While impossible to put into words everything that we saw and experienced with Earthwatch, we couldn’t end without acknowledging a few additional favorite memories and tributes:
Pilansberg National Park
One of the unexpected perks of the Earthwatch project was the opportunity for multiple game drives in Pilansburg National Park. While stalking rhinos for the vigilance behavior studies, we encountered all sorts of other safari animals, including our best sightings of lions, a couple brief glimpses of the elusive brown hyena, a Secretary bird, and many more.
The terrain at Pilansberg is quite dramatic, and offered an interesting contrast to what we saw in Ngala/Kruger. The park is situated in the crater of an ancient volcano, with dramatic red rock formations and the classic wide planes and massive watering holes that are typically associated with African safaris. We spent a charmed hour camped out at a blind situated at the edge of a watering hole, watching elephants spray water, warthogs wallow in mud, crocodiles lurk along the edge, impalas and zebra drink, and dozens of birds play along the shores.
Mankwe Reserve
Mankwe is rich in wildlife and beauty beyond rhinos, and we had ample occasion to explore this beautiful place as volunteers with Earthwatch. Dougal (Chief Warden) took us out in the bush to provide instruction on how to approach a rhino on foot (!), and Charles (Reserve Manager) took us on a guided walk with hands-on lessons in tracking. Every morning, we watched the Southern masked weaver birds busily construct their nests; when the heavy spring rains started mid-way through our project, we delighted in watching dung beetles get busy; we learned to identify and name 12 different species of antelope that live on the Mankwe reserve; we enjoyed vivid orange, gold and crimson sunsets.
Thank you to the Mankwe Team
Our Earthwatch experience at Mankwe was a highlight of our travels. Our gratitude to the team at Mankwe is deep and manifold; we thank them for welcoming us, for sharing their story, for creating an opportunity that allowed us to participate in citizen science, for opening our eyes to the complexities of wildlife conservation and the particular challenges in South Africa. We have so many great memories of our time at Mankwe…
…Appreciating a well-earned beer in the evenings under the bush boma after a long, hot day in the field…
… Enjoying the camaraderie of our fellow Earthwatch volunteers – all multi-project Earthwatch veterans, which we now aspire to become…
… Experiencing a real South African braai (similar to an American barbeque), sampling various delicious bushmeats and other traditional accompaniments prepared by the staff at Mankwe…
… Learning a new card game from our two PIs, Niall and Sam, which led to some competitive tournaments…
… Joining in the banter and witty commentary with the Nkombi volunteers while cooped up in cars searching for rhinos, enjoying their particular sarcastic British humor…
…Being entertained by Lynne and Dougal’s many stories of the African bush and wildlife, such as: “rescuing” factory workers from black mambas, spitting and snouted cobras, and monitor lizards; fostering baby warthogs and taking them to bed to keep them warm; bringing a glaucoma-stricken ostrich to the human optometrist; African Grey Parrots inadvertently tattling on pet terriers’ bad behavior (“Mickey, get down! Naughty!”) – sidesplitting, tear-streaming laughter was not uncommon…
We departed Mankwe with new friends, broadened perspectives and a profound respect for the people we met, their commitment and passion for African wildlife and conservation. We will never forget Mankwe.
Now reading… Lindsay: Today Will Be Different, by Maria Semple, and The Trespasser, by Tana French
Chad: Astoria – John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire, by Peter Stark
A Forever of Nows 