The Blog has been Moved!

I migrated the blog over to my website. 

http://www.grasstracksafaris.com/bush-blog/

I'm no longer posting on Blogger

Camping in the African Bush

I recently wrote a guest post for Evergreen Escapes International of Seattle about my thoughts on camping in the African bush.  You can link to it here.  I write about why a mobile camping safari is so appealing and what the experience is like.  If you're interested in a camping safaris please take a look!

Safari to Namibia

I'm just back from spending 2 weeks exploring Namibia.  This is an amazing country with beautiful landscapes, unique animals and plants, and a welcoming people.  Our group concentrated on Damaraland in remote northwestern Namibia, staying at some spectacular lodges along the way.  Following the group safari I rented a car and headed our alone to explore the coast and the Dune Sea around Sossusvlei.  The trip was full of adventure including tracking desert black rhinos, encountering a herd of desert elephants, watching 3 cheetahs consume a freshly killed kudu (while we were on foot!) and finding some of Namibia's endemic snakes and plants.

In the next few weeks I'll be writing more detailed posts about aspects of the trip, but until then here's a short video of some Himba dancing.  Check out my GrassTrack Safaris Facebook page for more photos.

Website has been updated!

Finally finished updating the website.  I added new photos I took during my last safari, rewrote lots of the content, and added some new safaris.   Hopefully it's easier to navigate than the old site.  Take a look and enjoy!

Click here for the link...

Browning Trail Camera and Nocturnal Visitors

Zweizwei Pans

Drifting off to sleep while camping in the African bush is a highlight of any safari (for me at least). The camp is quiet and the nocturnal animals are now active.  In the distance a lion roars and closer to camp a hyena howls.  An elephant snaps a tree branch.  A Scops owl calls.  Even though everyone is asleep, the camp is still an active place.

The downside of actually sleeping is missing the activity of the many nocturnal animals.  I was curious to discover what animals wandered into camp at night so on this recent safari I brought along a trail camera.  These are motion detecting cameras and will take a photo (or video) of the animal that triggers the sensor.  This seemed the perfect solution to see what animals were visiting our camp while I slept.

After a significant amount of research I bought the latest Browning Spec Ops XR.  This trail camera captures 10 MP still images and short (up to 2 min) videos.  It also has an infrared LED flash so it doesn’t emit a blinding flash that could scare or disturb the animal.  The daylight photos are in color and the nighttime photos in black and white.  The camera is small (5 x 4 x 2.5”), light weight, and take 8 AA batteries.  It also has various shooting modes like time lapse or rapid fire (will take 2-4 images only 0.3 sec apart).

However the feature that clinched the deal is the small playback screen.  I wasn’t planning on bringing my laptop on safari, so how could I review the images to determine if the camera was working, if I had set it up correctly (too high or too low on a tree) and delete images to save space? The 2” color LCD screen plays back images and videos and displays info like battery life and number of images/videos taken.  In the morning I could review all the images and delete those I didn’t want (quite a few of these).  The screen shows a live image of what the camera sees and can help in getting the correct position.  The problem I found is if you’re looking straight at the camera your face fills the display screen and you can’t see where the camera is pointing.  Looking at the screen from an angle seemed to solve this problem though the sunlight reflecting off the display screen made it difficult to determine the area the camera was seeing.

On our first night in the bush we were camped near Xakanaxa in the Moremi Game Reserve.  The site was beautiful, set among trees near a large waterhole.  A perfect place to try out the camera.  The first night I set it up near the camp kitchen in hopes of capturing a hyena sniffing around for food.  The next morning I had over 200 images!  But as I scrolled through them all were of the camp staff prepping breakfast.  First lesson learned.  I had set the camera to the Rapid fire mode so every time someone moved it recorded 4 images.

