Tracking the Wild Mountain Aloe

Jon measuring a tall mountain aloe

We've finally started work on a research project and it has been wonderful to just go out in the field and do something like the sort of thing for which we came here! Coming up with a research topic was more difficult than we expected. No one at the University has shown any interest in collaborating, and it is hard to know what has been done or is in progress because access to this kind of information has been next to impossible.  These problems are compounded by the difficulty in physically reaching some of the places in which we might conduct research, due either to poor roads or great distances.  Jon is also busy grading countless exams and essays and jumping through all the necessary hoops at the University.

So for the sake of practicalities, we chose a site that we could get to in just over an hour and for which we could find no previous work.  Our study site is on the outskirts of Molepolole, the third largest city in Botswana.  In scattered areas around the town there are stands of Aloe marlothii (mountain aloe), a magnificent tree aloe that grows up to 20 feet tall and produces wild-looking sprays of flowers and fruit.  Legend has it that in the dark of night about 120 years ago, an invading Boer force mistook a forest of Aloe for a group of wildly-outfitted warriors and fled.  Various guidebooks state that these forests are much degraded and that people are worried that they may be disappearing, but there is no scientific data to support these claims or any information available regarding the forests' population structure or the longevity of individual mountain aloe.

Melinda and Jon inventorying a mountain aloe plot

Aloe seedlings are really small and pretty hard to see

First we spent some time exploring the outskirts of Molepolole and we found a nice stretch of mountain aloe not too far from the road and not behind fences or other barriers to access.  We decided to take a look at the population structure of this stand. We set up random 10 meter by 10 meter plots in which we measure the height of all the aloes, the numbers of leaves, flowers and fruit capsules.  We also measure the distance to each aloe's nearest neighbor and record if there is a nurse plant and, if so, we identify the species of the nurse plant.  Many succulents, such as saguaro cacti, require a nurse plant that supplies shade when they are young.  We plan to undertake a few other investigations in this spot and examine at least two other nearby aloe sites.  We are wondering if young individuals are common or lacking,  how they are distributed, what characteristics are correlated with successful reproduction, and things of this nature.  Hopefully this will give us an indication of the current health and potential longevity of the population.  We are working on this with another Fulbright Scholar, Melinda Laituri, who is visiting Gaborone from Colorado State University.

Looking up at the aloe canopy

On a typical day, we leave for Molepolole by 6AM in the blissful morning coolness when the traffic craziness has not begun.  By 7:30 AM the traffic has become perilous and the temperatures are beginning to soar!  While we are working, picturesque carts pulled by four or five donkeys roll by with the driver shouting various instructions to urge the donkeys on and people occasionally walk by on their way to cattle posts.  Signs of woodcutting is evident and some aloes appear to have been dug up for landscaping use.

Sometimes seedlings are very numerous

The middle aged seedlings look like they
 could play a role in "The Little Shop of Horrors"

One thing that is illustrative of the culture here is that even in a sizable City like Molepolole, there is no sit-down restaurant that we have found (unless you call KFC a restaurant) and there is no public bathroom.  Eating out is just not part of this culture, although there are various "take-away's", where people choose a meal from a cafeteria-style serving line, which they take away with them in styrofoam containers. Fourty-four years ago at independence, there were no restaurants in the entire country except for a few places for safari hunter types.  So by the end of the day we are hoping that one of the gas stations will have a functional bathroom where we can wash up and buy a cool drink of some sort.  Driving back home can be hair-raising experience because some people pass long lines of cars and we have to be ready to pull off the road at any time in order to avoid a head-on collision!

If you have thoughts or questions about our project, we'd love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below!

Our Recent Trip North: Nata, Kasane, and the Limpopo River

It was the first lengthy break for the University of Botswana, and we finally had the car running, insured and had gotten some practice driving time, so we decided to make a lengthy camping trip on our own to areas to the north of us in order to see how accessible things are and better plan future trips as well as to provide advice to our friends who are thinking of visiting. We were eager to visit Chobe National Park, and even though we are still lacking a 4WD vehicle, we thought we would find out what we could experience just getting there in our little car and camping, rather than booking an expensive safari tour.  We decided to try to camp in Kasane, a small town located on the edge of Chobe National Park and adjacent to Botswana’s border with both Zambia and Zimbabwe.  In looking at the map, we figured that Nata would be a good point to stop and spend the night to break up the trip.  We had also previously signed up to participate in Birdlife Botswana’s annual camping trip, which was to take place Sept 30-October 3^nd on a private farm in the Tule Block region.

