Everything tells a story

Out on our walks, everything paints a picture & tells a story ... if you know how to read it. The way an animal is standing might tell you there's a predator nearby. A particular type of bird flying overhead tells you there's a lion nearby. Vultures circling tell you where the lion's kill is. A cloud of dust in the distance might mean a herd of animals was disturbed.

Everything tells a story. Often the story is written in tracks in the sand/dust. Because the animals walk along particular tracks unless they're grazing (the tracks are softer & more even), you can tell what was there most recently by which track is on top.

Often the story is crap ... literally ... because the type & age of poo also tells you what passed through (pun intended!) & when. So many different sorts of poo: from the massive boulders dropped by elephants that are bigger than a baby, through to the little pebbles left behind by the giraffe's behinds, it all tells you what was there, how long ago they were there & what they ate. Sometimes, you can also tell the sex of the animals too eg if the elephant poo & pee are close together, it was a female.

MD & the other guides use all these signs to try to track down the animals they're looking for & understand the animals' moods. This is very important when you're dealing with large, dangerous animals, particularly when you don't have any means of protection except a knife! I couldn't help thinking that by the time a ferocious animal were close enough to be able to use the knife, it'd probably already be too late!

MD

I asked MD whether his wife ever worried about the work he does. He replied, "She's more worried about the work I don't do!" since he's away for at least a month at a time during the busy season so they hardly see each other.

Even though Maun is just a 20 minute flight from here, he's only allowed to go home once every 30-40 days. His poor wife has to look after their 6 kids plus everything else while he's away.

"She might leave me & find another guy who's around more," he says. "If she does, I will cry!" It's just like a FIFO roster.

He now lives in a village that's somewhere early Oddballs and is roughly a 30 minute walk away. He much prefers being out on camps like the one he's on with me because (a) he's closer to nature, and (b) someone else does all the cooking & cleaning up for him!

Born in the same year that Botswana gained its independence (1966), MD didn't finish high school. Instead, he decided to become a guide after his uncle, who is also a guide, took him out to one of the islands near here. To become a guide, he had to study for 6 months to learn all the names of everything in the Okavango: animals, birds, trees etc, along with how to identify their tracks, behaviours & poo. He then had to get a driver's license so he can transport guests around if need be & a first aid certificate. Plus he had to learn all the islands of Okavango then sit a practical exam where other guides would examine his skills in the wild.

After all that, he can still get in trouble if he doesn't carry his license with him at all times!

I think I'm in pretty safe hands!

Now, two of his kids also want to become guides.

The Rhythm of the Land

Whenever we go out walking, the birds are usually the first to sound the alarm. They're so loud & so prolific that we might as well go out with an alarm blaring from around our necks. There's no sneaking up on anything with them around!

Once the animals know you're approaching, they generally stop, look carefully at you & then you can almost see the cogs in their heads turning as they try to figure out whether this is a fight or flight situation. For most, flight is thankfully the default answer & they quickly turn around & run off, sometimes providing some great photo opportunities. These are the animals you don't need to worry about.

There are a few however, where as soon as they know you're around, they start to get agitated & these are the ones you need to be careful of. They include large, male elephants, hippos & water buffalo. Each one can have a mean streak so you never mess with those guys. Others can be provoked too of course (eg mothers with young babies).

Like the animals, our days are pretty similar: up early when the sun rises around 6.15am, out for a 3-4 hour walk where we cover 10-15km, breakfast & a shower around 11, siesta to recover a little from our hike, late lunch around 2-3pm, off for another 1-1.5hr hike around 4pm, then dinner & sleep after that by about 9pm.

It feels like we're getting into the rhythm of the land, something you often lose when you're in the city under fluorescent lights all day & night, & never see the sunrise or sunset. The sun comes up & warms the land, the nocturnal animals go to sleep, the other animals graze, then the sun goes down, everything gets cold again, the nocturnal animals come out to hunt & forage & so the cycle continues, much as it has done for thousands of years.

The main thing that changes in our rhythm is the direction we go in and the animals we see. Each day, we tune in to see what's on "African TV", the term fondly given to looking out at the landscape to see what's passing by.

It may seem strange but on most of the treks, we're trying to locate the lions that are somewhere nearby. We know they're around because at some point every night, we've heard their low, grunting growls, plus MD sees their footprints everywhere. You might mistakenly think the aim of our treks would be to NOT find the lions ... but where's the fun in that? No, we are actively seeking them out instead. What could possibly go wrong when you find a pride of lions anyway?

MD assured me that they're more scared of us than we are of them but do the lions spend their days Googling how to not be eaten by a human? I think not!

He also then tells me stories from the park about lions, like the one that happened a few years ago when they used to camp out underneath the stars with guests. That particular evening, they'd all had fried chicken for dinner & obviously the lion thought that smelled like a dish he'd like to have as well because part way through the night, he came up & dragged a chicken wrap, cleverly disguised as a lady in a sleeping bag, off into the bushes.

The guide she was with raced after her screams & proceeded to play tug-of-war with the lion to try & recover the poor lady. Everyone was a winner in that particular game of life as the lion got to keep the sleeping bag & the guide got his customer back, mostly uninjured, except for the mental scars!

"But don't worry," MD tells me, "Now we have the tents so the lions won't go inside those." It's a completely comforting thought that all that's keeping a lion from eating me is a sturdy canvas wall!

Let's go find the lions then! And off we went each day.

Something else that has really impressed me out here is the complete lack of litter & the guides' dedication to picking up any odd pieces they come across, which are very few & far between. It's great to see how much they care for the whole environment.