Pula!
Let the rains come...
That way I can almost believe it's Autumn at home, and then maybe I'll be ready for the cold when I get home. Probably not, though.
Yesterday it rained. A lot. For a few hours. My friends and I, who had been playing cards by the pool, (I know, life is tough) were forced to huddle in the bar for a few hours. I didn't even have time to change out of my bathing suit.
It rained from about 4 until 7. I sat there hoping the rain would stop soon so I could cook dinner. I had finally managed to create a four-person campfire-co-op for one night's dinner, and I was worried it wouldn't happen. I had a bag full of fresh veggies that probably wouldn't last a whole other day.
Then it stopped raining. I grabbed my headlamp, my pot, the hotplate, and some rice...and discovered the electricity at the campsite was out. Damn. If only my gas stove hadn't caught fire the other night...
But, wait! Germans to the rescue! Two German couples I had befriended at Kaziikini and who appeared suddenly at Sedia this week were trying to communicate something to me. "Gas"...gas? "Come here. Gas. Put on table." And then they turned on a gas stove and put my pot on it. Sweet. The Germans saved the day. My dinner party will happen yet. Hot rice on a cold, rainy night is perfect. Maybe Germans are not all as evil as I've been led to believe...
I didn't want to overstay my welcome, so I politely said "Thank you SO much" and decided a salad would be more practical than stir-fry. And it was delicious. Fresh veggies withe a not-fry stir-fry dressing of oil, soy sauce, garlic flakes, and ginger powder. Mmmmm ginger, oh how I've missed you.
And dessert was dark chocolate.
There have been so many discussions of what food we look forward to when we get home.
Sushi...
Refrigerated anything...
Frozen anything...
Soy yogurt...
Chamomile tea...
Popcorn...
Lactard cornbread casserole...
Coconut milk ice cream...
Anything with fresh ginger...
Fresh berries...
(Hey, mom, care to share my wishes with Peapod?)
Our group numbers at Sedia are dwindling. Yesterday we gained one, today we lose three, tomorrow we gain another. That makes 8. My classmates are amazing, but only when they're here. I'm going to see how many I can bribe back here on Tuesday night with the promise of fried things.
Oh, also, I hate when you smash a mosquito and end up with someone else's blood staining your shirt. Eeew.
One final thought: There are no rules against celebrating Hanukkah with birthday candles stuck in the sand, right? The campsite doesn't have a whole lot of windows. Or maybe it's all windows. I wonder if they sell dreidels anywhere around here...
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Average Percent Live Standing Biomass DIstribution
Really, not much exciting is going on here. This weekend, I did some serious work on my tan. Friday night, we went to a nightclub called Trekkers, which was a lot of fun, but they didn't serve water at the bar. What kind of nightclub doesn't serve water at the bar? Needless to say, I was a tad bit dehydrated the next morning...
Sunday we played cricket. That is one strange game. I'm not very good at it (like most sports).
I've spent the last two days at a computer at the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Center entering and analyzing spreadsheet data from Kaziikini. I've got some cool charts and graphs and stuff.
I am constantly reminded how awesome this group of students is. We hang out together every night at dinner. Pun (token Asian) managed to put out the fire that was consuming my stove. Cheap stove. But don't worry, I saved the rice pudding. Tiny vicious ants are taking over our campsite, but I've managed to keep them out of my tent so far. They have not yet succeeded in chewing holes through the bottom of it, like they have in others' tents.
On Sunday, I found a PERFECT avocado. Anyone who eats avocados knows how satisfying that is. I whipped up some vinegared rice and had some seaweedless sushi. It was lovely.
That's about it. I wish I had more interesting stories to share, but there aren't a lot of elephants around Sedia. And I'm too preoccupied with tree data to philosophize.
I hope that didn't sound like I'm not enjoying myself; this place is amazing. For some strange, masochistic reason, I actually like playing around with a spreadsheet for six hours straight. It's really rewarding to make a pretty graph. And then I can go back to Sedia and swim until dinner. Or nap. I love school.
Sunday we played cricket. That is one strange game. I'm not very good at it (like most sports).
I've spent the last two days at a computer at the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Center entering and analyzing spreadsheet data from Kaziikini. I've got some cool charts and graphs and stuff.
I am constantly reminded how awesome this group of students is. We hang out together every night at dinner. Pun (token Asian) managed to put out the fire that was consuming my stove. Cheap stove. But don't worry, I saved the rice pudding. Tiny vicious ants are taking over our campsite, but I've managed to keep them out of my tent so far. They have not yet succeeded in chewing holes through the bottom of it, like they have in others' tents.
On Sunday, I found a PERFECT avocado. Anyone who eats avocados knows how satisfying that is. I whipped up some vinegared rice and had some seaweedless sushi. It was lovely.
That's about it. I wish I had more interesting stories to share, but there aren't a lot of elephants around Sedia. And I'm too preoccupied with tree data to philosophize.
I hope that didn't sound like I'm not enjoying myself; this place is amazing. For some strange, masochistic reason, I actually like playing around with a spreadsheet for six hours straight. It's really rewarding to make a pretty graph. And then I can go back to Sedia and swim until dinner. Or nap. I love school.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Ke a Leboga -- I am Thankful
Thanksgiving potluck feast summary:
Three-bean salad
Beets
Mashed potatoes
Butternut squash
Carrots
Turkey
Gravy
Cornbread fritters
Apple crisp
Chocolate fondue
And, to please my fans:
And here are the two resident strays:
There's Al, who's a Rhodesian Ridgeback (Zimbabwean Ridgeback? Zambian Ridgeback? Let's settle for ZimZam Ridgeback.) and Bear, who's half Labrador retriever, half bear.
