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Moving the indigenous population to new areas outside the park boundaries created the national park. The dislocation did not create problems because of the employment opportunities created for up to 40 of those residents. The lodge also has been instrumental in improving the local villages and creating employment opportunities therein as well.
Involvement of local communities is important to the economy of this part of the world. Locals find gainful employment in the various lodges and communities receive dividends for the concessions, which are used to establish and develop community improvements. Locals have also learned that it is not necessary to burn off the brush to encourage new growth for livestock. Cutting and selling the brush for thatch is better in more ways than one.
We left Mudumu with a sense of sadness and remorse that we would be leaving behind both two legged and four legged friends we had made. But we had not seen the King of Beasts yet nor the Rhinoceros necessary to complete our dance card. Another boat ride, border crossing, and small plane ride brought us to a new lodge in the Okavango delta region of Botswana. "Botswana," means "Land of the Tswana," but the country's history must include the original Bushman, later Zulu warriors, and the Boer Wars with a bit of Linvingstone and Rhodes thrown, in all leading to a peaceful granting of independence with a participatory, non-racial multi party democracy in September 1966.
The government incorporated the ancient tribal pattern of consultation, deliberation, individual rights and free speech into a genuine open society that encourages high cost, low volume tourism. We sampled such tourism for three nights at Vumbura Camp.
The Okavango Delta is a 15,000 square kilometer area of formal channels, former channels, and forming channels into which the Okavango river flows and ends after bringing the runoff from Angola and Namibia to the dead end brought about by a dip in the earth's crust between parallel faults across the river and the geological escarpment which rings the south African coast two to three thousand feet above the plains to the north. This geological formation creates the perfect habitat for animals to survive and the perfect place for humans to watch them.
We arrived in mid afternoon and, after settling into our "tent," we moved out in the land rover for a "game drive." Our early sightings were of a brown snake eagle, Egyptian geese, and some waterbuck. As a bit of discouragement settled in our guide announced that one of the other teams had found a pack of wild dogs and we would travel to join them. We quickly passed up stops to observe zebra, impala, wildebeests, and buffalo to move slowly alongside a pack of wild dogs.
Once found throughout sub-Saharan Africa (except rainforest) the wild dog was known to occur in 39 different countries less than 50 years ago. Today, viable populations exist in just four countries including Botswana with an estimated population of no more than 5,000, of which only approximately 500 are estimated to be in Botswana.
In fact, unlike almost any other predator, they live in extraordinary cooperation with one another, and this is nowhere better demonstrated than when feeding - the young and ill are given first access to food after a successful hunt.
African wild dogs have an ill-deserved reputation as aggressive, vicious killers. Gomoro, our guide, advised us that these animals are highly sociable and live in extraordinary co-operation with one another with packs of eight to 12 adults and their offspring. A dominant female is the pack leader who guides the others in hunts and the selection of burrow locations. Only one male is allowed mating privileges, but all pack members help to feed those who are ill and to raise the puppies by regurgitating meat after hunts. Lower ranking animals also are forced to supply food to dominant males in the same manner. Botswana recognizes the opportunity to increase awareness of conservation issues and its impact on increased tourism and the resultant employment. That program includes an aggressive wildlife management program to insure survival of these animals.
Shortly there were a total of three land rovers trailing the dogs that are considered the most efficient of all predators (based on success rates). This is due in no small part to the extraordinary teamwork within the pack and the persistence exhibited during the hunt. We watched them for about 15 minutes although it would be more accurate to say that we joined them by driving the vehicles along with them through the fields.
Gomoro said they were following a herd of impala, but darkness overtook us before we could record their success (or an impala's bad luck). The three vehicles rendezvoused for an "African Sundowner" under an impressive show of nature. Game drive vehicles always include a cooler of bottled water for parched guests but now we learned they also included a fine selection of wine and soft drinks for guests to enjoy as the sun sinks below the horizon amid an orange-yellowpink-flaming-red sky that those of us who have never seen a 360 degree horizon can marvel at. At last we knew how Karen Blixen and Denys Finch-Hatton ("Out of Africa") felt when first they were transfixed by an African sunset.
Our first Botswana game drive and sunset view was a stunning success.