Primates captured in the kitchen

The next night I set the camera at the perimeter of camp facing down the access road.  It was fully dark so I grabbed my headlamp and told my clients (enjoying the campfire and their gin and tonics) to come look for me if I wasn’t back in 10 min.  I hardly walked 50’ when my light picked up a pair of eyes.  I quickly retreated back to the fire and sheepishly asked our guide to come with me.  Turns out it was only a small genet (a harmless, cat-like animal with a beautiful spotted coat and long tail).  We set up the camera but only had a few images the next morning.  A few were taken around 3am but with no visible animal.  Something must have walked by at the edge of the sensor’s range and triggered the camera.  Second lesson learned: bring multiple cameras.  That night we had a leopard wander through camp, a hippo grazing near our tents, and an elephant feeding nearby but the camera missed all of it.

We spent the next few nights at the Kwai River Community Campsite, on the border of Moremi.  The Kwai area has abundant wildlife but it’s a public campsite.  Other groups were camped near us so I wasn’t sure if many animals would wander into our camp.  I strapped the camera to a small tree about 20’ from my tent.  The next morning I had an image of hyena ears and a close-up of an elephant. Lesson Three: big animals will walk near your tent at night and you’ll never know it!

Hyena close-up, Kwai

From Kwai we drove to our next site: Zweizwei Pans in Chobe National Park.  This site was spectacular.  Very remote and set in a grassy area with large trees next to a waterhole with a resident hippo.  On the far side of the waterhole a herd of elephants came down to drink.  Classic Africa.  That night I set up the camera near the edge of the waterhole.  The tree I used was covered in hippo dung so I thought I would get some great shots of the hippo as it left the water to graze (hoping I wouldn't discover the camera covered in hippo dung the next morning).  Lots of wildlife here!  Yet the next morning there was nothing on the camera.

Chobe River Campsite

That morning a herd of Cape buffalo came to drink in the same spots the elephants used the evening before.  I set the camera on the opposite shore of the waterhole, along the path the buffalo and elephants used.  I was concerned the elephants would smell the camera and destroy it but 24 hours later I had some excellent images of the elephants coming to drink at night.

The final site was at the far western end of the Chobe River, a campsite overlooking the river.  During the day hundreds of zebra and other antelope grazed on the flood plains and in the evening migrated past the camp into the hills.  I positioned the camera facing where I hoped the animals would pass. No images were captured that night so I tried a different area.  On our last morning of the safari I did get a few images of elephants returning from the river.  The camera also recorded the coldest night of the trip, a chilly 34 F.

Though the I only have photos of elephants (and one hyena) my first attempt at using a trail camera was certainly worthwhile.  To get interesting photos takes some luck and some trial and error in determining where to place the camera.  In many campsites the availability of the right size tree determined where I could set up the camera.  If trees were too big (or too small) I couldn't secure the camera.  The Chobe River site, for example,  had no decent sized trees so I was limited to using an old stump.

A trail camera is relatively inexpensive and is a great addition to the standard camera gear.  It's interesting to look at the campsite from the perspective of an animal and try to figure out where to place the camera.  With any luck the camera will reveal some of the animals that have wandered through the camp while you slept.

On second thought, may it's better not to know a lion was walking around your tent at 3am...

Zweizwei Pans

Osher (Ilead) Trip Summary

Bull elephant, Moremi Game Reserve

A group of 6 intrepid Osher members recently returned from our mobile camping safari through the spectacular game parks of Botswana.  The Osher Institute of Lifelong Learning is located on the Dartmouth College campus in Hanover, NH.  Osher provides continuing education for residents of the Upper Valley area.  Our safari was the travel section of my Spring 2014 course: “An African Adventure: The Wildlife of Botswana”.  We spent 12 days exploring Moremi Game Reserve and Chobe National Park, finally ending in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

The focus of our safari was on wildlife and learning about the conservation issues surrounding Africa’s wildlife and people.  During our journey we experienced a seemingly endless variety of African wildlife and birds.  We were surrounded by a breeding herd of elephant as they came to the river to drink, we witnessed thousands of Cape buffalo and zebra grazing on the floodplains, and watched Spotted hyenas and vultures feeding on a baby elephant carcass.  Lions were sighted sleeping in the shade and we saw large numbers of giraffe, hippos, antelopes, and warthogs.  We were even fortunate enough to see leopards and rare African Wild Dogs.