Three-bean salad
Beets
Mashed potatoes
Butternut squash
Carrots
Turkey
Gravy
Cornbread fritters
Apple crisp
Chocolate fondue
And, to please my fans:
And here are the two resident strays:
There's Al, who's a Rhodesian Ridgeback (Zimbabwean Ridgeback? Zambian Ridgeback? Let's settle for ZimZam Ridgeback.) and Bear, who's half Labrador retriever, half bear.
Elephants and Such
"I'm not who I was
And I'm singing because
I don't know who I am
But I gotta be me."
Last Friday was everyone's last night together before we separate for ISP. All I want to say is that we played Kings. It was fun. One of our "categories" was "species of antelope". Yeah, we're that cool.
So begins ISP.
I was a bit worried about my transport up to Kaziikini Campsite; I was told to expect a phone call from the brother of an agent of a nearby tourist lodge. Well, it worked out, and didn't cost me anything.
I got there to discover a weekend-log CBNRM rally-the-troops event. (CBNRM = community-based natural resource management. I think I've explained it before, if I haven't used the acronym) The old bar/restaurant at the campsite just reopened. The old bar/restaurant at the campsite burned down, and the new one was just reopened. There was traditional singing, dancing, and speeches. This community is the nicest bunch I've ever met.
Okay, so that day didn't go exactly as planned. It was one of those days when the free ride is followed by a free lunch and then a free game drive. Whoever said there's no such thing as a free lunch never met a Motswana.
The game drive was for the local villagers; I was flattered to be included. It made me see how a CBNRM is supposed to work. It's important to have the community actually care about their natural resources. I made friends with an 8-year-old boy who was seeing lions for the first time. By the time we got back to camp, he was asleep in my lap. If only all people had that reaction when meeting someone completely different from themselves. It's so amazing how malleable and fragile children are.
The next few days I wandered around measuring trees until it got too hot or started raining (or both). Seriously, rain follows me everywhere. Identifying trees is actually a fun, challenging, logic problem. Although, I can identify the camel-thorn acacia by feel. Without even looking. It's the sharp one.
The second night, I was woken up at about 11PM when a couple of elephants decided to get into a fight in the middle of the campsite. It was amazing. Needless to say, the next night the campsite moved me into a chalet, which offers a bit more protection from elephant feet. So for three nights, I got a bed and a pillow and a towel for camping rates (about US$9 a night). Luxury! I ju st have to make sure to keep the door closed because of the leopard.
Gosh, I love this place.
Oh, you know what's cool? An elephant trail--shall we say "elephant groove" (Elephant Groove is the name of one of the campsites at Kaziikini. The other ones are called Acacia Camp and Corbretum Camp. Had I know that before I started working, it would have made identifying trees a lot easier.)--is a cleared patch of grass only as wide as one elephant leg. They walk with feet directly under them. And they don't fall over. Cool.
On the game drive the first night, we saw an elephant. It was just...sorta...mozeying...along...slowly...without a care in the world. (They don't have any non-human predators, which is good, because they already spend 16-18 hours a day eating. No time for hiding.) Elephants must know something people don't. Like how the universe works. (Maybe there really is a disc-shaped planed out there that sits on the back of four turtles that ride on the back of a giant elephant who is traveling through space on his own terms.)
You know where the "an elephant never forgets" stereotype comes from? (from where the stereotype comes? Yaarrrgh) In times of drought, an elephant will go very far to find water. If an elephant has visited a watering hole once in its life, and then gets really thirsty 40 years later, it will walk directly to the same watering hole, no wandering, no exploring, only direct travel. And it'll take its offspring with it so they'll know for next time. This is one of theories explaining why elephants survive so long past child-bearing age, sometimes even into grandparent-hood.
Huh. I bet elephants never wandered lost around the desert for forty years. Doing a case study on a very, very old experiment, I could hypothesize that elephants have a better sense of direction than Jews. (And on a scale from one to hopelessly lost, I max out nearly every time I'm driving a car. In fact, if I didn't have a compass, I would've gotten lost several (more) times this week after walking 200 meters away from the campsite.
Also, ants like to crawl into the water standpipe. That means I must check my water bottle before I drink. Ants can get wet, swim, and then walk away.
Writing lab reports in high school would have been so much more fun if my "sources of error" section could have included: "the farthest plots were not done as thoroughly because I had to be constantly on guard for approaching elephants."
I've realized that around here, elephants cause more habitat change than people. Is it okay if bush encroachment is caused by elephants because they're animals? So are people.
Throughout the trip, a couple of us have been keeping lists of things we miss and things we don't miss. I've found that as time passes, the two lists become more and more similar. I miss stuff, but I'm getting used to this place. And I'm starting to appreciate forgotten annoyances like cold and traffic.
I've noticed that the locals are so much better at tracking animals than we are. On the game drive, everyone else noticed the animals well before I did. A receptionist/safari-guide-in-training, Connie, took me for a walk one evening, and pointed out an elephant that she smelled form a few hundred meters away. Cool.
"We don't have big animals like that in New York."
"So you only have impalas?"
I don't know if I've complained about thorns yet, but one day this week a thorn went THROUGH MY SNEAKER sole into my food. That's Merrell hiking sneakers. Some thorns.
Do you know why traditional thatched huts are round? Because snakes like to hide in corners. 10 of the 70 species of snake in Bots are poisonous. People here are smart.
Oh, and a thatched roof is everything I hoped it would be; that is, not has not as a tin roof.
Kaziikini really knows how CBNRM should work. At first, I was surprised that about a dozen employees were cleaning/maintaining the place for only one guest, but then I appreciated the fact that they were employing people. And making money.
