephants, zebra, ostriches by the road on the way to Makgadikgadi
The pans themselves felt like a lunar landscape. We had the opportunity to ATV out into the pans and spend the night sleeping in the open under the most incredibly starry display, and were woken up with a beautiful sunrise. On the way back, we stopped by a meerkat colony. When we laid still enough on the ground, the curious critters would clamber onto us and use our heads and shoulders as lookout points for predators.
Meerkats using us as a perch, campfire on the pans
Sleeping under the stars and waking up to a sunrise in sleeping bags, ATV’ing into the pans
I also spent multiple weekends camping up north in and around Chobe National Park and Savuti, and in the UNESCO World Heritage Site the Okavango Delta, a quick 9-hour overnight bus away from Gaborone. I was able to spend numerous days on safari, game drives and hikes this way, witnessing everything from lions successfully hunting buffalo 4 times in succession, leopards hunting warthogs, a newborn elephant taking its first drink of water, a hyena den full of cubs, and a wild dog pack hunting impala and regurgitating the meal back to their puppies.
On a game drive, camping under the stars, Milky Way at night
Overnight bus to northern Botswana (Kasane) with friends, morning tea on a mokoro canoe to see elephants, hippos, and crocs in river habitat in the Delta.
Lions hunting buffalo calves in Chobe
Leopard, giraffe, nursing elephant calf in Chobe and Savuti
Vervet monkey, white rhinoceros, springboks in various parks in Botswana and South Africa
Kudu and lions feeding on wildebeest in the Okavango Delta
African wild dogs post-hunt and bee-eater in the Okavango Delta
In the Delta, I also had the opportunity to participate in wildlife research to study lion movements and understand human-lion conflict, visit villages to learn about and work with local Hambukushu, Wayeyi, San peoples, and canoe (mokoro) and hike through the Delta ecosystem. These weekends were full of adventures and misadventures, including having to dig our Land Rover out of sand multiple times, and getting a sleeping bag stolen by a honey badger.
Lilac Breasted Roller and Hippos in the Okavango Delta
Sunset in southern Botswana, pushing our vehicle out of sand, lions in our wildlife study site in the Okavango Delta
Field research team, interviewing villagers on lion-human conflict, Okavango Delta view from a bushplane
Village in northern Botswana, traditional thatched Boma, tracking lions using radio-collar telemetry in the Delta
Our adventures also extended to nearby countries. A couple weekend excursions planned with colleagues and friends included trips to Cape Town and Johannesburg in South Africa, Namibia, and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe with friends, climbing Table Mountain in South Africa
Markets, penguins, and beach towns in and near Cape Town, South Africa
Overall, this summer was an unforgettable experience and one from which many memories and friends will certainly carry forward!