Full days were spent exploring the bush, searching for game, and observing wildlife.  We slept under canvas in the remote bush in private, unfenced campsites.  During the night animals would wander freely through the camp, including leopard, hyena, and elephants.  One night we could hear a hippo grazing near our tents!  The camp staff prepared delicious meals including bread baked fresh over the campfire.

Resting lions, Savute, Chobe National Park

 In Maun, we visited the Bana Ba Letsatsi Children Center which offers a place of safety for orphans and vulnerable children. The Center provides support in the form of education, skills training, meals, and medical attention.  As part of his Cameras for Conservation initiative, our guide, Steve Stockhall, takes children from the Center on camping safaris in neighboring Moremi Game Reserve.  These children lack the resources to visit the game parks in their own backyard and by using donated cameras the kids can record their experience while learning about wildlife and conservation.

Our group also had lectures by wildlife researchers who are actively trying to conserve Botswana’s wildlife.  Dominik Bauer, project leader of the University of Oxford’s Botswana Lion Corridor Project, discussed his current research on the movement of lions between Botswana and neighboring Zimbabwe.  Using a combination of the ancient tracking skills of Bushmen and modern, high-tech radio collars, Dominic and his group can monitor the dispersal of lions between protected areas. 

Spotted hyena feeding on baby elephant carcass, Moremi Game Reserve

 Geoff Gilfillan and Jessica Vitale, PhD students with the Botswana Predator Conservation Trust, spoke to us about their work on the conservation of African Wild Dogs, among the rarest of African carnivores.   We learned about a project to create artificial territorial boundaries that will keep African Wild Dogs safely inside the borders of protected conservation areas.  Solar powered radio collars with advanced GPS are used to follow movements in and out of protected areas.

Our safari was a wonderful opportunity to observe and learn about Africa’s rich collection of wildlife as well as the challenging conservation issues facing Botswana.  Throughout our journey, we were immersed in the daily rhythms of the African bush and enjoyed a unique experience of this vast continent.

Back from Botswana

Apologies for the lack of postings in the past year....However I'm just back from an incredible camping safari in Botswana.  I led a group from the Osher Institute of Lifelong Learning at Dartmouth (formerly ILEAD, based at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH).  We spent 14 days exploring the game parks of northern Botswana and meeting with wildlife researchers to learn about their efforts to conserve Botswana's wildlife.

I'm in the process of remaking my website and will also be posting a short trip report.  Hopefully I can return to posting more regularly.  Until then, here's a photo of a visitor we had in camp.  I brought a trail camera on safari and set it up each night to see what came prowling around during the night.

Our colleague in Botswana, Steve Stockhall of Earth Ark Safaris, organizes a unique photo competition called "Cameras for Conservation".  Their goal is to promote conservation through photography, art, and filming and to showcase the work of the talented people in Botswana.

Take a look at the range of excellent images at their site:  http://www.camerasforconservation.com/

Elephant Poaching for the Ivory Trade

African wildlife is constantly under pressure from illegal poaching. Local residents engage in subsistence hunting acquiring game meat for themselves, large illegal poaching rings poach for the larger and lucrative illegal game meat market, but the most insidious poaching is that which supports the illegal ivory tread. When it comes to ivory trading their is no animal more negatively impacted by this illicit trade than the African elephant. Throughout history from the Egyptians up into the 19th century their have been expeditions in Africa to hunt elephants for their ivory. In the 1970s and 80s this illegal trade had so decimated elephant populations throughout Africa that it became imperative to act, or these magnificent beasts might be lost forever to extinction. A great resource on the history and ecology of the elephant in Africa is the book, "Elephant Destiny: Biology of an Endangered Species in Africa, " by Martin Meredith. I urge any of you with a keen interested in elephants to read this book (Elephant Destiny).

