Baraza

Category: Lions | Date: Jan 31 2008 | By: admin

Tuesday was cut short due to a hasty office evacuation due to riots following the murder of one of the opposition memberes of parliament. The trouble ended quickly but everyone is still very edgy. So yesterday I had alot of catching up to do with Brian on our plans to help save the Mara Triangle and I also had the pleasure of meeting Anthony Kasanga of the Lion guardians! I can confirm that he is as charming in real life as he is on the blog! We had a good chat and laughed a lot and talked seriously about his ideas for the lion guardians blog…..I’m sorry, I can’t finish what I was going to write about.
I started this blog post with a light heart, recalling a fun day yesterday, the first day of late in which we have felt ’safe’ and free to go about our work freely. I’ve just been informed that another member of parliament has just been murdered, shot. Recall that one MP was shot just two nights ago. We were afraid it was politically motivated but the police insist it was a ‘normal’ shooting (What on earth is a normal shooting? He wasn’t even robbed?). Now riots have started afresh in five big towns across Kenya. We are about to close the office for the second time this week to ensure we all get home safely. I can’t describe how low I fee at this moment, I feel disgusted and ashamed but mostly confused at what is going on.

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Category: National Parks and protected areas | Date: Jan 05 2008 | By: admin

After two incredible days in Selinda we drove to the great Kalahari conservation area - the worlds second largest conservation area – second to Selous National Park in Tanzania. This was described to us as the least visited, and wildest corner of Botswana that was made famous by the couple Mark and Delia Owen through their best selling book ‘Cry of the Kalahari‘ - they studied black-maned lions and brown hyenas in an area so remote that the animals had never before seen humans. Cry of the Kalahari, their best-selling book, is their account of their research and adventures. According to people in Botswana, the book revealed the threat that the veterinary fence posed to migrating wildlife and as a result, “apparently” this public revelation led to their eviction from Botswana although they continue to do research and support conservation through their foundation The Owens Foundation for Wildlife Conservation

We arrived at the gate of the Kalahari after driving down one of these nearly 100 km veterinary fences and were met with a stunning surprise

Gemsbok were everywhere … we were advised to camp at Deception Valley in the desert which is where the Owens did their research. Well, I can see why they chose the location …look at these photos and tell me if you think it’s a desert … or even a valley!

Males were testing females

It had rained recently and the animals were getting ready for breeding - the males especially were very frisky

This is the valley! Some springbok had started calving

Massive flocks of quelea were everywhere

As were these ‘crazy’ birds which spent the entire day making ridiculous raucous calls…I hve no idea what they were

None of the animals were particularly worried about us … this is a HUGE monitor lizard that walked right by us flicking his bright red forked tongue around as he/she went

Some of the smaller animals were just adorable

And everyone was enjoying the flush of green grass - these are striped ground squirrels

And I was thrilled to meet one of my most favourite animals, really close up…. meerkats

I hope I’m not getting repetitive, but these animals are stunning - and very well behaved for an amateur photographer like me!

I also personally adore jackals - there were hundreds of these black backed jackals around … often alone or in pairs

Others saw lions but we missed them, the only evidence was their deafening roars at night (I could swear they were in our camp!) - and this….

We missed witnessing the lion kill the night before, but got one scavenger trying to get something off the remains

In Selinda we witnessed lions killing a wild dog which many think is simply a case of a predator getting rid of it’s competition

Well check out this

These Jackals walked right up to the cheetah but didn’t seem at all bothered with it, and neither did the cheetah

They both lay down within 30 m of each other

and then the jackals started making these amazing cat like calls

Well, as you can see, it was a feast, wildlife photographic candy…

We celebrated our Christmas under the stars in Deception Valley in the Kalahari Desert - wondering about the name.. I think it’s a deception that its a valley or a desert.

They say that the Kalahari Desert is about the most dangerous place to go to in Botswana because it’s HUGE and you rarely see anyone else. … which is a big part of the attraction for me. But, if you break down you’re scr*wed!! Nobody is likely to find you for days! We had to rescue a group of young rather intoxicated people whose battery died on them in the park. They were desperate and we had to use our battery to start their car. Being there for Christmas day only, they had little water or food… (but lots of booze!). We thankfully got them out with help of other visitors after an hour or so… and then we discovered that we had brought no water for bathing… so it was 4 days in the bush without a bath… nice! It certainly kept the bugs at bay!

We did achieve something important, a realisation that a blog about this surprising place is definitely of interest to WildlifeDirect if it can help to raise funds to save this spectacular part of Africa.

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