Today I was able to go back into the National Park with Lyn to inspect and collect rubbish at the campsites. It has been like three weeks since I went into the park and damn what a complete difference. Almost like I was in another part of the world. Since the last couple weeks of good rain, everything is GREEN. The ground everywhere you go has a nice layer of short green grass or some other leafy green foliage growing. Most of the trees and a lot of the bush has nice green coverage. It was stunning and beautiful. Quite a difference from the last time, when it was very hot and dry, very very little greenage, just a lot of dirt and bare twigs. There are pools of water everywhere now, so everything is in great supply, except a large portion of the animal population. A lot of the wildlife has migrated into more of the dense forest to seek cover from allll the rain. Last time I was in the park, I saw hundreds and hundreds of elephant and buffalo. This time I saw a couple of head of elephant and buffalo. Today was definitely reptile day. We came across several large monitor lizards, a huge leopard tortoise, and barely caught sight of a few snakes flying into the bush. What was really plentiful was the impala and all their newborn babies. We saw a few nursery of dozens of couple week old baby impala. They were very cute and wow, terrified of us. It was really nice to see warthog and a few other species very happy with all the plentiful food and water. Today was a nice day, really fair weather, well until the rains came again….
Lyn actually spotted a giant porcupine quill on the ground and gave it to me. So, now I have another thing to add to my growing collection of stuff from Africa. Lets see if I am brave enough to wear the quill in my septum.
As I was walking around the campsites today, admiring the beauty of the landscape. It was again hard to remember that I am in Africa. I have a hard time remembering to stay vigilant. The country side is so lush and beautiful now, it total reminds me of the Pacific Northwest, Oregon territory where I am from. There you really don’t have much to worry about. Sure there is a minute chance that you might run into a bear, cougar, bull elk, or a deer. But, most of those would run off, cause they would see and smell you before you would them. Plus a lot of times you need to be a fair distance from civilization to see such wildlife. Here, damn so different, of course there is NO civilization around. But, the chances of running into sometime that would easily kill you and eat you is phenomenally high. Especially now that the bush has so much more dense foliage on them, you can’t see what might be resting or stalking me on the other side. Even an Elephant. Plus now there are more snakes out and about, the plant life is growing, so it is hard to really see where you step sometime. Driving around the countryside reminded me of a really well groomed golf course. It is that lush and perfect in places. Oh, I almost forgot, there is also a wild lily that grows everywhere and is so beautiful to see a flower blooming all over the grasslands. It really adds to the overall beauty of the place. But then reality snaps back into place when we are picking up rubbish at the camp sites. Humans are so disgusting, thoughtless, and careless. Picking up broken glass, band-aids, sanitary napkins, cigarette butts, and so many other things really pisses me off. Don’t these people have a clue as to what they are doing. Also, the tour operators are so busy, given no time to pack up correctly and inspect their campsites before moving on, leaving so much stuff behind. Sure they get turned in and fined, but will that solve anything… doubtful….. I tell you, if I ever make it to any of the National Parks in the United States and see joe blow throwing any garbage on the ground, I am gunna have a coronary. And they will not like the verbal spewage out of my mouth.
In a couple of weeks, I will be participating in the “Big Bird Count”. It is gig that Birdlife Botswana puts on every year. People in groups of four, identify and count as many different bird species they can find in a 50kg - 24 hr. period. It is to help raise awareness of the immense bird population that Botswana hosts. Expert groups will spot hundreds of different species at a time. Since I am a baby novice, I will be happy to lend my eyes to help spot birds, while others can identify. All data gets tuned in and compiled. Even just the diversity of birds that are around our cottage is incredible. As I sit here at 8pm, it is dark outside, I can still hear several bird species singing. Even though the frog and bug volume is ever slowly increasing, drowning out the birds, till morning any way.
In a few weeks after the big bird count, there will be a wetlands bird count via boat. That should be an interesting experience. I just hope I can concentrate on the bird population instead of the crocodile and hippo population.
ps..... Is anyone willing to send a couple bean, cheese, and rice burritos? Oh and some fresh squeezed o.j. too.......
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