Sylvester Wapitso
17 October 2008
Francistown — As the driver brings the Toyota Hilux to a halt at the Tsaathoka veterinary boom gate, a solitary figure garbed in khaki dashes out to meet us. On the left side, the gloomy and dull scenery is vivid.
There are black and greyish burnt Mophani trees and vast stretches of grass. The once eye-catching vegetation making part of the entrance to Nata Bird Sanctuary is no more.
"I was at North Gate lodge where I stay with my husband. We saw a column of smoke coming from this direction and we were alarmed. With the Nata Lodge disaster still occupying our thoughts we hastily drove here. Our alarms were confirmed, a ravaging fire was in our mist," says Carol Bell, a Zimbabwean bird enthusiast volunteer at the sanctuary.
"Smoke was all over. A lot of cars had stopped and realising the confusion around, I directed traffic to help ease the congestion. Then we went inside the sanctuary to see the direction of the fire. We checked the direction of the wind then opted for a back burning strategy. Around 7pm we won the war and the fire could not spread," narrates Bell with the memories of the Sunday incident still vivid in her mind.
The thick smell of smoke pollutes the air. The air is hot. Fallen branches lie strewn all over. There is no other sound except the buzzing black flies that whirr around and inject us with their painful stings. They are so irritating that one feels the dullness of the atmosphere. At the bar, burnt and partly broken Hunters Dry and Gold bottles still occupy the fridge. Soft drink bottles remain on the lower apartment.
Fallen grass debris lies on the floor. The tapping sound of water dripping from a broken pipe connecting to the zinc can be heard. At the back, water comes out of the tap. It won't close. The metal parts making the tap mechanism seem to have expanded. Occasionally, the wind blows and a whirl of black smoke rises.
According to Bell, Nata Sanctuary is the entrance to one of the uninhabited places in Africa. The Makgadikgadi and Sowa Pans bear testimony to the super lake that formed thousands of years ago when the Okavango, Kwando, and Zambezi-Chobe rivers filled it with water.
"About 20,000 years ago the lake was filled to capacity and had to find another outlet to the Indian Ocean. The waters were forced to go north and then eastwards, causing the middle and lower Zambezi to connect, an event that resulted in the formation of the Victoria Falls. Then a drier climatic period followed and hot water increased evaporation hence a decrease in the river flow.
The increasing evaporation eventually resulted in the Makgadikgadi pans as we know them today," narrates Bell.Remnants of the lake exist in the form of two large salt flats, Ntwetwe and Sua Pan. The Sua Pan area in the sanctuary is the lowest of the Makgadikgadi system. The pan surface slopes from west to east and this means that the eastern part of the basin is the first to flood and the last to dry out.
"Sua Pan receives its water from a large catchment area of about 27,000 square kilometres. The largest of the pan's inflowing rivers is the Nata and its catchment area is 22,500 square kilometres that extend into western Zimbabwe. The Nata Bird Sanctuary is fed by the Nata and the Semowane rivers," she continues.
The fire stopped near the picnic area where dry patches of the salt grass remain. These unique grasses grow only on saltpans. They are short and yellowish in colour and known as 'prickly salt grass' or Odyssea Pananervis scientifically. Salt crystals form on the grass leaves as evaporation takes place. "This was low season and not much has been affected except buildings.
What Nata sanctuary is known for remains intact and unaffected. Tourists en route from places like Chobe and Moremi make a stopover here to marvel at the birds," says
Tshegofatso Ramontsho, the camp manager.
"The landscape is only affected at the entrance. Our birds remain unharmed. We have been sending our clients away so that we remake everything. We have lost all the administration logistics and depend on gate takings. Very soon we will be back on our feet. We appeal for financial and material help. Camp employees have lost their properties and would appreciate donations of any kind," says Board of Trustees chairman, Galenkutlwe Leakwa.
Bell says that the pans are one of the few breeding sites for the greater and lesser flamingos and pelicans. Migrating animals traverse the pans and in the wet season thousand of water birds flock the area. On the eastern edge 'the pink tide' come in numbers, resulting in mesmeric sightings. The Setswana name equivalent of a flamingo is 'Nonyane ya tladi' meaning 'the lightning bird'. Some people say they are referred to as such because they congregate after a heavy thunderstorm.
"This sanctuary is one of the oldest community trusts in Botswana. It reflects community involvement in eco-tourism. We have lost a computer and everything that was in the office. Our star attractions remain intact and unaffected at the pans. We are going to erect a Red Cross borrowed tent to start operations as early as possible. Our guests need this bird watching paradise functional. We appeal for help to bring about an accounting and bookkeeping system because we depend on gate takings to survive," appeals Bell.
It is late afternoon. The bus from Kasane to Francistown is full. As it passes, the burnt remains of the sanctuary, a tent stands erect near the entrance. The secretary bird logo remains intact on the walls at the entrance.
Sagittarius Sepentarius has a peculiar shape. It has long legs and a bare facial skin. Its habitat is open grasslands and it prefers coastal regions to high altitudes. It avoids the thick bushes and forests and cannot be seen much in settled areas. It is normally silent but makes a deep croak when taking a flight. What irony!
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