I have never "smelt" this bad

So I find myself again, sitting in a fast food restaurant, sipping on a drink in order to use their wifi. Today the location is Barcelos, a Portuguese restaurant with peri peri chicken being the favorite Batswana dish. Think of Barcelos as one step above the golden arches but not yet Olive Garden. Before learning about all the free wifi at these fast food joints, I was doing it the super local way, going to the airport to steal their flaky service. The last flight normally got in around 6 pm, but for reasons unknown to anyone, the premises remains open until ten with its only use for those four hours to be for the ten or so of us surfers to be catching up with the online community.

Chess, the rest of the Pitzer crew and I returned yesterday from our first week working with the Fisheries Department (we ship out next Monday for our next adventure). Little did I know when I signed up for this stint with the Fisheries that I was setting myself up for memorizing copious amounts of names like B. Lateralis and S. Negro Maculatis (still can't spell them though) as well as deciphering the difference between a hard dorsal fin and a soft one (but first I had to learn what a dorsal fin was). Not only that, but I also didn’t realize I had signed myself up for maybe permanently changing my musk. I don’t think I will ever stop sweating fish stench and there is no amount of soap Dove could ever produce to stop my clothes from reeking (I quickly adapted a set of clothes for dealing with the fish and others for relaxing).
We were shipped up north to a small village near the slightly bigger village-and extremely more "google-mapable" village- of Shakawe, located about 10 km from the Namibian boarder in the North and right on the Okavango Panhandle. Our camp couldn’t have been better situated, 10 meters from the flowing waters. There was a sort of natural jetty created which allowed the locals (and us) to park the boats safely without the sweeping current taking them off. Although it remained quiet for most of the day, fishermen would sometimes come in the morning with their catches and we could watch mokoros passing by loaded with the reeds which surround the delta which are meant for creating fences and baskets. The location was gorgeous with pristine views and lots of animal life. Besides the livestock who were brought by farmers to drink in the safe waters of the small bay, there were - without even leaving the comfort of the banks - enough birds to satisfy even the most intense bird nerd. The waters of the Delta are filled with more crocodiles and hippos then people in department stores the day after Thanksgiving, but fortunately due to the jetty they are kept primarily out of our little safe haven, that didn’t mean though that we wouldn’t see crocs’ heads drifting out in the deeper waters and every night we would hear hippos tromping through the reeds.

Our purpose there was to assist in the sampling of the fish in the Delta. Every month the department conducts surveys at a variety of locations throughout its water. Every evening a net is set with different mesh sizes (in order to collect different sizes of fish) and every morning we would collect the nets. The setting and collecting the nets (along with the boat cruising to reach them) was the easy part, once the fish arrived then the fun began… First, we had to fish the fish out of the nets, not at all as easy as one would think. Fish can wind and tangle themselves so tightly into those nets that even for the expert de-weavers who have worked at the department for years, it can take minutes to get just to untangle one (of usually over 500) fish. Following the retrieval processes begins the sorting and recording process where each scaly creature must be grouped together with the rest of its family. Then each fish must be measured, weighed and cut open to determine gender and how developed they are. I am entirely sure that in this past week I have handled (along with dug around in their guts) more fish then I ever have eaten and possibly more than I will ever consume in my life.
The job, although tedious at times, was fun. It is hard not to enjoy yourself in the Delta, especially with three awesome friends and your cousin (who is not excluded from the awesomeness). We even were able to do a boat cruise on the last day where we did some pretty amazing things. Besides weaving ourselves in and out of the canals, we got off on a few islands and wandered through the palm trees and reeds, even using a crocodile path as our docking point. Going so deep into the Delta, and wandering around its islands allowed us to see places that very few, if anyone, has ever seen before. Everyday makes me appreciate this experience more and more; just being in the Delta is something that very few people ever get to experience, but on top of that we are doing things that are ridiculous. Not to mention that I am doing it with my cousin…
Working with Fisheries has given me new appreciation for those that fish and along with implanting a jealousy of fishermen’s hygienic secrets for keeping the stink off them. Oh, and Thanksgiving in the Delta with the cousin, YES PLEASE!

Where do I even begin?! Who would have thought a year ago that cousin Francesca and I would be together in Botswana?! And that we would not only be traveling and seeing the country together but also sharing an internship in the Wildlife Department and not only any wildlife department, but one of the top in the world! And, not just with the wildlife department anywhere, but in Maun (aka one of the most beautiful and wildlife plentiful places in the world) and not just doing office work, but solely field work. That’s like applying to sell popcorn at a minor league stadium and instead being told you not only are being put on the starting roster but being moved up to the Yankees (actually, the Giants) and-if that wasn’t good enough-your best friend can join you too! Basically, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Since Chess flew in nearly two weeks ago, it has been a whirlwind of adventure. In Gaborone, we traded stories of adventure as we watched the sunset while sipping on the local brew. After a few quick days of showing Chess my most recent stomping ground, we caught an early morning bus up to Maun. Here, we met our host brother (can’t call him a father, I don’t think he is 30 yet) who was totally ok with chess staying for as long as needed. The next day we headed to the department office hoping we could somehow by some miracle convince them to allow Chess to accompany us. I wish I could give myself credit for some diplomatic feat, using some persuasive and intelligent conversation, in essence to sell my cousin to them. I had speeches prepared about her doing graduate research in Africa for the past 5 months, etc. But those pleas were never needed. Maybe it was because of our dashingly good LeBaron looks or maybe some force unknown to us that has united us on four continents, but without even a blink of the eye they took Chess in as an intern! What!? Life is ridiculously awesome. They said we would be going out to the bush very soon but due to a meeting of the directors, we wouldn’t know until Wednesday; we gladly took these as sightseeing days.

