Botswana : Lion Research in the Delta

Week 1

We left home in the UK at 3.p.m. on Sunday 22nd June to begin our journey to Africa. At 7a.m. the following morning after the long overnight flight (I do envy those who can manage to sleep on aircraft seats in the sitting position!) we were coming in to land at Johannesburg airport, courtesy of British Airways. When we left London the temperature had been 27 degrees and arriving in Africa it was just 16 degrees. We disembarked and passed through the onward section for our connection with Air Botswana and a one and a half hour flight to Maun in Botswana. As we flew over the Delta and surrounding area we could see the vastness of the floodplains and bush below, the alternating stretches of blue water and sun bleached land dotted with patches of woodland and shrub areas. After a perfect smooth landing, we collected our luggage, which, contrary to our worst fears, had been efficiently transferred from BA to our onward Air Botswana flight and were met by Hanlie and Christiaan Winterbach, who head the Lion Study and Support Programme, where we would be spending the next two weeks.

After a refreshing long, cool drink and lunch eaten outside under trees full of singing birds, we were taken back to Maun airport for the next stage of our journey. Bush pilots operate a shuttle service in their tiny 6 seater Cessna aircraft, ferrying people and supplies between the airport and various bush camps around the Okavango Delta. Here we climbed aboard the tiny plane, together with Ruth, a Canadian member of the team from Lion Camp, our luggage, various boxes of supplies and a cheerful young pilot who proceeded to show us where the sick bags were in case we felt ill during the journey. In a matter of minutes the three of us, plus pilot, were airborne and climbing skyward to the accompanying roar of the tiny engine and the rush of wind both around and through the aircraft. The only possible way to conduct any sort of conversation was to shout using brief phrases in the hope of being heard above the continuous aircraft noise! Neither of us had time to get airsick, being too absorbed in watching the fascinating vista opening out below us as we soared over the Delta and various groups of Elephant, Antelope and all manner of fauna meandering across the landscape like ants, as the shadow of our tiny plane glided across the earth beneath. In a matter of some 20 minutes, we were landing at Xudum airstrip, a hard packed earth strip way out in the bush where the pilot executed a smooth landing whilst dodging the mountains of Elephant dung on the runway, and the stately Giraffe who were prone to saunter across the airstrip as they pleased.

We climbed down from the plane, using the wheel strut as a step and our luggage and supplies were unloaded and transferred to a waiting Land Rover, driven by Werner, a South African student, another member of the research team, for the last leg of our journey. We set off in a cloud of dust, which we were to find a constant companion over the next two weeks as it settled all over us and our cameras no matter where we went. We finally arrived at Lion Camp after a 20-minute drive across country on rough terrain, dirt tracks barely discernable to the naked eye and arrived at our final destination at 3.p.m. some 24 hours after leaving England.

We felt tired, sweaty, and thoroughly dirty after so long without sleep or shower and were immediately shown to our Meru walk in tent which was to be our home for the duration of our stay. It was somewhat of a relief to find we had a comfortable bed, with en-suite facilities of washbasin, flush toilet and shower with hot and cold running water fed from the camp’s own well. We both enjoyed a refreshing shower and change of clothes before venturing out to meet the final member of the team, Steve, from Scotland. A small furry necklace detached itself from Steve’s neck and leaped on to my shoulder, where it proceeded to crawl down inside my shirt for a thorough investigation! This was our introduction to Peanut, the camp’s pet Squirrel.

We had our first look around Lion Camp, which was a collection of some half a dozen well-spaced large walk-in tents around the central office and kitchen/dining area. All this was located in a small group of trees and shrubs, with Leadwood, Mopane and Jackalberry trees giving welcome shade.

