Okavango Delta Day 1 Dispatch
June 7, 2000: Northern Panhandle (Sampling Area 1)
People | Tools | Issues | Species
“There are hippos in the camp,” said AquaRAP safety officer Mark Nordin. Not the most comforting words to start off my first night camping in Africa, listening for the telltale sounds of hippos: snorting and trampling. Read the full dispatch >>
Okavango Delta Day 2 Dispatch
June 9, 2000: Northern Panhandle (Sampling Area 1)
People | Tools | Issues | Species
Past the family of 10 hippos, I rode with the limnology (water quality) team in a boat towards the Namibian border. We turned around just before the Botswana Defense Force checkpoint. No need to attract unnecessary attention. Read the full dispatch >>
Okavango Delta Day 3 Dispatch
June 11, 2000: Upper Delta (Sampling Area 2)
People | Tools | Issues | Species
After three days of sampling the northern panhandle, the AquaRAP teams came together to share observations. Each team sampled a series of sites and entered their first set of data into the laptop computers we've hauled out to the field. Read the full dispatch >>
Okavango Delta Day 4 Dispatch
June 13, 2000: Upper Delta (Sampling Area 2)
People | Tools | Issues | Species
We went out to do a night water quality sample under a bright half moon in the still, deep lagoon near camp. I sat at the front of the boat with Pete Ashton, head of the limnology team, and he showed me how to find the Southern Cross constellation. Read the full dispatch >>
Okavango Delta Day 5 Dispatch
June 15, 2000: Xakanaxa (Sampling Area 3)
People | Tools | Issues | Species
Greetings from Xakanaxa in the Moremi Game Reserve. Some of us flew by prop plane from Guma Lagoon to this camp, watching the landscape change beneath us. The wide, deep waters of the Delta's main channel spread out, forming meandering waterways separated by woodlands. Read the full dispatch >>
Okavango Delta Day 6 Dispatch
June 19, 2000: Upper Delta (Sampling Area 4)
People | Tools | Issues | Species
The AquaRAP team reached our final camp, south of Chief's Island, after a 20-minute hop by prop plane. As we traveled, I scanned the land below for giraffes – the only large African mammal I haven't yet crossed off my "must-see" list. Read the full dispatch >>
Okavango Delta Day 7 Dispatch
June 21, 2000: Upper Delta (Sampling Area 4)
People | Tools | Issues | Species
Carting scores of samples, damp life vests and luggage, the AquaRAP team arrived back in Maun today. We left the Delta with mixed emotions, since the thrill of collecting samples in the spectacular setting of the Delta will soon be replaced by the tedious labor of data entry in a hotel conference room. Even so, this is an exciting time. Read the full dispatch >>
Okavango Delta Final Dispatch
June 23, 2000: CI Office, Maun
After two full days of data entry, fact checking and discussion, AquaRAP scientists presented their preliminary observations last night to a roomful of citizens at the Maun Lodge. With the conclusion of this meeting comes the end of our adventure in the Okavango Delta. Read the full dispatch >>
Okavango AquaRAP Preliminary Observations
June 22, 2000
A Summary for Attendees of the Town Meeting in Maun
Download the full report (PDF - 4.84 MB)