Oh, and I saw elephants outside my chalet one night. I was peeking through the reeds of the wall to watch two elephants munching on the tree behind the chalet, about 5 meters away. I watched them for an hour.
So, being in the bush has nothing to do with people, or infrastructure, or lack thereof; it has to do with elephants. And as long as there are elephants, there will be bush. (Unless, of course, the elephants keep tearing down trees at this rate. Someone should teach them about sustainable management.)
And that's why this blog is called "Elephants and Such">
And I'm singing because
I don't know who I am
But I gotta be me."
Last Friday was everyone's last night together before we separate for ISP. All I want to say is that we played Kings. It was fun. One of our "categories" was "species of antelope". Yeah, we're that cool.
So begins ISP.
I was a bit worried about my transport up to Kaziikini Campsite; I was told to expect a phone call from the brother of an agent of a nearby tourist lodge. Well, it worked out, and didn't cost me anything.
I got there to discover a weekend-log CBNRM rally-the-troops event. (CBNRM = community-based natural resource management. I think I've explained it before, if I haven't used the acronym) The old bar/restaurant at the campsite just reopened. The old bar/restaurant at the campsite burned down, and the new one was just reopened. There was traditional singing, dancing, and speeches. This community is the nicest bunch I've ever met.
Okay, so that day didn't go exactly as planned. It was one of those days when the free ride is followed by a free lunch and then a free game drive. Whoever said there's no such thing as a free lunch never met a Motswana.
The game drive was for the local villagers; I was flattered to be included. It made me see how a CBNRM is supposed to work. It's important to have the community actually care about their natural resources. I made friends with an 8-year-old boy who was seeing lions for the first time. By the time we got back to camp, he was asleep in my lap. If only all people had that reaction when meeting someone completely different from themselves. It's so amazing how malleable and fragile children are.
The next few days I wandered around measuring trees until it got too hot or started raining (or both). Seriously, rain follows me everywhere. Identifying trees is actually a fun, challenging, logic problem. Although, I can identify the camel-thorn acacia by feel. Without even looking. It's the sharp one.
The second night, I was woken up at about 11PM when a couple of elephants decided to get into a fight in the middle of the campsite. It was amazing. Needless to say, the next night the campsite moved me into a chalet, which offers a bit more protection from elephant feet. So for three nights, I got a bed and a pillow and a towel for camping rates (about US$9 a night). Luxury! I ju st have to make sure to keep the door closed because of the leopard.
Gosh, I love this place.
Oh, you know what's cool? An elephant trail--shall we say "elephant groove" (Elephant Groove is the name of one of the campsites at Kaziikini. The other ones are called Acacia Camp and Corbretum Camp. Had I know that before I started working, it would have made identifying trees a lot easier.)--is a cleared patch of grass only as wide as one elephant leg. They walk with feet directly under them. And they don't fall over. Cool.
On the game drive the first night, we saw an elephant. It was just...sorta...mozeying...along...slowly...without a care in the world. (They don't have any non-human predators, which is good, because they already spend 16-18 hours a day eating. No time for hiding.) Elephants must know something people don't. Like how the universe works. (Maybe there really is a disc-shaped planed out there that sits on the back of four turtles that ride on the back of a giant elephant who is traveling through space on his own terms.)
You know where the "an elephant never forgets" stereotype comes from? (from where the stereotype comes? Yaarrrgh) In times of drought, an elephant will go very far to find water. If an elephant has visited a watering hole once in its life, and then gets really thirsty 40 years later, it will walk directly to the same watering hole, no wandering, no exploring, only direct travel. And it'll take its offspring with it so they'll know for next time. This is one of theories explaining why elephants survive so long past child-bearing age, sometimes even into grandparent-hood.
Huh. I bet elephants never wandered lost around the desert for forty years. Doing a case study on a very, very old experiment, I could hypothesize that elephants have a better sense of direction than Jews. (And on a scale from one to hopelessly lost, I max out nearly every time I'm driving a car. In fact, if I didn't have a compass, I would've gotten lost several (more) times this week after walking 200 meters away from the campsite.
Also, ants like to crawl into the water standpipe. That means I must check my water bottle before I drink. Ants can get wet, swim, and then walk away.
Writing lab reports in high school would have been so much more fun if my "sources of error" section could have included: "the farthest plots were not done as thoroughly because I had to be constantly on guard for approaching elephants."
I've realized that around here, elephants cause more habitat change than people. Is it okay if bush encroachment is caused by elephants because they're animals? So are people.
Throughout the trip, a couple of us have been keeping lists of things we miss and things we don't miss. I've found that as time passes, the two lists become more and more similar. I miss stuff, but I'm getting used to this place. And I'm starting to appreciate forgotten annoyances like cold and traffic.
I've noticed that the locals are so much better at tracking animals than we are. On the game drive, everyone else noticed the animals well before I did. A receptionist/safari-guide-in-training, Connie, took me for a walk one evening, and pointed out an elephant that she smelled form a few hundred meters away. Cool.
"We don't have big animals like that in New York."
"So you only have impalas?"
I don't know if I've complained about thorns yet, but one day this week a thorn went THROUGH MY SNEAKER sole into my food. That's Merrell hiking sneakers. Some thorns.
Do you know why traditional thatched huts are round? Because snakes like to hide in corners. 10 of the 70 species of snake in Bots are poisonous. People here are smart.
Oh, and a thatched roof is everything I hoped it would be; that is, not has not as a tin roof.
Kaziikini really knows how CBNRM should work. At first, I was surprised that about a dozen employees were cleaning/maintaining the place for only one guest, but then I appreciated the fact that they were employing people. And making money.
