Mokolodi Nature Reserve

 Hello all,

The group of 28 students plus student volunteers and staff went to Mokolodi Nature Reserve, which is a reserve just outside Gaborone and we did an overnight there. We went on a game drive and saw giraffe, warthogs, zebra, baboons, impala,wildebeests, spotted hyenas and kudus. This reserve is huge. The reserve is also known for its education and conservation lessons. This includes learning about the different wildlife as well as animal population control. I learned a lot about the dynamics of wildlife control, poaching, hunting and exportation of animal goods. For example, the country has declared that no more hunting licenses will be issued after 2014 and hunting will be banned. This is due to 12% of Botswana GDP coming from ecotourism (National Geographic) and the negative effects poaching has had on trophy animals, such as Cape Buffalo. The Okavango Delta in Botswana was nominated as a UNESCO heritage site so, if any time to ban hunting, now would be ideal in essence. However, for non-endangered species, hunting helps control wildlife population. The guides helped us understand a little more background about the issue.

Impala

Warthog

The problem with letting animal species overpopulate reserves is that the reserves can only accomodate so many animals before they overpopulate, eat all of the vegetation, overuse the lands, and starve to death. So, another option is killing the animals, which is never a crowd pleaser. This also discourages tourists from visiting and sponsors from contributing to keep the parks funds afloat. Another option is providing supplementary feeding to animals which is wonderful in theory. However, this poses the problem of providing monetary assistance for the extra food. Another option is exportation of animals (preferably alive) to countries in SADC such as Namibia, who is looking to vamp up it's wildlife preservation. Exporting gives much more bang for your buck than selling to local markets. This is also a great option except the ministry of agriculture recently stopped giving out permits for the exportation of any wildlife. Now, there's a problem. Keeping the country's wildlife population under control while maintaining economic stability is something that may be a future issue for Botswana's wildlife reserves. Hopefully, there's a master plan behind all of this somewhere in between the lines! Only time will tell what's in store for these animals and reserves.




We had a wonderful dinner out by the lake and it was gorgeous. It was gorgeous. We saw the sun set as well and I'm losing words for how to describe the natural beauty found in this country. Let's talk about camping with 28 college kids and well, a little something to get the group's night started. The group ended up playing "Never have I ever" and for some reason that game mixes perfectly with camping, bonding, and booze. I'd say this was a great bonding night for everyone because we all got to relax and get to know each other. Also, I enjoyed hearing stories about other peoples' travels and just what brought them to Botswana. Everyone has a story and I'm enjoying discovering everyones purposes for being here.



I ended up staying up with a small group late because we were talking and discussing life stories. One of the guides was still up with us as well and we heard two Impala males fighting over a female. One of the Impala backed away and our tour guide walked us through it. This was pretty cool because he knew what was going on, timing and all,  even though it is pitch dark at this point.

We also saw the stars. Man, the stars. I don't think I can accurately convey the beauty I saw this night. The southern hemisphere has different stars than those that we see in the states. The air pollution is so little in this area that the clarity was un-parallel to anything I had ever seen. I saw the milky way as well as the scorpius constellation. Oh, and I saw three shooting stars. I'm no astronomy major, but damn, this was a sight. It was literally perfect. It was one of those sights where you can see it as soon as you search your google images, you can learn about it in class, you can even map it out, but there is no comparison and it's that simple.


Hakuna Matata,

Komal 

  Mokolodi Education Center