About an hour after we begin collecting data during our first elephant research session, the truck rounds a small corner in the road following a pair of slow-moving juvenile bulls when something else catches my eye. “I swear I just saw a baby rhino,” I tell Kim.
During elephant research in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park the team came across a downed elephant being watched over by a companion.
It's our first elephant research session and we're supposed to be gathering census information on them, but it's like searching for the proverbial needle in the haystack. How does 7,000 kilos of pachyderm hide itself so effectively?
Our first outing with the 2MZeds was a training walk to learn how to safely interact with the lions. It was just a bit ironic that it immediately followed our walk with Dendi and Damara, where we witnessed a heart pounding standoff between the 2Ds and a herd of buffalo, and were ordered to run as fast as our legs could move us.
Prior to our arrival at Lion Encounter we heard tales of volunteers on lion walks running for their lives from herds of buffalo and elephants, sometimes climbing trees for safety. While this sounded very exciting, and not just a little scary, I tried to recall the last time I'd climbed a tree. When my memory drew a blank I realized I'm not sure I ever have climbed a tree, and I tried to assure myself that if I were to find myself in a similar situation adrenaline would see me through.
On a nightly basis our room was literally abuzz with activity. Silence the noisy fan from pushing hot, Zambian air in circles over our bodies and you’d hear a lizard scurrying behind the dresser. Turn on the light and one, if not several, rain spiders would freeze in silence on the ceiling, carefully watching us with their many eyes. I was always happy to see our roommates because it meant I knew where they were and so didn't have to worry where they weren't, unlike some of the other creatures that came party crashing into what was called the White House.
About 10 kilometers west of Livingstone, nestled in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Forest, lies ALERT's headquarters in Zambia. It's here on our first day at Lion Encounter that we took our first walk with Zamfara and Zaria along the banks of the Zambezi river.
You either get the point of Africa or you don't. If you can't get past the fear of animals, of poverty, the juggernaut of nature, then you probably won't. But if you do stand in it and smell it and listen to it, then it will be one of the biggest, most profound and powerful things you will ever feel.
It's official: we're returning to Africa!
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