The following morning we were awakened at 5:30 by Gomoro's drumming following which we gulped down a continental breakfast and jumped back in our land rover for another game drive. A short distance out of camp, Gomoro seemed to be taking an intense interest in his right front tire. We soon realized he was looking at tracks, not of his tire, but of an animal or animals. He and our tour leader "Eddie" stopped and studied the tracks and announced that they were worth following. For 30 minutes they followed the tracks, occasionally noting the location of the crossing by another animal before they conferred again and were ready to announce their findings. They had agreed that we were on the trail of two adult lions that had passed this way only a short time ago. They also agreed that they were two males who were not hungry and thus not hunting.
We continued to follow the tracks (which only Eddie and Gomoro could see clearly) for more than two miles when, upon emerging from a wooded area into a clearing, there in all their royal glory basking in the shade of a clump of trees were the two male lions as predicted. Coming upon a lion (or lions) in their world floods our minds with emotions brought about my millennia of genetically induced brain waves. The vehicle stopped only 30 feet from the pair while the vehicle occupants and the lions stared at each other. An observation often made by my 5-year-old grandson came to me. They are looking at me looking at them." He is right. Eye to eye contact with a lion transforms the "discoverer" back thousands of generations to a primal state.
The lions soon concluded that seven humans in a land rover were not a threat to them, put their heads in their paws and closed their eyes. Not as convinced, as they were, that they were not a threat to me I continued to stare and to be enthralled by their magnificence and by their very closeness. My flash photography and whining camera did not disturb them as we stood our distance for 20 or 30 minutes in silence.
At that point the two stood up, stretched and ambled off to our left passing within 15 feet of our vehicle (and me) at the incredible speed of less than one mile per hour. After they walked 200 yards with the vehicle following at a respectful distance, they again sought refuge from the sun in the shade of a large tree and lay down back to back. A short while later another vehicle, advised by radio of our finding, arrived. This was apparently too much for their majesties and they rose and walked off at the same deliberate pace until lost from our view on the other side of the clearing more than 300 yards away.
I remembered Livingstone's words: "Never so long as my pulse shall beat shall I forget the moment." I had met the King of Beasts on his turf and on his terms, and we both survived the experience. There were several other survivors nearby. A young warthog stumbled into our area shortly after the lions left. He had their scent but was unsure which direction they had moved. The warthog walked onto the path the lions had traveled and quickly retreated only to try again 50 meters to the north and 50 meters to the south. By this method he was able to determine that the lions had moved to the south. He moved quickly to the north. Similarly, a herd of impala approached from the west and crossed the lions' path. After nervously looking around they retreated to the west. Eddie said they were not sure which direction the lions had headed, so they returned from whence they came.
Our day was far from over. Within a half hour, as we were moving along a narrow sandy trail, we noticed elephants crossing the trail about 50 yards ahead. Gomoro stopped the vehicle so the elephants could pass undisturbed. Ten or 12animals had crossed when a baby elephant entered the trail followed closely by a female, obviously the mother. She took offense at our location and faced us squarely, threw her head high, folding her trunk, and flapping her ears. Gomoro told us to hold on because "she fears for her young one." She started toward us, and immediately Gomoro threw the vehicle into reverse and stepped on the gas.
The elephant chased us for 20 yards and stopped. She stopped, but Gomoro did not. When he did stop, he explained that his reversing indicated to the elephant that we were submitting to her and so she stopped. We watched another 10 elephants cross the road without incident and then proceeded slowly toward the crossing, reaching it in time to observe the rear of the last elephant moving along the trail. That was the best view of an elephant I had all week - walking away from us - and I forgot to get a photograph.
That evening we again had a sundowner and witnessed the delightful bursts of varying color through distant trees that is the quiddity of sunset across the African savannah. This was followed by a traditional tribal bush braai (barbeque) served by native women who later performed tribal dances. It wasn't long before we were caught up in the rhythm and joy and accepted the invitation to join them in the performance of their vibrant traditional dances. (They probably wouldn't invite us again.)
We returned to the camp with the guides shining red lights into the surrounding bush to illuminate the yellow eyes of the nocturnal creatures, hyena, genet, bush babies, and springhare (who jump like kangaroos) and other nocturnal animals such as the owls and nightjars. We also observed some diurnal animals - a herd of impala, their eyes lighting up like a scene in a Christmas village of twinkling lights.
Next Week: Exploring the delta in a mekoro.