We left early Sunday morning and managed to beat the traffic out of Gaborone.  We took the A-1 Highway, which is a major road leading from Botswana’s southeastern border with South Africa up to Francistown and then into Zimbabwe. From Francistown, you can catch the A-3, which will take you to Maun, but at Nata, you can catch the A-33 up to Kasane.  Except for a few miles near Gaborone, the A-I is a single lane of travel in each direction with few pull outs and no passing lanes.  The A-7 is much the same as the A-1, but the A-33  is under reconstruction for much of it’s course and traffic is currently using a narrow temporary strip of thin and pitted pavement that runs parallel to the construction corridor. All of these roads have numerous police checkpoints and veterinary checkpoints where you may or may not have to demonstrate that your brake lights and turn signals are working, or dip your shoes or drive your car through a vat to sterilize them against hoof and mouth disease.  On the way back from Kasane one guy made Priscilla take off the shoes she had been wearing the whole trip and pull an unworn brand new pair out of the suitcase and sterilize them instead!

The beginning of the trip went smoothly and we hit Francistown by 12:30, having gassed up further south in Mahalapye. Francistown is the second largest City in Botswana and has what looks like a real downtown, but on closer examination reveals many of the same chain stores that we see in Gaborone. We made one slight navigation error but quickly found our way out of town and on the correct road to Nata, and arrived at the Nata Bird Sanctuary by 2PM.

The small village of Nata lies about 18 km west of the Nata Bird Sanctuary, which is situated on the northeastern portion of Sowa Pan.  The Sanctuary is the result of a community based project established in the 1990s by four nearby villages.  The Sanctuary has an inexpensive campground but it is close to the road and the employees we met seemed spectacularly unmotivated so we decided to check out the campground at the nearby Nata Lodge.

  The Nata Lodge is very pretty with clever landscaping and thatched-roof bars and chalets and a pool next to a birdbath and feeding station.  The campground is a tad more funky, but the ablution blocks (toilet and shower facilities) are works of art with wonderful showers and spacious dish washing facilities. Campers are permitted to use all of the lodge facilities.   After we had set up our campsite, we took a sunset safari tour out to the pans with about 15 Dutch and two cheerful but kinda bored safari guides (they do the same safari every day).  After about 8 hours of driving, being a passenger in an open vehicle caressed by soft winds and tooling though endless open grasslands and patches of salt encrusted pan was a wonderful and sublime pleasure.  Impala, wildebeest and ostrich ambled about in the distance and we saw patches of Hoodia and native aloes.  We followed the course of the mostly dry Nata River, which during the rainy season empties into the pan.  The puddles of water were sparkling with salt crusts and contained lesser flamingo, black-winged stilts, pied avocets, Egyptian geese, plovers, and numerous other birds.  The flamingoes number in the millions during the rainy season but this time of year there were only a few.  We drove out to the edge of the pan which stretched to the horizon.  This is part of the world’s largest salt pan complex and the safari was only the briefest of introductions, but it enabled us to see that we could easily drive our car out the next day.  Upon return to the Lodge campground we were treated by a small group of bush babies leaping throughout our campsite as we were eating dinner. The next morning we enjoyed lots of songbirds in the campground during breakfast, then we were able to visit the Sanctuary on our own and take our time contemplating the vastness, watching more birds (including a kori bustard the world’s largest flying bird) and hanging out by some of the-salt encrusted water in the river bed.

The following morning we cruised though the village of Nata and beyond on the remaining 300 km to Kasane.  The road goes though endless scrub, dry forest and grassland with some impressive recent burns.  There were elephant bones, including a skull by the side of the road and at small pan Marbou storks picked at the insects crawling around the elephant poop.  Just before Kasane we pulled into Kubu Lodge (Kubu = hippo in Setswana), another beautiful Lodge sloping down to the Chobe River with a campground that is a tad more funky.  After setting up our tent, we drove into the village of Kasane, which is a sort of relict frontier-town that now mostly caters to the upscale safari trade.  We went to that rarest of rarities in Botswana – an actual café!