Oh, and I saw elephants outside my chalet one night. I was peeking through the reeds of the wall to watch two elephants munching on the tree behind the chalet, about 5 meters away. I watched them for an hour.
So, being in the bush has nothing to do with people, or infrastructure, or lack thereof; it has to do with elephants. And as long as there are elephants, there will be bush. (Unless, of course, the elephants keep tearing down trees at this rate. Someone should teach them about sustainable management.)
And that's why this blog is called "Elephants and Such">
Friday, November 16, 2007
YAARRRRRRGH
The other night, we went to an ostrich farm to look at the stars.
I always wanted to say that.
This guy gives star lectures and has a really awesome telescope. ("It costs about as much as a small car. Maybe not such a small car. Okay, about as much as a Landcruiser." Darn, crossing that off my Hanukkah list.) I saw Jupiter and its four moons, I saw our moon up close (it look just like the pictures, but cooler in real time), and some other stars of all ages and distances. We saw the Andromeda GAlaxy, which looks a lot like a smudge that's swollen in the middle. The best was 47 Tucanae, a globular cluster. It's pretty amazing.
Sorry I haven't had much time for you this week. Here's why: (and I will probably be out of communication for a week or two)
Robin Zelman
ISP Proposal
Abstract:
I always wanted to say that.
This guy gives star lectures and has a really awesome telescope. ("It costs about as much as a small car. Maybe not such a small car. Okay, about as much as a Landcruiser." Darn, crossing that off my Hanukkah list.) I saw Jupiter and its four moons, I saw our moon up close (it look just like the pictures, but cooler in real time), and some other stars of all ages and distances. We saw the Andromeda GAlaxy, which looks a lot like a smudge that's swollen in the middle. The best was 47 Tucanae, a globular cluster. It's pretty amazing.
Sorry I haven't had much time for you this week. Here's why: (and I will probably be out of communication for a week or two)
Robin Zelman
ISP Proposal
Abstract:
I intend to quantify the effects of the presence of Kaziikini Camp and Santawani Lodge on the surrounding vegetation. I will do transects radiating outwards from the camp, recording the presence of plant species along these transects. The data will be analyzed to determine how the diversity of plantlife changes as distance from the camp increases.
Problem Statement:
The Sankuyo Tshwaragano Management Trust is a community-based natural resource management organization located on the border of Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta region of northern Botswana. The trust runs the Santawani Lodge and Kaziikini Camp, whose profits are used to directly benifit the Sankuyo community. Kaziikini Camp is owned, staffed, and run completely by members of the trust.
Community-based organizations were encouraged by the government of Botswana in order to create a greater investment in natural resource management on the part of individual communities. Ideally, a CBO will provide employment and a consistent source of income to a village or community that is environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable.
The Okavango Delta is the world's largest RAMSAR site and well-known for its unparalleled biodiversity. Tourism is the second biggest source of income in Botswana. Tourism has the potential to provide for the Batswana indefinitely, if it is managed in a sustainable fashion. Tourism can also be incredibly detrimental to Botswana. Too much traffic and infrastructure development can permanently destroy the diversity of wildlife in the delta.
In order to prevent this, the government of Botswana has encouraged a low-volume, high-cost approach to tourism. The advantage of this is that less damage is done to the environment with the same level of profit. A major pitfall of this policy is that a low-volume, high-cost tourist business requires a large initial investment, which many Batswana are unable to do, leaving the market open for foreign opportunists. Community-based organizations are the alternative to this, allowing businesses to create partnerships with individual communities and eventually leave the business to the community.
The concept of community-based natural resource management does not always work perfectly. I plan to study the environmental impacts of the Sankuyo Tshwaragano Management Trust. By assessing the relationship between diversity of plantlife and distance from a tourist camp, I hope to gain insight into the future sustainability of this particular community-based organization. As this is one of the more successful and well-known community-based organization, it is that more important to learn about the effects on the community and the environment.
Tourists often come to Botswana to see the diversity of wild animals, and the plantlife has a direct effect on this. By studying the effect of tourism on plantlife, it will be possible to see whether the diversity of wildlife is threatened and therefore whether tourism is sustainable.
Tourists often come to Botswana to see the diversity of wild animals, and the plantlife has a direct effect on this. By studying the effect of tourism on plantlife, it will be possible to see whether the diversity of wildlife is threatened and therefore whether tourism is sustainable.
Goal:
My goal is to determine how plant diversity varies with proximity to Kaziikini Camp and Santawani Lodge.
Objectives:
1. Do as many plots radiating out from one of these tourist locations as I have time for, recording the data about the plantlife.
2. Organize the data into distances from the center.
3. Determine if the number of species varies between distances.
4. If there is variation, determine if it is statistically significant.
5. If time permits, interview staff and patrons of the Sankuyo Tshwaragano Management Trust to examine the perception of the effects of tourism on the biodiversity.
Design and Methods:
Starting from the center (lodge or camp), I will walk a straight line transect radiating outwards. Every 50 meters, starting at 0 meters, I will mark a point to be the center of two plots, one 10m x 10m and one 2m x 2m. The larger plot is to study tree and shrub species and the smaller plot is for herbaceous species. The following data will be collected:
Distance from center lodge or camp
Species
%cover of species (estimate)
%bareground in plot (estimate)
%dead biomass in plot (estimate)
%canopy cover (estimate)
Height of vegetation (measured if possible)
Diameter at breast height (trees)
Distance will be measured with a tape measure and transects will be done using a compass bearing for direction. Plants of the Okavango will be used as a field guide.
