In September 2013, we embarked on our most challenging crossing of the Okavango Delta… The research data set we achieved over 15 days and 338km using a bespoke Android App was the most comprehensive ever and was shared in real-time via an open API and up-to-date satellite image. This 10-minute video documents an impossible expedition across dry,...
Every week, embark with host Boyd Matson on an exploration of the latest discoveries and interviews with some of the most fascinating people on the planet, on National Geographic Weekend. Please check listings near you to find the best way to listen to National Geographic Weekend on radio, or listen below! Hour 1 – A dozen years ago, Pete Athans, nicknamed “Mr....
Botswana has some of the last remaining free-roaming populations of wild animals on the planet. Massive breeding herds of elephants are known to move thousands of kilometres across the country’s wild lands, through private farms, national parks, towns and deep into neighbouring countries too. It’s a picture of Africa that one reads about in the history...
I was in the middle of a profile interview with wildlife filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert for a prominent South African magazine. We were chatting about their incredible experiences in the Botswana wilderness and some of their current projects, including an upcoming National Geographic film called Game of Lions. I was keen to keep the...
On three occasions between 12th and 15th September 2013, the 2013 Okavango Wetland Bird Survey expedition team witnessed a SPECTREM2000 fixed wing aircraft flying very low over one of the remotest wilderness areas in southern Africa with magnetometers and sensors deployed. This aircraft was over 100 kilometres from the iron ore formation being explored by Tsodilo Resources Limited between Shakawe...
UNESCO World Heritage Listing for the Okavango Delta would be a massive achievement for Botswana, as well as all the NGOs and individuals that have invested their time in this initiative over the last decade. Most importantly, declaration will highlight the importance of preserving the vast Angolan catchment in its current state, celebrating the Kavango...
The Okavango Delta is Africa’s last-remaining wetland wilderness. From the air this a vast patchwork mosaic of open floodplains, simmering lagoons, never-ending reed beds, waving impenetrable papyrus, meandering channels, and thousands upon thousands of green, palmed islands and tree-lines seem to go on forever. An emerald gem in the middle of the Kalahari Desert. Visible...
By Brian Handwerk Back off, buddy! That’s no welcoming smile, but a hippopotamus leaving absolutely no doubt that an African elephant is an unwanted visitor to its home turf. “There is an island on the middle of the Chobe River to which this elephant had crossed. The hippo was not happy about it and was apparently defending...
Okavango Expedition 2013 at the Okavango River Lodge where we ended the expedition. We did 51 km that day and shattered all previous records for distance travelled in one day! (Paul Steyn)...
Okavango Expedition 2013 at the Okavango River Lodge where we ended the expedition. We did 51 km that day and shattered all previous records for distance travelled in one day! (Paul Steyn)...
Steve Boyes and Jer Thorp have teamed up to share the 2013 Okavango Wetland Bird Survey across the Okavango Delta with the world in real-time. Follow every step of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute’s research team as they explore a new route across the Okavango Delta that will reveal the secrets of wetland birds at an...
Steve Boyes and Jer Thorp have teamed up to share the 2013 Okavango Wetland Bird Survey across the Okavango Delta with the world in real-time. Follow every step of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute’s research team as they explore a new route across the Okavango Delta that will reveal the secrets of wetland birds at an...
Too tired to write a post… Been lost all day, no birds in the swamps, and spent almost 10 hours today towing “mokoros” through papyrus and reeds. Follow our footsteps at intotheokavango.org Full update tomorrow on how the research is going… Powered by sat4rent.co.za, digitalpeppa.co.za, Suunto and wildbirdtrust.com ...
Every week, embark with host Boyd Matson on an exploration of the latest discoveries and interviews with some of the most fascinating people on the planet, on National Geographic Weekend. Please check listings near you to find the best way to listen to National Geographic Weekend, or listen below! Hour 1 This summer, an all-woman team adventured 4,400 kilometers primarily by river,...
You never know what you’ll encounter in your travels. During my time reporting on Cheetah Conservation Botswana’s work, I headed to the town of Ghanzi to get supplies and run a few errands with CCB’s camp manager. Right when we arrived, the Botswana National Youth Council was staging a huge outreach festival in the town...