  At 2:45 we were back in the parking lot of Kubu lodge waiting for some French folks to show up so we could leave for our Chobe River safari.  The lodge took us to the marina and eight of us boarded the 14-passenger boat with the wonderful Moses as our guide.  We set out on this most beautiful of rivers passing locals fishing for Chobe bream, kids jumping off of a dock (for real!!), and upscale $1000/night lodges with thatched-roof bars overlooking the river.  Then the amazing began to happen when we entered Chobe National Park.  First we saw some African darters, cormorants, storks (at least 3 species) and fish eagles standing on the marshy island banks or on dead trees; then some huge crocodiles lounging on the bank (do not trail your fingers in the water); and then impala, red lechwe  and Chobe bush buck on the banks.  Elephants appeared and soon were all over the place and swimming across the river.  The adults can walk across and the babies swim.  Groups were crossing this way and that.  Hippos gamboled in the water and we all watched for their stumpy toothed open mouth displays.  Herds of Cape buffalo (the most water dependent of the major mammals) clustered on the banks of a large green grassy island in the middle of the river.  Being on a boat we were ridiculously close and the animals did not seem at all interested in our presence.  So many birds were everywhere but the elephants were distracting and we felt as if our eyeballs were overloaded!   This is the height of the dry season so animals are densely clustered by the River.  The landscape away from the river is parched.  Of course we had a sunset with the silhouettes of bull elephants.  Moses was a genius at positioning the boat here and there.  We could have stayed out there forever but the cruise was a full three hours for a mere $40 including refreshments and all things must end eventually.  Back at the lodge we sat on the deck at the bar in the soft African evening.  The lodge has a buffet with the usual gargantuan quantities of meat and a little salad but we asked if they had fish so they whipped some fresh Chobe River bream just for us.  We left the restaurant but stopped in at the lobby to ask a question and it turned out we were the only people in the campground (although it was supposedly full), so in order to  avoid patrolling it, they put us into one of their chalets -- a luxury evening!  In the morning we took the guided nature loop that began at the lodge, wove through the campground, then followed the Chobe River back to the lodge.  Down near the river the path became very overgrown and the labels for the trees seemed to be mostly missing. Then we noticed the print of giant tail drag in the sand by a mound!  Just as we decided we had better head upslope, a giant crocodile surfaced at the edge of the water....so yes, we headed back to the lodge. There at the other end of the trail was a sign indicating that the nature trail was closed (presumably due to a crocodile nest on the path)!?

Unfortunately, we had to leave early the next day in order to make our way back to Mahalapye, where we were to meet the Birdlife Botswana other campers before travelling to the camping location.  We headed back to Nata and along the way we spotted elephants grazing in the grasslands, a herd of zebras, and a giraffe that we paced for at least 20 minutes as it walked along the road.  The giraffe seemed very confused by the construction and seemed to want to cross the road but eventually gave up and ambled away.  After spending another wonderful night at the Nata Lodge Campground, we were up at 5 AM to be sure we could meet the Birdlife Botswana group by 12:30. We were worried that there would be traffic in Francistown, as we were told there often is, but it turned out that it was a holiday-Botswana’s 44^th Independence Anniversary.

Traffic through Francistown was light and smooth but by the time we hit Palapye and Mahalapye, we converged with hordes of people who had left Gaborone earlier to return to their home villages for the holiday weekend. Traffic was absolute madness in both of those towns.  We managed to gas up in Palapye after going to THREE gas stations overrun with customers, and then visited another gas station in Mahalapye for the bathrooms after parking on the A-1 because there was no possible way to pull into the gas station at that time.  We went to a designated meeting spot but had to wait quite a while as the other campers hit the same mayhem at the gas station that we had observed. When we finally met up with the others, we caravanned out to an entrance to a private farm about 75 km west of Mahalapye where we had been given permission to camp.

Knowing that rural roads in Botswana were not usually drivable for those without 4WD, we had asked repeatedly prior to the trip if the roads were appropriate for a saloon car (which just means sedan) and were assured repeatedly that we would have no problem.  We asked again at the gate to the farm and were told again that we would be fine.  Well, shortly thereafter it became abundantly clear that this was not the case, and we were very quickly stuck in deep sand.  The remainder of the trip to the campsite was a hair-raising multi-hour affair of pushing aside sand drifts with the underside of our car, running over waist-high and thorn-filled acacias to avoid such drifts, banging through several rocky areas, and often being towed to get us through the deeply rutted sand tracks.  At one point the group had to stop and turn around because we had taken an incorrect track.  We ourselves would have gladly turned around and gone home or back to Kasane instead, but at this point we couldn’t because we were surrounded on both sides by eager campers, all of whom were in high clearance 4WD vehicles, and we were behind a locked gate in a maze of dirt roads with no map to or from our destination. When we finally arrived at the campsite, we had little choice but to accept a barren site with little shade that was surrounded on all sides by other campers.  The campsite was adjacent to the banks of the deeply-entrenched Limpopo River, which separates Botswana and South Africa, but it consists of just a flat area with no structures or infrastructure of any kind.

