On February 21, 2019, Blomberg News reported that a government committee in Botswana, the nation with the world’s largest elephant population, recommended Botswana lift a hunting ban on the animals to reduce crop damage. Public hearings and consultations with researchers and hunters reviewed the 2014 ban placed on elephant hunting by Botswana’s previous administration under former President Ian Khama.
Botswana’s elephant population is estimated at …
Read MoreAs I write this, the computer radio station I’m listening to is playing the soundtrack to Out of Africa, and I have a full feeling in my heart and deep gratitude that still nearly brings me to tears when I remember standing in the open African bush for the first time. Seven years later, I recall the sight of vast sleek herds of antelope with their young standing in acres of shiny new grassy meadows…
Read MoreManda drove up and down gullies flowing with muddy water from the rain, jockeyed our vehicle over rocks, and lurched back up to flat ground. The topography was a combination of riverbeds, creeks feeding riverbeds, steep riverbanks, and flat grassy open meadows that went on for thousands…
Read MoreThe flowers were a surprise. Some, like “Lion’s Head,” looked just like the one in my garden at home while others were unlike anything I’d seen before. It was early spring, and unusual-looking flowers bloomed close to the ground, sprouting nearly overnight in lily shapes of purple …
Read MorePuku babies are fawn colored and dotted with white spots to blend in with the bushes and flowers at the edge of the meadows. At nap time, their mothers hide them in the brush, and the baby puku knows not to leave that spot until the mother…
Read MoreThe night watchman woke us early each morning on the weeklong safari and led us to the dining area for a cup of tea and toast. After that, we piled into the Land Rover with our jackets zipped and blankets up to our necks. It was usually a bit of a drive by the time we got away from the bush camp to where we were likely to see…
Read MoreWe are still on our first early morning guided walk. When we moved out from the woods into more wide-open grassy areas Manda, our guide, had us each hold one strand of grass seed pulled from the top of a large, tall stand of grasses called tanglehead. The seeds are like sharp miniature spears attached to a horsehair-thick shaft which falls to the ground…
Read MoreYesterday we launched a fundraiser for Conservation South Luangwa’s Human Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Program. Our goal is to raise $10,000, and we want you to pitch in! This program, HWCMP for short, is a win-win for the environment, the people, and the wildlife of Zambia. In a nutshell, it enables each of these entities to live in harmony. The environment benefits when elephants …
Read MoreFor the fourth time since 2012, Zimbabwe has captured and plans to export 35 baby elephants to China for zoos. According to The Times of London, the calves are being held in pens in Hwange National Park for their 7,000 mile trip to…
Read MoreWe walked in thick clay-like mud and wobbled across wet decaying logs to cross creeks, threaded our way through wooded thickets and grassy meadows, and splashed through puddles on our path and above the sandy…
Read MoreWe need your help saving elephants from extinction, so we keep you up-to-date on the latest news to curb demand for ivory and protect elephants from poaching. Elephant ivory is valued because its texture, softness, warmth, and lack of a tough outer enamel coating …
Read MoreMy first thought when we stepped out of our nine-passenger Land Rover was that the terrain looked something like home. I live near the American River and not too far from the Sacramento River in Sacramento County, California, and riparian habitat is familiar. But when I looked more closely at the trees in Zambia, I could see they were very different from those at home. Acacia trees were the most dramatic and familiar; they are iconic images of Africa. …
Read MoreHave you ever taken a trip somewhere that left you with a permanent memory? Of course, you say! Any time you’ve visited with family and friends and have had great fun. Well, we’ve got an opportunity for you to travel, and make another permanent memory. But this one will be different, it will be life-changing. It will penetrate your mind, your heart, and you will never see the world in the same way again. …
Read MoreIt got very dark and as we left Mfuwe village, the aroma of water-soaked earth from the rainy season seemed stronger and richer. We felt the shifts in the coolness of the night air as we passed areas where there was a lot of standing water and then up to hilltops where it was drier and warmer. It was too dark by then to see …
Read MoreIn an exciting win for conservation, the Luangwa Valley is now estimated to have the largest population of wild dogs in the whole of Zambia. Despite being one of Africa’s most endangered carnivores, wild dogs in and around the South Luangwa National Park have enjoyed several years of increasing numbers, And there are now estimated to be approximately 350 adults and yearlings living in the Luangwa Valley.
Read MoreThe photographs in this September 3 NPR article are horrific, and do not show the orphaned young elephants who were dependent on their mothers for milk.
This headline makes us more grateful to the nearly 300 Africa Hope Fund supporters …
Read MoreWe drove through Mfuwe Village on our first day in the bush. The hugeness of a mother elephant we passed and the way she glided along the roadside with her baby at her side reminded me of a time years ago when I was sailing with two friends on a 31-foot sailboat in the Delta near San Francisco.
Read MoreDuring the hour-long vehicle ride with Lindsey from Mfuwe Airport to Mfuwe Village, the South Luangwa Valley passed before our eyes like a scene from a movie. We were on the Great Road, the only paved road between Lusaka and Mfuwe.
Read MoreIf I’d closed my eyes the minute we stepped outside the airport, I would have still known I was in a different country.
Read MoreLion’s paws can grow as large as twelve inches across. Their nails are terrifying. But one of the thrills of going on safari is knowing that our guides will find places to park the sturdy Land Rovers where we can quietly and safely observe and photograph these powerful paws without disturbing the lions. If we step out of the Land Rover and get between a dad and his offspring, we would likely be the next appetizer on the table.
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