When I first started thinking about writing a blog for my trip to the Okavango Delta, I thought it was going to be similar to the one I did in Zanzibar... Updates every couple of days, with tales of what I had seen, heard and felt.
The difference, I soon discovered, is that in Zanzibar, I had days of sitting and spending a lazy hour at breakfast, a leisurely lunch, and chilled dinners.
The Delta doesn't do lazy, or leisurely..... Wake up calls at 5:15am, quick breakfast in camp, out by 6:15am and on a game drive until 1 or 2pm... A half hour stop for lunch, and out on the drive again until 7pm..... Return to camp around 7:30pm, showers, then dinner at 8pm....everyone exhausted and hitting their tents by 10pm.
No time to really absorb what we saw, let alone blog about it!!!
So instead I'm going to focus on the "magic moments" something we all took in turns to talk about every night at dinner.
The Okavango Delta is indescribably beautiful. Botswana gets no rain for 8-9 months of the year (March-Sept ish) during which the entire landscape dries up. The Delta
itself recedes to virtually a desert, save a few lush green water filled havens. As the Delta dries up, animals slowly follow the watering holes, congregating together to survive not just against the big predators, but also the harsh conditions- 30+ degree heat and no moisture.
So the landscape changes drastically- from the yellows and browns of the mopane tree forests broken and reduced to small "sapling" sized trees, damaged by the elephants and other animals needing the moisture from the trunks and leaves, to lush, vibrant waterways filled with the most incredible blues and greens you have ever seen.
Yellow, dried out savanna grasslands filled with umbrella thorn trees, straw-like grasses and dead skeletal trees, to thick brown and dark green bushvelt.
And the different smells in the air are overwhelming! Wild sage grows in parts, filling the air with lush herby scents, other more arid areas smell dusty and ancient, yet the waterways fill your lungs full of moist, rich air- full of the scent of leaves, dampness and rivers.
Everyone says how blissfully quiet the bush is compared to towns and cities.... I thought that too, but we're so wrong!!! Ok there isn't the roar of cars, planes, bustling noises of people and beeping horns, but the sounds are there all the same.
During the day- birds singing their individual stories, jackals barking, lions roaring, impala and kudu barking, monkeys and baboons chattering and chuntering. Hippos laughing their deep bellied laughter, elephants squealing or trumpeting or rumbling.
By night, the orchestra changes..... The buck are silent, trying to remain hidden, unless they bark out an alarm call. Cicadas and crickets chirrup away in time with the multitudes of frogs and toads. Owls hoot and hyenas whoop. Lions call out their hunting cries, and the hippos continue to laugh.
Our guide was an incredible guy called Ofentse, originally from Gabarone. He's been guiding for 15 years, and specialised in birding. This guy has the most incredible tracking talent.... Spotting individual tracks from a path full of vehicle, animal, and insect tracks "The bush Internet tells me what has been happening" he laughs as he reads the road.
Listening to animal calls and immediately picking up on alarm calls, following them to see what kind of predator has caused the bird/squirrel/monkey/buck to sound the alarm.
I can honestly say that if he hadn't been our guide, the whole trip would have been a lot less interesting. He has a deep rooted passion for what he does, an infinite amount of knowledge on wildlife, flora, fauna, and the cultures within Botswana. He was compassionate, being involved in various research projects to help balance the ongoing scales of farming vs conservation, and he taught his 3 passengers (me, my photography tutor Stuart, and my new bush-friend Kath) with humour and excitement. I challenge anyone to be that excited after 15 years in the "same job"!!!
So this is where I found myself. I remember, about a week into the trip, standing on the edge of a river, with my camera mounted on a tripod, knee deep in grass, taking photos of an elephant bull of the other side of the river.
It suddenly hit me.
If you'd told me 10 years ago that I would one day be doing a wildlife photography workshop in Africa, sleeping in tents with a short-drop for a toilet, I would have laughed you out of my nice London apartment and carried on booking holidays to 4 or 5* all-inclusive resorts.
If you'd asked me 3 years ago, I would have laughed at the very thought of me sleeping in a tent full of bugs and scary crawled, and would have laughed at you for suggesting it!!
But there I was, and I was loving every single second of the experience.......
Friday, September 21, 2012
The Adventures of Bra Grylls 2- it's all about the Lions
2 days in and. I am still alive, and WOW what a bloody adventure this is going to be!!!
Day 1, we check out of the Sedia hotel and spend the entire day travelling to our camp in Xakanaxa (pronounced Kakanaka)
On the way to camp, saw a battleur eagle, very cool... Red beak and talons. Took several photos of a saddle billed stork, and watched the endangered ground hornbills walking around.
Then we heard it. The sound of a male lion calling. We followed his bellows u til he could have been sat in our laps. Instead, he was maybe 15 metres away, lying flat out on his side. Every bellow we could feel through the vibrations in the floor through the Land Cruiser. I can't even begin to describe how powerful that was.