It is difficult to explain just how stressful this was for us. After many weeks of trying to get the car running (we had to replace the battery after numerous short-lived jump-starts by kind neighbors) and insured (two insurance companies and 10+ days of bureaucracy), and learning to drive in Botswana, and then to finally make it out of town on our own to beautiful Kasane and the Chobe River, only to leave Kasane after less than 24 hours and end up miles behind a locked gate in a blazing hot campsite on a severely overgrazed landscape with a leaking tire was almost too painful to contemplate.  The hovering worry about the trip back out of the maze of sandy roads and then to hope the tires would last the trip on the A-1 back to Gaborone added to the difficulty in enjoying the time there.

The routine was to meet at 7AM for a two to three hour-long bird walk along the river.  The trees lining the river banks were amazingly gigantic winterthorn trees (Acacia albida), relicts of the past before the land was exploited by cattle, and the birds were plentiful. The river was nearly still and we saw many crocodiles, along with fresh water crabs, water monitors, impala, bushbuck, wildebeest, and kudu. After the morning birdwalk, most folks went back to the campsite to socialize until a late afternoon drive to another location for cocktails.  Unfortunately, all of the areas we saw that were not adjacent to the River seemed pretty devoid of wildlife and it was too hot to hang out in our campsite so we usually stuck to the River.  The first night we went on the drive with our friends Pat and Karen, but we opted out on the second night.  Upon return from the drive each night, folks gathered around a communal campfire to share a grilled dinner. Being preferred vegetarians, we weren’t much interested in sharing the grill but we gathered at the campfire to socialize anyhow.

Perhaps the best thing about our four days on the Limpopo Farm was the chance to meet Gavin and Marjorie , who own and run “Gavin Blair Safaris” out of Victoria Falls. Luckily for us, they were taking a much needed break and joined the Birdlife Botswana camping weekend for fun and relaxation.  They are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate with the added gift of being talented at sharing their knowledge in a way that is accessible to people from all walks of life. They offer individually-tailored, upscale, once-in-a-lifetime safaris throughout B otswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.  If you are thinking of taking a safari of this kind in the future, we recommend that you look into their services at: http://www.gavinblairsafaris.com/index.html

From Gavin we learned that our suspicions about the land being severely overgrazed (not just the end of the dry season) were correct. He told us that private farmlands had fenced cattle out of the river corridors about five years ago due to concerns over foot and mouth disease, but the arid landscapes take many years to recover and the end result is that wild game are trapped in a narrow corridor along the river and continue a cycle of overgrazing.  On the way out we were towed pretty much the whole way! Our fellow birders were quite helpful in getting us out of there and several even called to make sure we made it back to Gaborone.  The A-1 on the way back to Gaborone was quite an experience.  People impatiently pass many cars at a time, at speeds in excess of 140 km/hour, no matter what the oncoming traffic.  It was incredible to be passed by ten cars as the oncoming traffic pulls off the road.  Especially when many of these were pick-ups with the back full of people!  Woah!

Now we are back and Jon is busy grading Biology essays and Biostatistics exams.  Jon is happy to finally have a UB ID card which means he can have access to the library.  Priscilla is catching up on the shopping and laundry and we will have to get our slow leaking tire repaired one day this week.   Next weekend we plan on continuing to work on our aloe project near Molepolole. So thanks for perservering through this long-winded tale. We hope this will give some of you an idea of the type of adventures you might expect if you visit.  We miss you all and think of you often so take care until we meet again!

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

In The Spirit of Effective Communication

Hey!

This is just a quick note to let you know that, although I seem to be receiving email from most of you, some of you are not receiving the responses I have sent to you.  One person in particular has sent me several emails telling me that I have not responded in weeks, even though I have answered every email received. On my end, the emails look as if they were sent and I received no error messages, so I can only conclude that my emails are being filtered out by spam filters on the other end.  I know that other people HAVE received my emails.

If you are a follower of this blog, you can always leave a comment below the post.  Please know that I DO seem to be receiving emails, and I appreciate them, even though you have not been able to receive my response.  And also please know that despite the many hurdles we have faced in recent weeks, we are actually doing pretty well, all things considered!