Distance from center lodge or camp
Species
%cover of species (estimate)
%bareground in plot (estimate)
%dead biomass in plot (estimate)
%canopy cover (estimate)
Height of vegetation (measured if possible)
Diameter at breast height (trees)
Distance will be measured with a tape measure and transects will be done using a compass bearing for direction. Plants of the Okavango will be used as a field guide.
Analyze data by compiling information into distances. Compare data for each distance. Figure out if results are statistically significant.
Schedule:
Monday, Nov. 19, morning: travel to Sankuyo. Afternoon, explore area, possibly begin transects.
Tuesday, Nov. 20-Friday, Nov. 23: Run transects all day, as time and weather permit.
Saturday, Nov. 24, morning: finish transects if necessary. Interview staff and guests. Return to Sedia.
Monday, Nov. 26-Friday, Nov. 30: Compile data and do statistical analysis on computers at HOORC.
Monday, Dec. 3-Tuesday, Dec. 10: Write paper on computers at HOORC.
Wednesday, Dec. 11-Friday, Dec. 13: Prepare oral presentation. (Make Powerpoint at HOORC?)
Saturday, Dec. 14-Sunday, Dec. 15: Sleep, swim, drink.
Monday, Dec. 15: Return to Gabs.
Interview topics:
How is the waste treated and discarded?
Where is the water coming from?
Have you noticed any biodiversity changes in the last decade? Few years?
Where is firewood gathered?
What infrastructure has been developed in the area?
Where is firewood gathered?
How does the tourist camp/lodge affect your experience?
Sources:
My main sources of information on Sankuyo were http://www.awf.org/documents/Santawani_Lodge_Case_study.pdf and http://www.santawanilodge.com/index.htm. I learned about CBNRM and CBOs from several lectures at the University of Botswana. Fieldwork techniques were derived from the following:
Monday, November 12, 2007
Lions and Hippos and Zeh-bras, Oh My!
Do you like my fancy British pronunciation of zebra? I've been practicing.
Finally, some pictures:
Mokogi and Katego
Grandmother with Sewing Machine
Rhapsody in Rainbow
Egret in Flight
Eagle Soaring
Take-off
The Okavango in a Nutshell
Sweet Bird
Mokoro Ride
Red Lechwe Running
Elephant was Here
Is That Not A Beautiful Corner?
Grazing Wildebeest
Bloody-faced Lion
See How Close?
Wattled Cranes Mate for Life
This Was Once and Elephant
Lion and Buffalo: Suppertime
Vultures
Really Scary
The Awesomeness of a Lioness
Sunset Over the Delta
Watching the Sunset with a Cheap Beer, I Mean, Doing Research
Baby Tsessebe
Yawn...
Zehhhhh-bras
The Sun Sets Like this Every Night
Life is Tough (the two on the left are the real scientists)
Finally, some pictures:
Mokogi and Katego
Grandmother with Sewing Machine
Rhapsody in Rainbow
Egret in Flight
Eagle Soaring
Take-off
The Okavango in a Nutshell
Sweet Bird
Mokoro Ride
Red Lechwe Running
Elephant was Here
Is That Not A Beautiful Corner?
Grazing Wildebeest
Bloody-faced Lion
See How Close?
Wattled Cranes Mate for Life
This Was Once and Elephant
Lion and Buffalo: Suppertime
Vultures
Really Scary
The Awesomeness of a Lioness
Sunset Over the Delta
Watching the Sunset with a Cheap Beer, I Mean, Doing Research
Baby Tsessebe
Yawn...
Zehhhhh-bras
The Sun Sets Like this Every Night
Life is Tough (the two on the left are the real scientists)
Sunday, November 11, 2007
[continued...]
Now, I have plenty of time, a fast computer, and no battery left in my camera. Pictures later, maybe tomorrow. I'll just have to tell more stories.
We spent a day hiking around Tsodilo Hills. These "mountains" are religious sites for the indigenous bushmen, who have decorated them with paintings of wildlife dating back almost 2,000 years. The rest of the rock was painted with leeched minerals that naturally created beautiful waterfalls of pink, orange, white down the face of the mountain. The rock was granite...beautiful flakes, lovely cracks, if only I could climb it...
Then we headed to Moremi Game Reserve, only stopping once along the way to fix the truck and play silly games along the side of the road. (Vegetable-off, anyone?) We set up camp at at site called Xakanaxa. Pronounce that. Actually, pronunciations I've heard range from "[click]akana[click]" (correct) to "Kakanaka" (lazy).
"If you hear a noise at night, don't shine your headtorch out the tent, you might scare an animal into running away backwards. And if it's a hippo, your neighbor might not be too happy."
Yep, we were in the bush.
One night, a hyena stole all our vegetables and cheese.
About 2 full days were spent driving around looking for animals. We happened upon two lionesses eating a buffalo. Cool. I then coined the phrase "belly full of buffalo". It's fun to say.
Wake-up: 5:30AM. Breakfast of cereal, tea, coffee. 6AM, drive around looking for animals. 12PM, stop. It's too hot to drive around. Make lunch. Eat lunch. 2PM, siesta. 4PM, more game drive. 6PM, stop at lake, sit on truck, drink beer, watch sunset. 7PM, cook dinner, play Mafia, sleep. Repeat as necessary.
I could get to like this lifestyle.
They tried to show us how boring and tedious and unglamorous research could be by driving us around for hours and making us count impala and name trees. I didn't quite learn that lesson. I thought it was fun.
One night, someone shined a flashlight down by the water and discovered an enormous baby hippo. About 10 meters from the campfire. There was a crocodile next to it. During the night, a hyena broke into one of the trucks and stole most of the veggies and all the cheese. We were really in the bush.
