(Posted over a day later than planned due to the internet being down)
Most of the other volunteers at the Nakavango Conservation Programme volunteer center have been here for a couple of weeks already and a lot of them are staying anywhere between 6-12 weeks. Makes my little two weeks here feel like it’ll be a mere blip on their radar. Everyone has been so friendly and welcoming; I felt instantly comfortable and at home. Ages range from 18-25 and skip to 40s plus, so I’m stuck in the middle – but age certainly doesn’t matter much here. We are all here with more or less the same purpose: to explore Africa, learn as much as we can about the area and conservation, and do what we can to help. They also come from all over. There are four Americans, a couple of Canadians, two from Iran, an Aussie, a Swede, a French and a Swiss.
The Stanley and Livingstone Private Game Reserve is 6,000 acres, or 30 square kilometers, which sounds large but in the grande scheme of Africa, it’s tiny. The reserve has an electric fence all around the property. The fence is solely here because there are eight endangered black rhino on the reserve. If it weren’t for the rhino, the fence would not be necessary. But because they are being poached at such a high rate for their horns, the fence stays up for now.
The reserve’s ecologist, Ian, and his team sedate the rhinos and properly remove the horns to make the rhinos unattractive to poachers. The horns are made of keratin (think finger nails) and grow back, so they have to be removed every three years. The government of Zimbabwe actually own the rhinos and the reserve is merely their custodians. However, the reserve is responsible for the cost of the safe harbor of the animals, so the horn removal costs come out of the reserves pockets.
The reserve is backed by a patron (for now, but it’s on a knife’s edge as the patron is elderly and ill) whose only interests are that the animals are protected and the place remains pristine and virgin. This is a good thing as the reserve has no way of making money for itself. The volunteer programme is three years old and doing well. It doesn’t make money but doesn’t cost money, so that’s another good thing. Hopefully it will keep growing as it’s such a fantastic organization.
Wednesday afternoon, about three hours after my arrival, I joined the group on an afternoon game drive. I was so excited about going on my first game drive in Africa. We climbed into the typical three tiered open cruiser and off we went. I had already seen the giraffe in the “front yard” of the volunteer center so I was optimistically hopeful for another good wildlife sighting. My hope was not in vain as about 45 minutes into the beautiful drive through the forest we came across a momma rhino and her baby. In the reserve there is a house where the International Anti Poaching Foundation officers who patrol the fence live. They set up feeding bins for the rhinos and leave “snacks” out for them every now and then, so we happened to come across the little family as they were having their late afternoon snack.
The excitement of everyone in the cruiser was so high, but we of course had to keep quiet so we all just grinned like fools from ear to ear snapping a million pictures. Some (me) from two cameras at a time. We watched them for a bit, the baby hesitatingly approaching the truck then changed her mind and they started walking away. As they were walking they both suddenly stop and turn to look at something, and that’s when we saw a third, bigger rhino coming along. Turns out he’s big brother. Mom and baby moved away leaving the frustrated big brother with empty feeding bins.
See that “mist” flying upwards? That soaks through any poncho
The next morning we got up early to head to the famous Victoria falls. I came out dressed in pants and my hiking boots and was promptly told by everyone to change immediately into shorts and flip flops as I would get soaked. I went ahead and changed but all the while thinking they were all exaggerating. Turns out they were not. The forest around the falls is the only rain forest in the world to get rain 24 hours a day, 365 days a year because of the heavy mist (mist is what they call it but it’s basically a torrential downpour coming from all directions) from the falls. We had ponchos but by the end of it somehow I was completely soaked even under the poncho. At the edges close to the gorge the rain literally comes from the ground up so no poncho will save you from getting wet.
Victoria Falls is one of the Natural World Heritage Sites and as soon as I got there I could see why. It’s so vast, there’s so much water, it’s so lush and green and beautiful. I can’t properly describe it in words, it’s majestic.
The Falls lies between two countries: Zimbabwe and Zambia. From the Zimbabwe side you see the falls face on, across the gorge. From the Zambia side you see the falls from the top of the river as the water plunges deep into the gorge. I was on the Zimbabwe side. As you walk the trail along the edge you alternate between plush rainforest to thick, green grassland. It’s just amazing. It must be on everyone’s bucket list. This weekend I’ll see the falls from the Zambia side, I’m so excited to get to witness it from the other view.
I look like a hobbit. Maybe that’s because I am in…
After the falls we stopped by the local supermarket to load up on snacks, wine and whatever else for our camp out under the stars that evening, then we headed back to the reserve. The programme’s daily routine during the summer is: on the road by 6:30am, a fairly big break between 12-4pm because of the heat, then off to work again or a game drive in the late afternoon. Usually during the mid afternoon break people catch up on sleep, emails and social media, or bake in the sun at the pool. It’s quite honestly not a bad set up.
Middle Earth?
Speaking of, it’s nap time now then we get to have a discussion with the ecologist Ian which I am so excited about. Then, since its Thursday we are camping out again. Turns out, I like camping! At least here. Out of a laziness that I can’t even understand, I decided not to bring my laptop on this trip. Huge mistake. So I’ve been typing this blog on my iPad which is beyond annoying. I have a feeling this will be my last post while I am here in Africa, and will post again about this amazing adventure when I get back home. For now, thanks for following along and enjoy the few pictures I was able to load… I wanted to share more but the internet has decided not to be friendly anymore. More to come when I’m stateside again!
(Camp fire starry night and bull elephant photo credit to Lance Hopkin, fellow volunteer)