Hope this post finds you well. You are missed!

Priscilla

Navigating the University of Botswana Labyrinth

The University of Botswana was the first institution of higher education established in Botswana in 1982.  There are now campuses in Gaborone (the main one - where we are),  Francistown, and  Maun, with approximately 15,000 students enrolled.  The majority of the students live on campus in dorms.

When investigating opportunities for Fulbright Scholarships, the University of Botswana was requesting scholars from all disciplines. I decided to apply because Botswana seemed like an interesting place to go with fantastic natural environments and I received an interested response to an inquiring email that I sent to the chair of the Biology Dept. as he was excited about getting me there to teach a course.  This email reply is one of the main reasons we are here instead of elsewhere in Africa where my emails went unanswered.  Upon determining that applying to UB was feasible, I then had to develop a research proposal.  This is the case for many Fulbright Scholars, although some have pre-existing research projects and relationships.  I developed an idea of  investigating plant succession on islands in the Okovango Delta after floods have disturbed the vegetation; i.e. "How does the vegetation recover after scouring floods?"  I would base this research at HOORC field station.  I couldn't get much of a response to this research ideat from anyone at UB or HOORC, but I quickly learned that just getting a reply from anyone about anything is a feat.

Upon my arrival at the University I was confronted by a maze of brick and mortar pillars, archways, walkways, and buildings scattered around, and very deep network of concrete drainage ditches meandering throughout in unsuspecting places.  At least five new huge buildings are currently under construction, and giant cranes dominate the east end of campus.  A very strange looking university.  The biology building is enclosed in iron bars and has large open courtyards within containing  fetid little pools and some plantings and various stairs and walkways much like one of Escher's drawings.  People walk around in white lab coats.  It took some searching to locate the Chair of the Department's office and then ensued several days of confusion.

The chair  informed me of the days of the week and times that the class that I was going to teach (Biostatistics) was scheduled, but no one seemed to know where the class met. No one knew if  anybody covered the class during my absence  (I arrived a week after classes had begun), if there was a textbook assigned, and things of this nature.  Luckily, a Fulbright Scholar who taught in the Dept. last year had mailed me a key, because they weren't sure what office to put me in because of the missing key.  I wandered around the building for a few hours and figured out how to get some office supplies and how to fill out various required forms for the supplies. Late in the day, I was provided with an ancient but working computer and two non-working printers.  I was fixed up with email after a few days, but after about 9AM surfing the web becomes impossible due to the EXTREME slowness of the connection.   I eventually found out that I was told the wrong days and times for the class but was able to resolve this, and then later found out about a 3-hour lab that had also been overlooked.

The first day of class I looked at 50 happy well adjusted students.  Almost all are 3rd year Biology majors from Botswana with a smattering from other African countries (Zimbabwe) and one French guy here on an International Exchange Program.  Just like in the US, the front rows are dominated by girls and the back rows are dominated by boys.  I thought I would mix Powerpoint slideshows with lecture as Powerpoint can be quite useful for showing graphs and examples, but the complexities and pitfalls of using Powerpoint are a long story and quickly dissuaded me from this.  Avoid dependence on technology at any cost!  There are only white boards and instructors must have their own whiteboard pens.

This is a new class for me (never taught it before) and it takes me at least twice as long to set things up as a similar endeavor would in the US.  You have heard about the photocopying escapades -- that sort of thing is what makes things take soooo long.

The class meets on Mon. and Wed. at 8am.  On Tuesday is the lab portion -- I prepare lab exercises for these sessions and the students practice the problems.  After a few weeks my demonstrator (similar to an undergrad TA) surfaced.  I had been looking for her for awhile.  She grades the lab exercises and took over the photocopying just as long as I provide her with the material a week ahead of time so that she could print and photocopy -- a long process!  This saves me massive amounts of time.  In the Dept. there are hordes of  technicians in white lab coats who set up labs and do all sorts of things -- I am not sure what, but there are a lot of them.  They are all quite nice. The Dept. is desperate for instructors and wanted Priscilla to teach human anatomy and me to teach other courses as well but we said no!

After I had been at UB for 2 weeks or so, I received an email from last year's Fulbright who said I was supposed to be teaching another class.  Hmmm...  So I tried to track the info and eventually determined that I had been assigned a section of the beginning biology tutorial that no one had mentioned.  These are small sections because the beginning biology class has 500 students.  But where, and when, and teach what?  Well, I have finally figured out where and when, and I just wing it and we discuss the sorts of things that are covered in every beginning biology class.  So I missed a few lectures and we have met on the lawn due to the lack of a classroom but the class is composed of 30 very earnest pre-meds from all over Africa. 