One on drive, we saw a black mamba. It's cool to be a few meters away from certain, almost instantaneous, death.
There have also been several practices for Botswana's national Ultimate Frisbee team this week. Now, I think I'm a pretty competent frisbee player. (I can also do an awesome dive-catch-fall-thing.)
Now we're back at Sedia (the place with the swimming pool and bar). We have one week to figure out what the hell to do for ISP. This evening I'm meeting a potential advisor for drinks (on her invitation). Yay research.
We also have to finish some assignments this week. I think I've reached a new low in essay writing. I wrote a really crappy essay on the role of women in Botswana. Seriously. The first sentence is: "The role of women is something that varies dramatically between different places in the world, sometimes even within one country." On that page, I use the word "different" four times.
I've really been enjoying writing everything by hand, though. I think I secretly wish I could recopy my essays with a quill pen and a bottle of red ink, in Gothic.
Last night was the series finale of Big Brother: Africa 2. The TV channel had been playing it non-stop, 24/7, for about three months. I wonder what they'll do now. Richard won the $100,000. I don't think he deserves it. He's an asshole.
Also, my iPod headphones broke. And by that, I mean they broke back in Otse and are finally beyond the point of duct tape repair.
I really want to share my pictures now, but it'll have to wait. I'll summarize the photos: eagle, Shorobe, cave paintings, birds, birds, birds, lions, birds, grass, sunset, hippos.
We spent a day hiking around Tsodilo Hills. These "mountains" are religious sites for the indigenous bushmen, who have decorated them with paintings of wildlife dating back almost 2,000 years. The rest of the rock was painted with leeched minerals that naturally created beautiful waterfalls of pink, orange, white down the face of the mountain. The rock was granite...beautiful flakes, lovely cracks, if only I could climb it...
Then we headed to Moremi Game Reserve, only stopping once along the way to fix the truck and play silly games along the side of the road. (Vegetable-off, anyone?) We set up camp at at site called Xakanaxa. Pronounce that. Actually, pronunciations I've heard range from "[click]akana[click]" (correct) to "Kakanaka" (lazy).
"If you hear a noise at night, don't shine your headtorch out the tent, you might scare an animal into running away backwards. And if it's a hippo, your neighbor might not be too happy."
Yep, we were in the bush.
One night, a hyena stole all our vegetables and cheese.
About 2 full days were spent driving around looking for animals. We happened upon two lionesses eating a buffalo. Cool. I then coined the phrase "belly full of buffalo". It's fun to say.
Wake-up: 5:30AM. Breakfast of cereal, tea, coffee. 6AM, drive around looking for animals. 12PM, stop. It's too hot to drive around. Make lunch. Eat lunch. 2PM, siesta. 4PM, more game drive. 6PM, stop at lake, sit on truck, drink beer, watch sunset. 7PM, cook dinner, play Mafia, sleep. Repeat as necessary.
I could get to like this lifestyle.
They tried to show us how boring and tedious and unglamorous research could be by driving us around for hours and making us count impala and name trees. I didn't quite learn that lesson. I thought it was fun.
One night, someone shined a flashlight down by the water and discovered an enormous baby hippo. About 10 meters from the campfire. There was a crocodile next to it. During the night, a hyena broke into one of the trucks and stole most of the veggies and all the cheese. We were really in the bush.
One on drive, we saw a black mamba. It's cool to be a few meters away from certain, almost instantaneous, death.
There have also been several practices for Botswana's national Ultimate Frisbee team this week. Now, I think I'm a pretty competent frisbee player. (I can also do an awesome dive-catch-fall-thing.)
Now we're back at Sedia (the place with the swimming pool and bar). We have one week to figure out what the hell to do for ISP. This evening I'm meeting a potential advisor for drinks (on her invitation). Yay research.
We also have to finish some assignments this week. I think I've reached a new low in essay writing. I wrote a really crappy essay on the role of women in Botswana. Seriously. The first sentence is: "The role of women is something that varies dramatically between different places in the world, sometimes even within one country." On that page, I use the word "different" four times.
I've really been enjoying writing everything by hand, though. I think I secretly wish I could recopy my essays with a quill pen and a bottle of red ink, in Gothic.
Last night was the series finale of Big Brother: Africa 2. The TV channel had been playing it non-stop, 24/7, for about three months. I wonder what they'll do now. Richard won the $100,000. I don't think he deserves it. He's an asshole.
Also, my iPod headphones broke. And by that, I mean they broke back in Otse and are finally beyond the point of duct tape repair.
I really want to share my pictures now, but it'll have to wait. I'll summarize the photos: eagle, Shorobe, cave paintings, birds, birds, birds, lions, birds, grass, sunset, hippos.
This is What a Scientist Looks Like
Excursion!
Today, I have a computer with dial-up internet. There will NOT be pictures. Tomorrow there will be pictures, because they really sums up my week perfectly. Now, just words.
The previous entry was supposed to be 15 pictures, but due to the suckiness of the series of tubes that is the internet, I only got 5 uploaded. The pictures, in order, are:
Accidentally Awesome Picture of Water Lily
Okavango Delta with Brush Fire in Distance
Crocodile Eatng Fish
2,000-year-old Cave Paintings
Baobabs are HUGE.
This place is magical.
We first stayed at a campsite/hotel on the bank of the Okavango River main channel. At first I was a little disappointed that "civilization" could be right on top of "nature" like that. Then I realized that there are some places in the world that can't be ruined. Even sitting on the deck by the bar, we could watch the croc-infested water flowing or look under a tre to find a colony of fruitbats sleeping or eat some of the tart fruit from that tree that ripens each day.