So we drove a little further only to find the rest of his pride, 3 lionesses and 9 cubs of 2 litters, one maybe a month older than the other.
The lionesses had to cross a small channel of water, maybe 6 feet wide, but we're clearly not happy. Like you would expect your own tabby to do, she tiptoed, dipped, stressed and changed her mind about a dozen times before finally leaping across the strait, only to fall short by a foot. She was not impressed at her dunking, came out muddy and cold.
She then chuffed and called to the cubs to do the same, but o my they weren't as keen. Half an hour later, they eventually swam, leapt, kitty-paddled across and all 12 of them strolled muddily over to their next adventure- an elephant carcass (of which we smelled that sickly sweet stench long before we saw it) in the watering hole, until the 3 suspicious mothers realised there was crocodile hiding behind it, waiting for unsuspecting opportunists to fall off, and they dutifully called their cubs back to safe dry land.
We arrived at camp later that evening and I had a tour of the shower (1/3 of a bucket per shower) and the short drop toilet which was essentially a hole dug in the ground with a frame and a toilet seat over it. You do what you need to do and use a trowel to cover your "do" with soil.... But please don't use too much toilet paper.
("I'm sorry what????")
So the first day was amazing but emotional- saw lions as I've never seen them before and slept in a tent for the very first time.
The next morning I woke up wondering how I managed to sleep through the cacophony of the bush.... Cicadas, scops owls yowling at each other, a hippo down the road laughing hysterically at us all, hyenas barking. But (possibly aided by a few alcoholic beverages I was out like a light.
The Adventures of Bra Grylls- panic stations!!
So here I am, in a hotel, waiting to leave for the Okavango Delta, for 2 weeks of camping in the bush.
I've got such a roller coaster of emotions flying around right now. I am beyond excited, I'm nervous, and if I'm totally honest, a little scared too.
Why am I scared? Well let's see. My safari experiences to date, although have been many, have involved a 4/5 star resort and a relatively small private game reserve.
This is a whole different kettle of fish.
We are camping in the wild.... The team with us set up camp while we are on drives, and they dig us long drop toilets, and put tents up around them.
There are no fences, so some of the group I'm with have spoken about hyenas trotting through camp looking for scraps of food.
So very cool but also (let's have a reality check he) very flipping scary!!!
There are a myriad of things that can (and probably will) bite me.
On the last day we're going on an open-door helicopter to swoop and fly over the Delta to get a birds-eyed view!!
I've never camped before, what if I don't like it!?
What if I get sick?
What if I fall over and make an ass out of myself?
What if my stomach decides to rebel?
What if I don't get on with everyone in the group?
What if I get bitten?
What if I break out in a rash?
What if I have a panic attack in the helicopter as it dives down to swoop across a river?
What if what if what if???
Deep breath.
The whole point of this journey is that it's something I've wanted to do since I was around 10 years old.
It's going to be incredible.
I am going to experience sights, sounds and smells found nowhere else in the world.
If I am really lucky, I am going to get some incredible wildlife sightings- wild dogs, hyena, leopards....
It's coming to the end of the dry season in the Delta, so all the plains game converge on the remaining watering holes.... Predators know this and lie in wait.
All in all, this in going to be an incredible trip, and I know I am going to love it.
I can't spend my life worrying about fears, and what ifs.
Life is for living and I'm grabbing it by the horns and saying "Come on then, let's go!!!"
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Defining a hero
Yesterday, tragedy struck Denver, Colorado in America. a 24 year old man walked into a cinema, threw a couple of tear gas canisters and whilst people ran screaming for the exits, he opened fire on them with his assault rifle, which had been bought legally.
14 people were killed, including children, and another 50 were injured.
Reaction around the World, on tv, radio, the web were obviously that of shock, heartache and sorrow. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened in Colorado- 13 years ago, 2 students opened fire in their high school, killing students and teachers alike.
And underneath all of the sorrow, the discussions around gun laws started, and America's obsession with the right to bear arms.
Before I get into this, I found a few facts on gun-law in the paper this morning:
- In Colorado, any resident can buy a handgun providing they are over 18 and do not have a criminal record.
- Residents do not need a permit and do not need to register their weapon.
- Colorado is one of the few states that allows openly carrying a firearm in public. (Yes, that's right. Not concealed, openly)
- Proposals for more stringent controls were defeated before the new state legislatures in 2009 when the NRA donated $16950 to the legislators (bribery anyone?)
- The 2nd amendment (giving people the right to keep and bear arms) was adopted in 1791, influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689.
In regards to the shooter:
-This guy had no criminal record and was over 18 so all his guns were legally obtained.
-He was studying for a PhD in Neuroscience, with courses specifically in "the biological basis of psychiatric and neurological disorders"
A young medical student with no criminal record. Sounds great doesn't he?
So, yesterday afternoon, there was outrage, and some Americans on Facebook and Twitter were stating they were going to go and buy themselves a gun.