Meanwhile Priscilla and I have been navigating the bureaucratic channels of the University to get an id card, residency and what not.  This is a LOT of time in offices, but people are mostly quite friendly and mellow (let's not rush on anything unless we must get to some government office NOW!) -- all of these processes are still ongoing and are nearly impossible to describe in any coherent manner.   

We have also been navigating the University's maintenance channels to get the endless problems at our flat fixed.  This is also still ongoing. Perhaps on Wednesday we will get a new hot water tank! And by the way: why in the world would you put an electric hot water heater in an upstairs closet in a climate like this?  And then position the overflow valve so that boiling hot water lands on the front door mat?

I soon found that my research plan for the Okovango was not practical.  It would take at least a year to have a slot at HOORC and the appropriate research permits, etc.  I have spoken with the faculty who engage in ecology an botanical pursuits about collaborations -- something may come of this but I think pursuing independent project may be better.  There is much talk about research but I haven't actually seen much evidence of it.  Identifying field sites is difficult due to transportation and permission issues. Tomorrow we'll be going to scout out a potential project in a mountain aloe population just outside the town of Molepolole.

Recently, the former head of International Programs, John Holms, gave a talk about a recent article of his in the Chronicle concerning the lack of research at African Universities.  He posited that this was due to the extensive familial ties that "bind" an African and make it difficult for them to commit to research projects.  He discussed the family ties in terms of the "cattle post".  Most middle-aged Batswana are of rural origin and have a piece of land with cattle where they love to spend as much time as possible with their relatives.  The number of cattle a man has is extremely important.  We are hoping to get invited to one of these cattle posts.  John's presentation created quite a ruckus on campus.  I think he may have underestimated the impact of the remarkable amount of time that is drained away by the filling out of forms, four-hour faculty meetings, and other bureaucratic necessities.  
See the link below for a recent article about the aftermath of his presentation.

http://www.sundaystandard.info/article.php?NewsID=8769&GroupID=4

For the last week UB has been on strike.  Mostly for me this meant an information vacuum -- not knowing if classes were going to meet or not.  The Biology building has been quiet except for students wandering around trying to determine of their next exam will be canceled or not.  I don't want to get into the issues here.

So that's it.  It has been a unique experience and the saving grace has been the wonderful people we have met whom have exhibited remarkable amounts of patience and kindness.   If you want to see some good smiles just say "Dumela!"

Advice For Potential Visitors

Titus B&B: The Living Room

Titus B&B: Master Bedroom

Titus B&B: Guest Bedroom #1

If you know us very well or you have visited us before in any of the many places we have lived, you'll know that we like to treat our guests as well as were are able. We figure, if our friends have gone to the trouble and expense to get to our location, we want to pick up much of the tab from that point on, and to make sure they are happy, well-fed, and entertained so that they are glad they made the trip. 

Botswana poses new challenges for us in that regard.

Titus B&B: The Kitchen

The trip to get here is expensive and long. The City of Gaborone, though certainly interesting, is probably no place you would want to go as a destination in and of itself. There are almost no restaurants outside of the pricey chains found in malls and ex-pat hangouts. Grocery stores are fairly limited, especially if you have any dietary restrictions. Our apartment is modest and although we have two window air conditioners, we don't know how effectively we will be able to cool the place in summer, given that our hot water heater is still not working after 6 weeks of trying to get it repaired. We have a small washer, but it doesn't spin, so the clothes come out sopping wet and must be line dried. We are short on supplies like guest sheets and towels though we have just enough to get by. Our car is a 12 year old Toyota Corolla with very little clearance and not appropriate for rough unpaved roads such as those found in the remote parks. If you can live with these kinds of limitations, we would love to see you here and will do our best to make you comfortable! Below is a little info to help you evaluate what you could expect to see and experience in and near Botswana.

THE BIG FIVE & SAFARIS

Lots of people who come to Africa are intent on seeing all of the "Big Five", a term originally used by game hunters to refer to the five most difficult animals to hunt on foot-lion, cape buffalo, elephant, black rhino, and leopard. If you are intent on seeing all of the big five, you will need to book a guided "safari" with an outfitter that supplies 4WD transportation, luxury bushcamp facilities, and logistical support (and often cocktails at the waterhole). Most of these are very, very expensive (500 USD per person per night and up) and often they are booked many months in advance. The good news is that high season is almost over, so advance booking may not be an issue when you come.