That afternoon we took a scenic flight over the Okavango Delta to see where we shall be spending the next five weeks. Let me just say it is big and beautiful. Waterways wind their way though grassland and trees as buffalo make their migration and elephants bathe. The five of us-Katie, Ian, Karen, Chess and I- flying in that single propeller plane began to understand why we had heard so much about this place and why we are so lucky to be working here (this would not be the last time).

The following day we did a mokoro trip. A mokoro is a dugout canoe, built from the sausage tree (baboons love to eat their kiwi skinned cucumber like fruit). Using sausage trees has caused environmental harm; due to the extreme rise in tourism, the once traditional form of transportation has become the favorite form of sightseeing in the Delta and because the trees take nearly 100 years to mature and the canoes only last 5, the government has put a limit on the number of sausage tress cut each year. Now, most mokoros are made out of fiberglass, but interestingly enough last for less time than the traditional canoes. We booked our trip through the community polers’ trust, which was created about ten years ago. It was created out of necessity for community empowerment. Many Batswana (people of Botswana) lack capital means to start a business, especially in the lucrative tourism industry which accounts for Botswana’s second biggest revenue (behind diamonds). Most hotels and tour companies here are owned by foreigners and while employing many Batswana, the majority of the profits tend to leave the country. But recently many community-based tourism operators have sprung up around the country. With this being run by the community, it allows profits to go directly into their hands (as we directly pay the polers) and eliminates the middleman. They make more money, we pay less, win win.

It was one of the most sublime and tranquil days I have ever experienced. Before heading out they allowed us to try a mokoro ourselves, which gave us an extreme appreciation for their work as we all nearly fell in multiple times and after only a few minutes were completely sore. For the rest of the day we cruised through the "place of reeds". We passed through pristine waterways and learned from our guide, Maita, about the local flora and fana. Having grown up here, he could tell us what we could and couldn’t eat. We passed frogs-some even hopped into a mokoros-and so much birdlife. Eventually we came upon a big island where we enjoyed lunch and then did a walking safaria (something I never expected to do while here). Quickly, we saw a heard of Zebras off in the distance and approached from down wind; once we got within 100 meters, at each step we took I thought they were going to run, but no! We got extremely close before they decided to gallop not away from us, but directly in front of us - one of the coolest experiences I have had here so far. The rest of the day consisted of some swimming in the clear waters and watching an elephant cool itself off in the fresh waters. If my trip ended there, I would have had no complaints. But it was just beginning.

They next day we arrived at the department and were told we would be heading to Moremi Game Reserve (National Park) and working with them for the next week. We were sent home to pack our bags and by three pm we were in the back of a pickup heading north to our next playground. What transpired last week - I am still waiting for Pitzer to send us the bill - it was that epic. We were in essence toured around the National Park in order for us to see what happens there. We were shown the daily activities of the officers stationed there, which consisted of a lot of directing tourists but also patrolling, which basically consists of driving around the park (aka game drives). I would be lying if I wrote that I didn’t see tons of animals. There was too much wildlife that even math major Chess couldn’t keep count. On one of our drives, we ran into a super rare pack of wild dogs; they are sooo pretty, but due to human misunderstandings, they have been driven to near extinction. We were just driving on the road, when literally we saw a few laying on the road, turned out to be a pack of twelve with their puppies.

If doing daily “game drives", having hyenas roam around us at night, and watching zebras up close by foot wasn’t enough, how about going out with the vet to collect blood and skin samples from an elephant. YES PLEASE! The vet, Johnny, was collecting samples to add to his DNA research of the animal. We spent that day driving in a pickup eyes peeled looking for one of these massive creatures. After seeing many our first few days it took us nearly five hours to find our first, a matriarch and five youth. Although this is beneficial for research purposes, at the very least, for the elephant it is traumatic. A gunshot sounds as the dart is shot (which spooks all creatures around), then fear as the elephant feels itself getting hit and runs for its life, family in toe. Immediately, we hop out of the truck, chasing it on foot until the tranquilizers kick in over ten minutes later (elephant tranquilizers are extremely strong; if just one drop gets into a human system, they will most likely die, or be in an unreviveable coma for the rest of their life). As we ran after the elephant-more like tried to keep it in sight-it stampeded off until it eventually stopped and with a huge thud, fell over. Then the crew quickly rushed in, scaring off the rest of the herd with an actual gun’s warning shots, masking and covering the elephants eyes and ears to reduce stimulation. Johnny then rushed in and collected the blood and skin and then we were allowed to approach. Having only gotten close to elephants while sitting in the comfort of a car I had not truly appreciated the enormity of one of these creatures. As it lay there snoring 100 times more powerful than my dad, we all had a moment of awe. This quickly ended when its legs started to twitch, where upon we immediately scampered back into the safety of our land rover.

Tomorrow we begin our tour with the Fisheries Department. We were told (surprise surprise) that we would be eating a lot of fish. There are bound to be many more stories upon our return, but until then I hope all is well.

Four Down, Three to Go!

So here it is! Continent number four for the dastardly cousin duo! Chess arrived safely last night and since then it has been a whirlwind of trading stories and getting each other up to date on our lives these past few extremely eventful months. Memories of China, London and the states have been discussed and future fantasies are already being planned, but for the most part it is all about being here in Botswana. Chess still can't get over that you can drink tap water here, keeps saying that we are "so spoiled". Sunday we will be catching the 6 am, twelve hour bus north to Maun where we shall continue our epic adventures! Thanks for the shirt Uncle Tim, now I can be repping the black and orange on the other side of the world!

(oh by the way, Chessie is pointing to the Botswana flag)