There was a good vibe and everyone was laughing. We were going to have a minute’s silence but decided to have a minute’s noise instead. Nathan was the ‘life of the party’ kind of guy,”

Through the tall grasses we could barely make out the massive bodies of elephants up ahead. We tried to scan their backs to take note of the satellite unit on Mary, but we could not identify her. A large female with a calf detected us, “strangers”, in the brush. She perked her head and ears up as she moved forward to investigate.

there is concern when elephants are so close to farms and villages. Human-elephant conflict incidences are on the rise, especially this time of year when crops are ready to be harvested. So for the last couple of months, we have been sitting on pins and needles

We, meaning all of us that inhabit the earth, are here living, sharing this planet, with all its perfect beauty, imperfections, imbalances and disasters, whether they be man-made or nature’s fury. The elephants knew this.

Elephants Without Borders just completed flying a mammoth aerial survey, counting elephants and wildlife species throughout northern Botswana… The information on elephant and wildlife numbers, distribution, movements, and demographic characteristics from this study will be incorporated into population models to better understand a variety of research and management questions relating to wildlife ecology and conservation management

A few years is but a snapshot in an elephant’s life and we felt because of the uniqueness of her story, we had much to learn from Rainbow Spirit. So it was decided to redeploy a second satellite collar on her, enabling us to study her long-time movements.

What does one do when your trusty canine friend wrestles with a venomous foe? This is how we managed to keep both our 4 month old puppy, and 50kg dog alive, after both were bit by a 2 meter long Snouted/Egyptian cobra!

The Bushmen of the Kalahari call it the Mongongo.. observations noted with pleasure, are areas where the diminishing Mongongo Tree has managed to survive, flourish and are in full, glorious bloom.

One cannot ignore the immediate urgency of the relentless anticipation of waiting for the rains… If it is quite intolerable for us people, it’s hard to imagine how it must be for the wildlife in some regions… recently flying and observing the herds and movements of the various species have given us opportunity to witness their response and reactions to the environmental conditions.

With a shake of her massive head, she quickly moved around the vehicle, leading another 30 elephants behind her. Dust filled our nostrils, ears and eyes, but we kept them wide-open, anxiously looking through the haze for more. We realized we weren’t on the edge of the corridor, we were right in the middle of it!