On the Road-Southern African style

Wildlife preservation in two southern African countries will be the focus of my journey during the month of February.

Its nearly time for my long awaited return to Africa. After three years I am returning to South Africa and seeing a bit of Botswanna for the very first time. We’ll be camping on the Okavango Delta and travelling through Kruger National Park, so it may be a while before I can answer emails or join in discussions. But whenever I can I will send news of wildlife preservation, African style.

And I look forward to bringing back plenty of new topics and issues to share with you. South Africa is a very highly managed country, with wildlife numbers carefully controlled, even in the parks. It will be interesting to compare that with how Botswanna deals with its wildlife.

And I will return to a project that I visited 3 years ago, a baboon rehabilitation facility near Kruger Park, CARE (Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education). If you are like I was before the visit, you probably think that baboons are one of the tough guys of the primate world. The opposite is actually true, although they are certainly capable of violence, they are much less aggressive than chimps. More on baboons and CARE either from the road or when I return.

Our final leg of the journey will be into the Drakensberg to enjoy some birdwatching in a slightly more civilized but no less grand setting. And by the time I get back, at the end of February, the winter cold might have eased a bit here on Cape Cod.