One particular comment which really fired up my emotions was this:
"Thoughts go out to the family and friends of those murdered in Colorado. This is exactly the reason we should allow guns to be carried by law abiding citizens. Had someone had a gun in the audience, even with body armour, someone could have shot the attacker, but this will be used as an excuse to take away gun rights because randomly crazed individuals manage to get one and do something of this nature"
Now obviously, this was meant to be inflammatory. And it worked.
"One person shooting back at the guy firing into the crowd could have easily saved a dozen lives- or at least distracted him long enough to let a few more escape unharmed...." was one response.
I argued back that if one person joined in the shooting, how could we trust that person to fire accurately? Or if another had the same idea, how would that 3rd person know who was the criminal and who was the vigilante?
There is a reason cops do not fire into crowds of fleeing people- and if the legally trained armed forces know that firing into crowds is dangerous, how can anyone expect an untrained civilian to do the same?
I put a scenario in the mix and asked the question "if your 18 year old daughter had a gun in her purse and was in that situation, would you want her to flee/hide, or stand up and shoot."
Remarkably, the response I got from one individual was "this guy had time to reload several times, and if my Daughter had been able to save the lives of any of the 50+ who were shot? Yeah I would be very proud of her for taking out the shooter." and went on to say that as soon as she is old enough she will be trained to use a firearm intelligently, safely and lawfully.
And this is where the problem is for me. It's about what makes people heroes.
For me, the real heroes of this tragedy will be the people who do something about it. Who go to schools to educate the next generation about the dangers of guns. The ones who despite their own personal tragedy will go and find ways of being able to provide training for teachers to allow them to recognise any sort of instability in teenagers or children.
The families who lobby government to tighten gun laws to ensure that anyone who has shown any form of uncontrolled anger or depression is never, ever allowed to get hold of a firearm, and give stricter penalties to those who flout the law.
The people who see youths in the street with illegal firearms and decide that as a community they will stand up and refuse to allow this by calling the police.
The friends of victims who decide they want to make a difference and join the police force to be able to legally protect their community.
The unarmed guy who knew unequivocally when faced by crazed gunmen on a plane that he was going to die, and decided to stand up and ensure as few lives as possible would be lost, shouting "let's go!!" before leading a rush against their attackers.
These are the real civilian heroes.
Another guy on this FB feed made a comment about being an advocate of peace, love and compromise, but added that if he saw a rape in progress his first move would not be calling the police, and I totally totally agree with him..... But it depends on the circumstances.
If that rapist had an accomplice who held a gun to the victims head, would I rush in? No, because that's putting the victim at even more risk.
If it was one guy who had physically overpowered the victim, I would absolutely find the biggest brick, stick or rubbish bin lid to brain him with.
Do I think that people who live in remote farms and are at risk of being stormed by gunmen should be allowed to have guns in their home? Yes- but keep them at home.
The importance here is understanding what the most appropriate response is to any given situation, and what you do afterwards to try and make your community a better, safer place, intelligently.
One of my heroes, and inspirations is a girl called Jess Foord, in Durban, who at 21 was walking her dogs with her father. She was jumped by a gang of men who beat them both half to death, tied her father to a tree and gang raped her in front of him. The 5 men were armed with guns and knives, and not only did she suffer this horrific crime, she had to endure the fact that her father was forced to watch.
Did she have the right to go out afterwards and buy a gun? Absolutely. Any jury would find it hard to convict a woman taking revenge after an ordeal like that, so would probably have got away with killing her attackers if she wanted to.
But that's not the avenue she took. She looked at the system and realised the entire process was geared for women to fail at getting a conviction against her attackers. Only 7% of rape cases in South Africa result in a conviction, so she took a stand and decided to make a difference.
It worked, and a year after her attack, 4 or her 5 attackers got life imprisonment. The 4th was sent to a youth correctional facility.
She learned that the men may have done this as part of a culturally accepted initiation practise, and the more she researched, the more she wanted to make a difference.
She started her own foundation within that year, with the aim of helping women be survivors and not victims.
The foundation provides educational support in communities where rape is commonplace and "normal" to teach boys that rape is not acceptable.
They provide support to women in these communities to stand up against rapists, and have the courage to prosecute.
The foundation provides support for training police on how to deal with rape victims. They raise money to build rape crisis centres to provide support to allow victims to become survivors.
They ask women to provide "handbags" filled with shower gel, shampoo, combs, clean underwear, and a message from the heart which is provided to survivors at these centres, to give these women hope that they can and will survive.
That's the right way to go about these type of issues, and this girl (who is not yet 25) is absolutely inspirational, yet we don't shout about people like this anywhere near enough.
My point throughout this entire stream was that allowing more civilians to carry guns does not solve the problem. We need to be tackling the root cause of gun crime if we are to ever reduce gun crime.
The way forward cannot be to "give more people guns" The 2nd amendment was written in virtually lawless times. Surely we have made enough advancement to be able to stop the problem before it becomes a problem, and it just shoot it dead afterwards?
We need more people like Jess Foord and less that want to shoot problems away.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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