Monday, we got on a boat with a young South African crocodile researcher named Vince. We rode along the Okavango Delta panhandle and scouted out croc nests and stopped at islands to pee and ate lunch on an island under a tree. Also, we were pelted by a catfish head that fell from a frightened fish eagle.
There were so many birds. We saw two wattled cranes, which are citically endangered. There were several dozen different species of bird (that we saw). There's something so incredible about racing a boat against a bird skimming the water alongside the boat.
School should always be such that at the end of the day, you want more than anything else to be asked what you did in school today, so you can answer, "Today I rode a boat down the Okavango and saw dozens of species of birds and then jumped into a swimming pool and played cards."
In case you didn't notice how much of an awesome time I'm having, I tend to write in run-on sentences when I'm excited...
::Philosophy Break::
I've found it helpful to write, because it's simpler to have a debate between me and myself than to have a debate between me, myself, and someone else. I feel less outnumbered that way.
Whoa. Religious discussion. God stuff. My brain hurts. And I don't have the luxury of being at school with some friends, post-God-discussion, and having some mind-clearing fun. I have to say, though, that it's a fair trade to give up that and receive in return a campfire and stars. It makes a nice forum for debate.
Here's a poorly approximated summary:
Is there one God with six billion facets, or six billion Gods with a common facet? Is each of these six billion Gods the REAL God, or is none?
That wasn't the debate, that was the topic of debate. The real questions are: Is there an answer to those questions? If there is, is it possible to learn the answer? In our lifetimes? After our lifetimes? At "Judgment Day"? At the arrival of the Great Green Arkleseizure? Can we just agree on 42 and be done with it?
::End of break::
Cows like to hang out along the Okavango River. It's not a very good idea. A crocodile will kill a cow, let it soak in the river for a day or two, then rip it to shreds. We saw a cow with a croc's head poking through its middle.
We spent a day reclining in a mokoro, or wooden-ish canoe-boat propelled by a Motswana with a pole. We sort of drifted through the delta lazily. I wore long pants and a long shirt in an attempt to avoid sunburn, and ended up with sunburned hands. Silly lekgoa.
My internet time is up, more tomorrow. Pictures and stories. Lions, hippos, ISP.
Today, I have a computer with dial-up internet. There will NOT be pictures. Tomorrow there will be pictures, because they really sums up my week perfectly. Now, just words.
The previous entry was supposed to be 15 pictures, but due to the suckiness of the series of tubes that is the internet, I only got 5 uploaded. The pictures, in order, are:
Accidentally Awesome Picture of Water Lily
Okavango Delta with Brush Fire in Distance
Crocodile Eatng Fish
2,000-year-old Cave Paintings
Baobabs are HUGE.
This place is magical.
We first stayed at a campsite/hotel on the bank of the Okavango River main channel. At first I was a little disappointed that "civilization" could be right on top of "nature" like that. Then I realized that there are some places in the world that can't be ruined. Even sitting on the deck by the bar, we could watch the croc-infested water flowing or look under a tre to find a colony of fruitbats sleeping or eat some of the tart fruit from that tree that ripens each day.
Monday, we got on a boat with a young South African crocodile researcher named Vince. We rode along the Okavango Delta panhandle and scouted out croc nests and stopped at islands to pee and ate lunch on an island under a tree. Also, we were pelted by a catfish head that fell from a frightened fish eagle.
There were so many birds. We saw two wattled cranes, which are citically endangered. There were several dozen different species of bird (that we saw). There's something so incredible about racing a boat against a bird skimming the water alongside the boat.
School should always be such that at the end of the day, you want more than anything else to be asked what you did in school today, so you can answer, "Today I rode a boat down the Okavango and saw dozens of species of birds and then jumped into a swimming pool and played cards."
In case you didn't notice how much of an awesome time I'm having, I tend to write in run-on sentences when I'm excited...
::Philosophy Break::
I've found it helpful to write, because it's simpler to have a debate between me and myself than to have a debate between me, myself, and someone else. I feel less outnumbered that way.
Whoa. Religious discussion. God stuff. My brain hurts. And I don't have the luxury of being at school with some friends, post-God-discussion, and having some mind-clearing fun. I have to say, though, that it's a fair trade to give up that and receive in return a campfire and stars. It makes a nice forum for debate.
Here's a poorly approximated summary:
Is there one God with six billion facets, or six billion Gods with a common facet? Is each of these six billion Gods the REAL God, or is none?
That wasn't the debate, that was the topic of debate. The real questions are: Is there an answer to those questions? If there is, is it possible to learn the answer? In our lifetimes? After our lifetimes? At "Judgment Day"? At the arrival of the Great Green Arkleseizure? Can we just agree on 42 and be done with it?
::End of break::
Cows like to hang out along the Okavango River. It's not a very good idea. A crocodile will kill a cow, let it soak in the river for a day or two, then rip it to shreds. We saw a cow with a croc's head poking through its middle.
We spent a day reclining in a mokoro, or wooden-ish canoe-boat propelled by a Motswana with a pole. We sort of drifted through the delta lazily. I wore long pants and a long shirt in an attempt to avoid sunburn, and ended up with sunburned hands. Silly lekgoa.
My internet time is up, more tomorrow. Pictures and stories. Lions, hippos, ISP.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Half-Time Show: Gratuitous Poetry, etc.
Dinaledi di a bina
Di opela monate thata
Di bona lefatshe
Di bona Batswana
Dinaledi di bone nna.
Ke a bina
Ke a opela
Le dinaledi.
I very much enjoy writing poetry in a language I don't know. It limits me in a very challenging way.
Now I have a new skirt, as well. It's blue with buffalo on it. Water buffalo are possibly the funniest-looking animals I've ever seen. They look like they're wearing over-greased handlebar moustaches as hats.