The closest of the big game reserves that offer safaris is located just over the border in South

Africa at Madikwe Game Reserve:

http://www.madikwe-game-reserve.co.za/

A budget alternative at Madikwe might be to make a day visit, but day visitors are allowed in the Reserve only if they book through a lodge prior to the arrival date. According to the website, a two and half hour guided game drive, which includes lunch, will be arranged for day visitors at a reasonable fee. Different lodges charge different fees. We have not yet had a chance to look into this.

What many consider to be the jewel of Botswana is the Okavango Delta. It is renowned for it's unspoiled terrain and abundance of wildlife. We really hope to go there at some point, but are still trying to find an affordable option.

http://www.okavango-delta.net/

Another popular destination for safaris is Chobe National Park, which is near the border with Zimbabwe, and thus tourists often add a side trip to Victoria Falls. Google it to learn more!

Also check out:

http://www.botswana-travel-guide.com/bradt_guide.asp?bradt=931

You could rent a 4WD (some of which have pop-up tents on the roof) when you get here and plan your own trip, but bear in mind that the roads vary and there are entrance fees for all of the parks, some of which are significantly more expensive for foreigners.

There are lots of other places you could go; too many to describe here. Look at Google Map and explore not only Botswana but also Namibia and South Africa.

ALTERNATIVELY

Below are some places WE could take you, if you are comfortable with rustic

camping and are satisfied without seeing the "Big Five."

Mokolodi Wildlife Reserve-this would be a day trip as it is only about 15 miles

from Gaborone. Roads are rough but drivable in a sedan. Lots of wildlife,

especially birds, rhino, antelope, and warthogs, but none of the big predators (lions, etc), except for a few cheetah and hyenas in an enclosure:

http://www.mokolodi.com/

Mokolodi offers horseback safaris also for a very modest price.

Gaborone Game Reserve-right in town and drivable in a sedan. Abundant wildlife but none of the big predators. Plentiful zebra, ostrich, warthog, kudu, impala and steenbok.  Terrific birding and inexpensive! See:  http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/attractions/gaborone_game_reserve.html

Botsalano Game Reserve in South Africa-about a 4 hour drive from Gaborone

including the border crossing. Drivable in a sedan, and camping is allowed (You would need to bring your own camping supplies as we only have a 2-person backpacking tent).

http://www.tourismnorthwest.co.za/botsalano/

The National Botanical Gardens is just two blocks from our house and they are working to propogate native plants collected from nearby villages but are hampered by budgetary and staff limitations. Still, it is a nice place to walk and there are many birds and a colony of rock hyrax as well as the occasional monkey troop going through for added entertainment.

Downtown Gaborone consists of a pedestrian mall near the government offices with lovely gardens and a variety of handicrafts vendors. We can also take a bus to a number of nearby villages to see traditional architecture or just admire the countryside.

Another closeby destination is Otse Cape Vulture Reserve: http://www.birdlifebotswana.org.bw/cape_vulture_environmental_club.html

The Nata Bird Sanctuary is about 6 hours away:

http://www.birdlifebotswana.org.bw/nata_sanctury_trust.html

Next weekend we'll be making a trip by car to Nata (near the Sowa Pan), Kasane (near Chobe), and then to the Tuli Block (eastern Botswana by the Limpopo River) to a private farm with Birdlife Botswana. When we return, we'll let you know how that went, what we saw, and how affordable the trip would be for you.

So we imagine you are wondering about timing. It seem like many folks are thinking of coming over the holidays in late December-January. This should be fine as Jon will have a break from UB, but unfortunately, we can't give you specific dates for his schedule right now. The University has a lengthy process after classes have ended during which every professor's tests and grades are reviewed and approved by departmental committees before the grades can be recorded. We are not sure how long this will take. The other possible complication is making sure we are here for multiple houseguests (that, for example, we are not out on Safari with one houseguest when another arrives at the airport.) So if you are thinking of coming let us know the dates as soon as possible and we will pencil you in on the calendar so that we can plan with others accordingly.

We really do hope you will come. After you make your plans, we'll let you know about vaccinations and things you will need to bring if you like.

Send us your specific questions and concerns via email or comment and we will try to make this as easy for you as possible! 