We had been given the choice of resting until evening dinner or going on a game drive until sunset, to get the feel of our new surroundings. Feeling half human again after our shower we opted for the game drive and complete with our camera gear we climbed aboard the Land Rover. I will add at this point that the Land Rover had one passenger seat in the front, next to the driver and anyone else had to either ride on the roof or stand in the rear with upper half out through the roof hatch. I was given the one passenger seat and Dave opted to ride on the roof for a complete view of whatever scenery and animals we might encounter. This was to be where he spent every journey during our two-week stay, despite the many hair-raising tales of the different people who had fallen off! The Land Rover roared into life and we rumbled off along the track across the surrounding grassland. Immediately we were in motion, clouds of dust assailed our every move, covering us, our cameras and the inside of the vehicle in a permanent film of grime and filling our eyes, nostrils and sinuses. We had only been moving for a few minutes when we spotted out first animals, a group of Zebra and Tsessebe grazing just a few yards from the track. These were quickly followed by Impala, Wildebeest, Jackal, Hyena, tiny Steenbok and Wart Hogs and as we approached the first flood plains and water, we could clearly see several Hippo, half submerged in their pools. In the reeds surrounding the water were Plovers and Saddlebill Storks and a variety of other birds feeding in the shallows. Lilac Breasted Rollers flew overhead, along with Green Pigeons and Hoopoes. These scenes were to be repeated several times throughout that first drive as the variety of wildlife paraded before us at every turn and the sun began to sink down towards the horizon. Dave had told me how quickly the sun set in Africa once it began to descend, but nevertheless it was still amazing that first evening as we sat and watched it drop like a stone over the Hippo pools, infusing everything momentarily with its fiery glow and searing the surface of the water with its glowing reflection. Once the sun went down it was quickly followed by total darkness and this was only about 6.p.m. When the night falls it really is very black, unless of course it is the time of the full moon, but the black sky provided an amazing backdrop to the myriad of stars that were clearly visible to the naked eye and truly beautiful to observe. It was now time to return to camp for the evening meal and a slide show by Ruth to introduce us to the workings of Lion Camp and their study of the Delta Lions. Finding our way back by torchlight from the kitchen across the pitch black camp to our tent, we finally fell into bed at 8.30 p.m. totally exhausted and slept until 5.a.m.when we were awoken by the distant sound of Elephant and Hippo echoing through the night.

This morning started our introduction into the normal routine of days at the camp. Sunrise was about 7.a.m. and it was at this time the surrounding trees came to life with the echo of the Go-away Birds calling back and forth, (this was a sound I came to love), and the barking calls of the Baboon colony. This was when we rose, washed, dressed and walked to the kitchen to grab a bite of breakfast before starting the days activities. Our first two full days were spent tracking Lions with the Land Rover across the surrounding countryside. We always took our cameras and whenever possible took pictures of whatever presented itself within range. The most frequent being Giraffe, Tsessebe, Wildebeest, Zebra, Waterbuck, Reedbuck, Lechwe, Kudu, Impala, Baboon, Wart Hog, Elephant, and Hippo. Overhead we would hear the cry of the Fish Eagles, often seeing 2 or 3 of these at a time, along with Bateleur and Martial Eagles, Saddlebill Storks, Hammerkops, Plovers, Lilac Breasted Rollers and Green Pigeons. On the second day we were excited to see a flock of at least 80 Wattled Cranes, an endangered species. At this point I must emphasise that out in the open country there are no such things as smooth roads, at best they are extremely uneven, bumpy dirt tracks submerged in places by expanses of water through which the vehicle would plough, which even at the crossing points could be some 3 feet deep. The water would break over the bonnet and swirl into the cab before rushing out again and leaving a wake behind. At worst, depending on if we received a signal to follow, we would set off away from any tracks, across open grassland, through shrubs and woodland with just our eyesight to guide us through the various potholes and hazards, many of which were deep holes excavated by Elephants, into which the vehicle could drop! Two people, one of whom had the radio tracking equipment, sitting on the roof with the aerial and headphones listening out for signals received from the various prides, while the rest of us observed the wildlife and any tracks found in the dust along the paths from the night before. We would head out after breakfast about 8.30.a.m, return for lunch at 1.p.m. then siesta until 3.30 and out again at 4.p.m. until about 7.p.m. when we would return for dinner with the rest of the team and then exhausted to bed.

The next 3 days were spent doing road strip counts. This involved driving along various routes, each between two designated points, and making accurate records of all animals seen with locations by GPS navigation points noted on a chart, together with numbers, age, sex and habitat. Each route would take either a morning or afternoon to complete. On the first Road Strip Count day, amongst the usual diversity of fauna we saw a herd of some 100 plus Buffalo and on the third day a herd of at least 80 Impala. Our last road strip count was carried out on the Friday morning and after lunch and siesta Christiaan suggested we go looking for Fish Eagles in the hope of getting some photographs of them actually catching fish. He came up with the wonderful idea of taking a couple of fresh caught fish to tempt the Eagles within range. This was all very well, but nobody had told the Eagles what they were supposed to do! We duly located them, sitting in trees overlooking a nearby stretch of water and Werner waded out carrying a fish that was cast onto the water surface, floating with the aid of a cut reed. The Eagles were alerted by Christiaan giving a very accurate imitation of their piercing cry and launched themselves towards us. We set up our cameras and excitedly waited for them to ‘catch’ our fish. We waited…and waited…and waited…..while the Fish Eagles wheeled and swooped at the far side of the water – and caught their own fish!!! This exercise was repeated on different days and each time the result was the same. So we certainly saw plenty of Eagles and observed them doing their aerial acrobatics and catching fish, but they were always just too far away at the crucial moments for sensible photography.