allAfrica.com: Botswana: Journey Into the CKGR (Page 1 of 1)

The roar of a lion, its territorial marking cry arousing the silent night of the Central Kgalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) is not the only sound reminding us that we are not in the safety of our homes.

On the evening of Friday 4th April 2008, when we pitched tents and turned the rusty-dusty zinc structures of the vacated Matswiri scout camp into home, guiding Assistant Wildlife Warden, Jefter Maphorisa of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) in Maun, warned us against the risk of getting out at night, "even if this means answering nature's call".

Behind our camp, he had mentioned, mother lion is nursing her two cubs in a den that she set up close to a leaking borehole tank. The trickling tank, now drinking point for most game and birds found in this part of the game reserve has now turned into a good hiding spot for predators in hunt.

As a result, the location is now a favourite scavenging point of the friendly brown hyena and the lappet faced vulture, foragers of the remains of a lion meal. Maphorisa of Phori, as most of us later prefer to call him, also alerts us about the presence of a python, which recently gave birth in what used to be the camp's storeroom. Although he says that the reptile is harmless when not provoked, none of us dare go near the place.

The trip is a mobile workshop organized by the Ngamiland Association of Environmental Clubs of Botswana (AECB) under the support of its patron DWNP. Its objective is to give participants an outing experience where they can share environmental education issues at regional level. According to the National Chairperson of the club, Antony Zuze, AECB was established by DWNP in 1976 aiming primarily at the dissemination of environmental conservation issues to the youth. Teachers were used as the dissemination tools, hence the association is mainly dominated by affiliated member school teachers.

Saturday April 5, 06:00hrs:

We wake up to a finger numbing cold temperature, dew dripping from the savanna grasses, carmel and knob thorn trees surrounding us. Like students at a boarding school, we rush to the big blazing camp fire that some of us had made, fetch warm water, bath and had our breakfast.

08:00hrs: We are basking under the warming sun, a refreshing breeze sweeping over our faces; the intertwining choruses of the yellow canaries, the scaly feathered finches and the sociable weavers soothing the soul.

We are also listening to our hosts, Assistant Wildlife Wardens Tifo Gabanapelo, of the CKGR northern entry point named Matswiri, and to Burton Kasume, of southern entry point Old Xade, giving some welcome remarks. They brief us about our itinerary, the establishment of the CKGR by the colonial government in 1961 and life in the park.

We are also told the story behind the relocation of Basarwa from the CKGR to New Xade. We also learn about the lifestyle of the 229 Basarwa who stood up against their 1997 relocation by taking the government to court, won the case and later returned to the game reserve. The Ghanzi District Council, we hear, is no longer mandated to service the now out of function boreholes that used to supply the Basarwa with water before their relocation. Now they use donkey carts to fetch water from New Xade. Their trips in and out of the park are always during month-end, to concide with the dates for government's issuing of destitute packages and old age pension schemes. On their return, the donkey carts will be laden not only with water but with food supplies and other necessities to sustain them until the following month.

Sunday April 6, 09:00HRS: We bid farewell to Matswiri scout camp. Our five tone truck and a convoy of 4x4 vehicles trail behind each other as their engines drawl heading for the Basarwa ruins at Old Xade.

We will always remember the scout camp for the lecture that we received from the Department of Environmental Affairs on the Okavango Delta Management Plan.

Here, you have all kinds of signs, giving direction to Deception Valley, main tourist destination in this park as marketed by Mark and Delia Owens in their book, 'Cry of the Kgalahari'. Old Xade is 200km from Matswiri, cutting past the Deception Valley, Letiahou waterhole and, lastly, the Piper pan.

Sweating in this hottest of afternoon temperatures, getting stuck, pushing and pulling our convoy out of the heavy sandy soil of this desert is a true safari experience. There is abundant game here, and tourists!

16:45hrs: We reach our destination tired but still full of energy to fetch firewood and prepare our meal for the night. We can't resist tasting the wild water melons (kgengwe) and other edible cucumbers that lie around our camp. Old Xhade is rich in wild fruits those of us out for firewood eat the succulent sweetness with an uncontrolled appetite. The Basarwa ruins, consisting of Old Xhade Primary School, the clinic, teachers' quarters and VDC houses and the igloo like huts of thatch belonging to the ex-residents still stand un-demolished, making history of a controversial story that will always act as a magnet to tourists.

Tuesday April 8, 4:30AM: Mission complete! We leave for New Xade. Teachers have discussed, amongst other things, the depletion of the zone layer, setbacks in infusing environmental education in schools, shared advice through each other's success stories and paved the way forward in uniformly implementing environmental conservation stratagem at school level. Completing the 70km to New Xade, with engines groaning and wheels sinking deeper into the heavy soft sandy the tracking is as painful as climbing Mount Everest.

10:02: We are in New Xade, one of the most beautiful settlements in the country. Its clinic and schools are of a quality standard that will always be seen in dreams by most communities closer to it. We sit under a tree and prepare some snacks and water diluted concentrated drinks. From nowhere, the young and old appear. There is no other way - we share our meal, dance and laugh like the oldest of friends.

The communication breakdown due to our different languages is not a barrier. Xukuri Xhao acts as their interpreter. It emerges from our discussion that the residents of New Xade do not want to go back to CKGR as the Survival International purports. Even most of those who had sued the government are still staying here. They tell more about the easy life that they lead in the settlement. The government, they say, is also creating some business opportunities and empowering many to utilize them.

12:51: We bid farewell to our friends, leave the settlement; drive towards the road to Western Hanahai, turn east to reach Ghanzi Township and return safely back home to Maun.

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