Springtime in Gaborone

The view from Kgale Hill

Our Mochudi Guides

Southern masked weaver building a fresh nest

Southern rock agama on Kgale Hill, Gaborone

Springtime appears to have arrived in Gaborone. Like each and every day, it is a chance for renewal, but the current pace of changes here makes it harder to overlook. Leafless vines, shrubs, and trees are producing tiny new leaves and, in some cases, flowers are bursting from leafless and seemingly lifeless limbs.  The male southern hooded weavers, which were sort of non-descript streaky little brown birds when we arrived, are now bright yellow with black faces and throats and they are busily building fresh green hanging nurseries. Two of the shrubs in our backyard, which had tiny green clusters on them when we arrived, are now covered with ripening mulberries that attract bunches of red-eyed bulbuls and red-faced mousetails as well as the ubiquitous English sparrows, and yes, even a few monkeys just now as I type (no wonder the branches are sagging).

Our brisk nights appear to be a thing of the past, and leaving the windows open with our tattered screens means we've been awakened by occasional mosquitoes. There has been no rain since we have arrived and it is dusty, dusty, dusty everywhere. I guess this explains the popularity of the spontaneous carwashes that spring up overnight on about 1/3 of the empty lots around town. A car wash consists of some assortment of the following components: wooden or metal posts with shadecloth stretched above them, a generator, a large water tank such as those used for cattle posts, a shopvac or two, a lot of rags, brushes, buckets, and a bunch of guys drinking sodas or coke mixed with red wine while waiting for the next customer. Sometimes these places are jam-packed with customers since having a nice-looking car is a high priority for some people here. We haven't visited one yet because we still don't have our car up and running due to a dead battery as a result of the car sitting for several months, but a kind neighbor is helping us charge up the battery tonight and we hope to practice driving tomorrow. Many of the other empty lots around town are also the sites of impromtu "driving schools", which consist of a lot of orange cones and a small used car of some sort with a big L on the front. One of these driving schools is adjacent to the fence in our back yard.

Yesterday we were invited by a new friend to take a walk up Kgale Hill, a prominent rocky outcrop on the southwest edge of town. There we saw a pair of Verreaux's eagles, a bright turquoise and rust-colored rock agama, a bar-throated apalis, a southern black tit, and a troop of baboons. The hike was wonderful and to get to the peak you must cross a small saddle so you really feel you have left the City and the views are wonderful. Our friend took her dog Lessie along and it was nice to spend some time with a canine, but I worried over canine-baboon interactions. All ended well, however, and we topped off the hike with a trip to Game City, Gaborones biggest mall where we were able to get necessary supplies for our car and and a few camping items.

By the way: now the monkeys are using our shadecloth structure on the back patio as a trampoline for accessing some of the mulberries! Lets hope the shadecloth is strong!

In the small shopping center near our house, someone has just reopened a small restaurant and pub called "The Locust." It is a very pleasant place and a nice spot for us that we can walk to when we want to get out of the house. For about $3 you can get a heaping plate of chicken, stewed greens, corn mush, and coleslaw, though we haven't yet had a meal there. Next door is a bakery that sells white and wheat bread, creme-filled donuts, and "fat cakes", which are round balls of fried dough.

Last week we went and collected seeds for a research project that one of Jon's students will be conducting. To get to the seed collecting site, which is just beyond the northern limits of the City, we took one of the legendary combis. Luckily for us, a scientist at the University volunteered to go with us and helped us figure out how to catch and pay for a combi, and a bit about the various routes around town. The next day we caught a combi on our own to the bus station, and caught a bus to Mochudi, a village about 40 km north of Gaborone. There we hiked up to a hilltop museum and took a walk along a creek with two village boys as rambunctious guides. On Sunday we participated in the monthly birdwalk organized by Botswana Birdlife, a local club. We went to some spectacular rock outcrops near the Village of Madepane, not too far north of Gaborone. Perhaps our most spectacular bird sighting that day was a pair of swallow-tailed bee-eaters. Afterwards, everyone had lunch together at the site and discussed their experiences.

So, in short, life is busy and full of both stumbling blocks and pleasant surprises. We continue to adjust and grow more comfortable in our lives here, while we still miss our family, friends and DOGS back home. We wish we could write to each and every one of you individually, but with the logistical hurdles coupled with the slow internet service, it just isn't possible. But know we think of you each and every day, hope you are well, and cherish the letters, emails, and good wishes we receive from you.

Priscilla and Jon