Recent Explorations

Here's a quick rundown of a few of our recent adventures!

Karin, Pat and Jon under a Mokongwa Tree at Khama Rhino Sanctuary

The weekend before last, we went to Khama Rhino Sanctuary about 4 hours north of Gaborone with our friends Pat & Karin who have a 4-wheel drive -- necessary for those deep sand roads.  When we arrived we got a large campsite with several gorgeous massive mokongwa trees.  For the next 2.5 days we drove all over this preserve birding and enjoying the amazing wildlife (photos are on both Priscilla's & Jon's facebook pages).  Pat and Karin have great and somewhat unusual stamina for this sort of thing, are avid birders, and  are a pleasure to spend time with, so we are lucky indeed to overlap with them in this part of the world.  The weather was unusually cold and windy and the temperature plummeted at night.  We signed up for a guided nighttime safari, figuring it would relieve one of us from doing the driving at night, and it lasted two hours!  Our guides were friendly and knowledgeable.  All along the route hundreds of little springhare hopped around like kangaroos with glowing eyes.  We arrived back at the campground happy but colder than we ever expected to feel in Africa!

We saw so many beautiful birds -- eagles, hawks, kites, kori busturd, owls, so many songbirds and of course ostriches galore.  At the waterholes we could see rhinos, zebras, wildebeests, impalas, springbok and more drinking and more or less ignoring each other.  Incidently, when rhinos are walking somewhere they will stop to let an ostrich go by.  No one messes with ostriches.  Rhinos are mellow though.  Some of the savanna scenes were amazing with so many different species grazing and browsing across the landscape.  Giraffes stick up above the acacias.  Two males giraffes were circling each other and occasionally banging necks.  Zebras are the most hyper and will dash hither and thither for no apparent reason.

Last Wednesday afternoon we went to Gaborone Game reserve to see the place and also to practice driving.  As is the case for so many things, the form that had to be filled out to enter the reserve was extensive although the entry fee is only about $1.40.  The reserve is mostly thorn woodland and savanna, with some small rocky hills and outcrops.  There is currently a large pipeline construction projects in the reserve that entails closing random access points and the people at the gate are no help in figuring out how to avoid the closed areas.  (You wouldn't believe the lack of "Best Management Practices" associated with construction here.)  A sewage generated wetlands is located at the north end of the reserve and, like most sewage ponds, it attracts all kinds of waterfowl and other birds and mammals.   We were very pleasantly surprised because of the density of wildlife and the many nice birds we saw throughout the Reserve.  Ostriches and monkeys are all over the place!  The male ostriches are black with a fluffy tail puff and the females are dusty brown.  This is because the females sit on the nest during the day and the males are on the nest at night.  We saw many impala, groups of warthogs rooting around, zebra and kudu.  Kudu are a large placid antelope that remind us a bit of a moose.  We also saw one steenbok -- a very shy tiny antelope that always seems to travel alone.  The sewage wetlands contained lots of Egyptian geese, sacred ibis, stilts, plover and lots of shorebirds.  Various mammals were rooting around or grazing in the wetland. 

Road Construction With Water Truck
 (This photo is for Pat Doty)

On Saturday we went to Molepolole, the third largest town in Botswana (large being a relative term here), to see the nearby giant aloe forests.  We left at dawn to avoid the traffic as we are still getting used to the hazards of driving here.  The first part of the trip passes endless construction projects and strip malls newly finished and still under construction.  This part of Gaborone looks a lot like the outskirts of Phoenix or Vegas, but lacking logical construction regulations. In one lengthy stretch of highway a median is being installed and solid brick walkways are being laid on each outside edge of the median.  You would not believe the endless string of broken wasted bricks that border this project in work.  Relatively shortly, the City is left behind and it is rural between Gaborone and Molepolole with pleasant views of thorn woodlands and the various cattleposts where people have arranged bundles of tall grasses, firewood,  freshly cut poles, and basins made from tires for sale by the road.

Donkey Cart near Mountain Aloe Forest

Traditional house in Molepolole

Children love to have their photographs taken!

The best known aloe forest is located just north of town adjacent to the highway people take to access Khutse Game Reserve and the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.  The highway divides the former forest and construction of homes and the network of cattle paths and fences has further degraded it.  We also found another forest on a gravel road southwest of town.  We walked around the aloe forests for some time.  The aloes are single stemmed and get very tall -- some more than 20 feet.  This time of year long flowering stems sprouting from the top are covered with young fruit and a few end-of-the-season flowers.  The legend has it that ~120 years ago a Boer force was going to attack Molepolole at night and they saw the forest of giant aloes and thought it was an army of very tall warriors with spiky headdresses so they fled.  One reason for visiting the aloe forest is that we are thinking of doing a simple research project there to characterize the populations.  There seems to be little known about the age structure or longevity of these plant communities in available literature.

The View From Mosopa

Molepolole Crafts

After exploring the forests, we drove back through Molepolole and spotted nice homemade cowbells for sale  and purchased three goat-sized bells.  We then went through some of that beautiful dry Botswana savanna landscape to a small town named Thamaga and stopped at Thamaga pottery where we purchased a few plates and mugs of this basic pottery.  We then headed down the road to a small town named Mosopa.  This town has picturesque rocky hills.  We walked up one that had a water tower on top and we rewarded by beautiful views of rural Botswana and a fig tree full of birds stuffing themselves on the sweet fruit.  On the trip home we hit the crazy traffic of Gaborone but made it safely here to share our adventures with you!  Next stops: Nata, Kasane, and Tule Block.  By the way: the strike is over!

Hope you are all well and enjoying the onset of fall as we enter spring!
Jon and Priscilla