On Wednesday, Zen was talking about mythos. Basically, all contemporary rational intellect is only an extension of the myths of yester-year, i.e. the Old Testament. It took about two full pages before I stopped thinking about how much I've missed my Mythos climbing shoes since I wore a hole through the toe of one of them in June. My new climbing shoes are good, but not as awesome as my Mythos.
Talking about climbing, on Thursday I saw a rainbow. Last time I saw a rainbow was while rapelling down from my last climb of the year. It was the first time I had ever seen the full arch of a rainbow. It stretched to infinity across a green valley in the Catskills. Definitely one of those Moments.
I think looking at the stars that night added one more Moment to my memories. I stepped off the combi that day so overwhelmed with ISP frustration that it took all I had to hold back tears. Then, a rainbow, and a sunset, and a night sky, and I happened upon that rare state of uber-meditativeness that is equivalent to watching a film reel of all of the Moments in my life projected among the constellations. Most of those Moments involve a sunrise, a sunset, a starry sky, or an "and-then-I-climbed-a-mountain". There are no mountains here, but that's okay, the Shorobe-ness makes up for it. (The Shorobe-ity? My English grammar is getting a bit rusty.)
I think I'm finally able to move beyond the "hair" stage and into the hair stage. Cool. That transition took about four years the first time I grew hair.
Holy shit, it's November.
This time, the goodbye party involved a well-prepared performance by us of The Beatles' "In My Life". How touching.
Leaving Shorobe feels a lot like going home from sleep-away camp: I'm a little disappointed it's over, but I'm excited to start the next chapter. (Coincidentally, I feel the same way about finishing Zen. Now I'm on to Dune. It's like returning home after an intense vacation.)
Shorobe by the Numbers:
2 = times I've been nearly decapitated by the clothesline because I was looking up at the stars
1/2 = fraction of thimes I actually use the pit latrine at night instead of squatting behind it because one night I saw a cockroach on the wall
4 = average number of times Mokogi cries in a day
43 = degrees celsius
6 = number of potential ISP advisors I've attempted to contact
3 = number of times I heard "The Orange customer you are dialing is unavailable, please try again later" while trying to reach ISP advisors
3 = number of times I got pissed off at the lady on the Orange recording because she sounded so smug
1.5 = cm my hair grows in a month
26 = baths taken in Shorobe
7 = days ahead of me in the Okavango, away from all methods of communication and thought of ISP (yeah, right)
The stars, they are dancing
They sing so sweetly
They watch over the Earth
They watch over the Batswana
The stars, they watch over me.
I am dancing
I am singing
With the stars.
Di opela monate thata
Di bona lefatshe
Di bona Batswana
Dinaledi di bone nna.
Ke a bina
Ke a opela
Le dinaledi.
I very much enjoy writing poetry in a language I don't know. It limits me in a very challenging way.
Now I have a new skirt, as well. It's blue with buffalo on it. Water buffalo are possibly the funniest-looking animals I've ever seen. They look like they're wearing over-greased handlebar moustaches as hats.
On Wednesday, Zen was talking about mythos. Basically, all contemporary rational intellect is only an extension of the myths of yester-year, i.e. the Old Testament. It took about two full pages before I stopped thinking about how much I've missed my Mythos climbing shoes since I wore a hole through the toe of one of them in June. My new climbing shoes are good, but not as awesome as my Mythos.
Talking about climbing, on Thursday I saw a rainbow. Last time I saw a rainbow was while rapelling down from my last climb of the year. It was the first time I had ever seen the full arch of a rainbow. It stretched to infinity across a green valley in the Catskills. Definitely one of those Moments.
I think looking at the stars that night added one more Moment to my memories. I stepped off the combi that day so overwhelmed with ISP frustration that it took all I had to hold back tears. Then, a rainbow, and a sunset, and a night sky, and I happened upon that rare state of uber-meditativeness that is equivalent to watching a film reel of all of the Moments in my life projected among the constellations. Most of those Moments involve a sunrise, a sunset, a starry sky, or an "and-then-I-climbed-a-mountain". There are no mountains here, but that's okay, the Shorobe-ness makes up for it. (The Shorobe-ity? My English grammar is getting a bit rusty.)
I think I'm finally able to move beyond the "hair" stage and into the hair stage. Cool. That transition took about four years the first time I grew hair.
Holy shit, it's November.
This time, the goodbye party involved a well-prepared performance by us of The Beatles' "In My Life". How touching.
Leaving Shorobe feels a lot like going home from sleep-away camp: I'm a little disappointed it's over, but I'm excited to start the next chapter. (Coincidentally, I feel the same way about finishing Zen. Now I'm on to Dune. It's like returning home after an intense vacation.)
Shorobe by the Numbers:
2 = times I've been nearly decapitated by the clothesline because I was looking up at the stars
1/2 = fraction of thimes I actually use the pit latrine at night instead of squatting behind it because one night I saw a cockroach on the wall
4 = average number of times Mokogi cries in a day
43 = degrees celsius
6 = number of potential ISP advisors I've attempted to contact
3 = number of times I heard "The Orange customer you are dialing is unavailable, please try again later" while trying to reach ISP advisors
3 = number of times I got pissed off at the lady on the Orange recording because she sounded so smug
1.5 = cm my hair grows in a month
26 = baths taken in Shorobe
7 = days ahead of me in the Okavango, away from all methods of communication and thought of ISP (yeah, right)
The stars, they are dancing
They sing so sweetly
They watch over the Earth
They watch over the Batswana
The stars, they watch over me.
I am dancing
I am singing
With the stars.
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