May 3, 2010

Yesterday was my first full day at camp and although it was a Sunday we worked. The farm we live on is huge and we just basically rent a plot on the land. A bit up the road on our farm there’s a campsite where some local kids go when they have weeks off of school. This weekend we were hosting a group of about 35 orphans for an environmental education weekend where we focused on cheetahs and other predators, and helped them learn about the predators and despite the human-predator conflict, the reasons they are important to the ecology as a whole. It was cool because I hadn’t even been trained on all of it yet so I learned quite a bit myself. Like, for instance, you can tell leopards and cheetahs apart by their spots. The cheetah’s spots are solid black and the leopard has brown in the middle. Who knew?

When I heard we were doing this I groaned. I didn’t sign up to work with orphans here. I turned out having a great time. The kids were funny and sweet and really showed interest in learning. When I got there they were in a large circle singing and one by one they were getting in the middle and dancing. It was so freaking cute. They were 11-17 year olds and some of them were sick dancers, others just hysterical performers. From there we went on the ropes course where I supervised them helping each other complete the course. They were as crazy as any kids but what I did notice is if you tell them to do something directly, they do it. They are totally respectful of older people. After they all went they convinced me to and about 8 of them stayed by my sides supporting me from every angle. It was so sweet.

The funniest part was when we introduced the kids to a great livestock guard dog, the Anatolian Shepherd. He’s also our camp dog, Murphy. Murphy is only 7 months old and the size of a small horse. He’s a total sweetheart but you know he’s still a puppy because he’s playful and pretty dumb. A small horse trying to paw at you is cute but can knock you down. Anyways, when we brought Murphy out of the car and towards the classroom, which was outdoor and surrounded by a 2 ½ foot wall, he spotted the random goat that had been hanging out right outside the walls. He bolted for it and his leash broke, and after he chased the goat around the back they both came barreling through the classroom – over the walls, on top of the tables, jumping over the other wall. First the awkward jumping goat and then the uncoordinated small horse – all between the screaming kids. We caught Murph and the goat got away and I sat there… totally inappropriately laughing my ass off with my head in my hands very unsuccessfully hiding my laughter.

At sundown last night the group of girls here at the camp drove to a nearby waterhole to have a sundown cocktail and watch the sunset while Murphy, our camp dog, chased birds and bolted in circles around and in the water. The sunsets are gorgeous. You can see so far and the colors are breathtaking.
There are a total of 6 of us at the camp. 4 permanent staff members, 2 from UK, one from Australia who used to work at Brisbane zoo and 1 Motswana guy (people from Botswana are called Motswana). The volunteers are myself and an Italian woman who’s a photographer. It’s a really interesting multi-cultural mix. It’s funny to compare what we call things and what the values are in our respective countries, and to also have a local to help us understand the language and culture here. I’m never sure what will be considered offensive so I love that I have him here to ask. He’s like our big brother and a sweetheart.

Today we woke up and did some immersion training, learning a lot about the region we’re in, the predators here, the poisonous snakes and how to deal with them and the camp rules in general. We are about 30km (20miles) west of Ghanzi in the Kalahari desert. This area is the largest farming area of Botswana so the main source of income here is farming and livestock. Today we visited a farm where a cheetah killed 2 of their goats this week. It was way the eff out on a dirt road and they are working towards having a completely sustainable farm where they raise chickens to feed their dogs who guard their sheep who produce their milk, etc etc. Having always lived in cities I’ve heard so much about sustainable farming but never saw it first-hand. This farm does a great job in protecting their farm properly from predators but the warthogs have been digging holes to get under their fence, which has provided perfect opportunities for cheetahs and other predators to get at their live stock. My colleagues assessed the farm and made a few suggestions on how to better protect the farm – including filling those holes in daily – and also educated them about cheetahs as predators. They can’t climb fences, so as long as they are properly fenced in a cheetah can’t get in. They also suggest lining the surrounding areas with Acacia, which is a tree with thorns that look like toothpicks. From there we went to the nearest neighbor farm and talked to them to find out if this is a bigger problem in the area or if it’s an isolated incident. The neighbors haven’t had any problems, which is good.  When there is a ‘problem cat’ – that strikes many times in the same area – they will attempt to trap it and release it in an area where there aren’t as many people and farms. This is really a last-resource option because when you remove a cheetah from its territory another one will move in and take over that territory within weeks, so you still have the same problem. So the organization focuses more on helping the farmers protect their farms better.

On our farm we are also housing 2 rescued cheetahs who are about 1 ½ yrs old. They were chased for a long distance by a car until they became too weak to do anything. Their mom ‘disappeared.’ The org took them in (as they couldn’t have cared for themselves at that age) and have kept them in a pen until they are fully grown. They are very careful in not exposing them to people except during feeding and also keeping their environment as close to natural as possible. We went down to feed them this evening – you should see how they hissed at us and attacked the poor donkey meat they were fed. This is an exciting month to be here because we will be driving them 11 hours north to a larger pen where they will be introduced to wild impala so they can learn to properly hunt before being set back into the wild.

This afternoon while the sun was still up I decided to wander the farm and see what surrounds us. About 15 minutes into it I came across a huge Corn Cricket that frightened the hell out of me. I knelt down and checked him out as he stood on his hind legs effectively making me leave him alone. At this point I was a little jumpy but I continued on through the thick grass enjoying the hot sun. I had my ipod on and was singing “Love is My Religion” by Ziggy Marley and smiling at how fortunate I was feeling. Until a large animal charged into the back of my left calf. As soon as I felt the fur I screamed and did a little ditty of a dance quickly stepping back and forth. When I finally looked back, it was Murphy.  Damn dog.