In 1989, "The Elephant Conservation Act of 1989" created the legal foundation for protecting elephants throughout Africa. Using this law, African governments assisted with funding from western governments and environmental organizations, embarked upon an intense campaign establishing Wildlife Agencies in individual countries to combat illegal poaching and arrest ivory traders. This systematic effort reduced poaching for the illegal ivory trade throughout Africa and the elephant was brought back form the brink. Grasstrack Safaris expedition's travel through areas with some of the largest remaining populations of elephants in Africa (Visit our website and view our trips today). Today, however, these large populations are once again threatened by poaching pressures brought on by a resurgence in the illegal ivory trade. this in turn has stimulated new and creative responses from African conservation organizations. At the following link read about what Kenya is doing to combat this renewed threat form the illegal ivory trade (Kenya launches an effort to stem the tide of recent elephant poaching).

Don't forget to visit GrassTrack Safaris and book your trip to Africa before these magnificent creatures are lost to us forever

Similarity in the Grasslands of Botswana and Colorado

The grasslands of Botswana in south-central Africa and of Colorado in the central United States exist on opposite sides of the globe, yet they are eerily similar in appearance and function; a testament to the forces of evolution. When faced with similar environmental conditions like soil type and levels of precipitation, and similar ecology like the patterns of how and when precipitation falls, natural selection opts for plants and animals that tend towards similarity in their behaviors and sometimes even appearance. Can you tell which of the following images is from Botswana and which from Colorado?

The first photo is of the African savanna and the second is of the Colorado steppe. The grasses and plant associations are very similar. And below are close up images of fruiting grasses, with the African savanna on the left and Colorado steppe on the right.

The prairies of central North America are classified as temperate grassland, while those of Africa are tropical savanna. What makes grassland temperate? First, rain falls in spring and early summer, and is limited usually to about 20 inches per year. This lack of rainfall coupled with the relatively thin soils found in temperate grassland prevents trees or shrubs from establishing. Second, temperate grassland experiences tremendous seasonal variations in temperature; temperate grasslands have a winter that limits the growing season.

Savanna grassland is the tropical version of the temperate grassland and in contrast to temperate grasslands they usually receive more rainfall and have some trees and shrubs scattered in the landscape. Savannas don’t experience a winter and are caused by a distinctive climate pattern that includes a wet season followed by a long dry season without rain. Fires frequent the dry season and thin the trees and shrubs that would otherwise invade the grassland. In both, it is the rains that bring another cycle of life to the grassland. In North America it is an awakening that follows a long cold winter, in Africa it's the blood that breaths life back into the parched, dry and fire prone savanna.


The large animals inhabiting the plains of both continents, either did, or still undergo extensive migrations as they follow along behind the rains, engorging themselves on the grasses that respond almost immediately to the sudden abundance of moisture. In North America, it was bison, elk, and pronghorn that occupied the landscape in the 10,000s or even millions in the case of bison, moving like a silent army, tracking the rainfall across the landscape. In Africa, it is the wildebeest, impala, buffalo, and other antelope that still remain today, following the rains across the landscape and giving birth to a new generation of offspring as they move.

 










Bison on the North American plains, left, and buffalo on the African savanna, right.

Along with the large herds of roaming animals there exists robust populations of predators feeding off this cornucopia of wildlife. In Africa there are the wild dog, jackal, lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, hyena, and honey badger. In North America there are or were the wolf, coyote, fox, cougar, bobcat, grizzly bear, and badger. It is striking how similar these predators are, there are canids, cats, badgers, and miscellaneous other predators in each grassland type. Can you tell me what is in the picture below? Is it from Africa or North America?

No this isn't a coyote, it's a jackal on the African savanna

 
 As an ecologist, I find all of this fascinating, something that is almost visceral and meaningful at a very deep level. I would encourage all of you who are reading this to contact us and start planning your trip to Africa today to witness these majestic predators and the magnificent migrations for yourself. Migrations that persist today as they have for eons in a landscape capable of making one think they were in a far off time, experiencing something long sense lost to our modern way of life.

Contact us and book your trip to Africa today!

 http://grasstracksafaris.com/