17th April

So - last Friday... Don't get me wrong I don't mind doing spreadsheets, I'm happy to do anything that helps but as the third day of data input loomed I was happy to hear Max ask if I would like to help him vaccinate the goats. Max is Community Outreach Officer and he liaises with the local farmers on ways to improve their husbandry as well as ways to avoid conflict with cheetahs by providing livestock guarding dogs . These are not the camp dogs, they're specially trained and we don't fraternise with them (which is hard for me). CCB keeps a very successful herd of goats which started at 16 about five years ago and now numbers 84 (was 85, strike one to the leopard). Keeping a herd gives them more credibility with the farmers and demonstrates in a very practical and tangible way how livestock guarding dogs can help keep their wealth intact and growing. In Botswana wealth is very much tied in with animals, weather cattle or goats. Anyway the herd here is looked after by DT and Reggie . The kraal is near the gate and we started by herding them all into a small enclosure at one end and then one by one they were caught, vaccinated and the then released into the main pen. I did a bit of catching, some holding and some actual vaccinating but mainly I shoved them through the gate while keeping the others in. One escaped but luckily Reggie spotted the number on his ear tag, no.59, and he was done at the end . It took two hours and all the time I was getting the attention of two young ones who were hand reared and very affectionate with people. It was the most fun I've ever had with goats.
After that I went with Jane to monitor a couple of camera traps . The first was a three hour round trip on the bumpy tracks and we saw some kudu, ostrich and a waterbuck which I would recognise again because it looks like it has a white toilet seat on its behind (Sorry, rump).Along the way we saw dozens of beautiful bee eaters swooping around like airborne jewels. When we got to the camera and Jane opened it there was a real "Oh ****!" moment when she realised she hadn't switched it on last time so it had spent a month doing nothing. Ho hum... Luckily a second camera at the site showed that actually there had been no sightings at all so that was a "Phew!" moment. In the afternoon after a very late lunch we checked another camera near the bush camp so not far away and that also hadn't recorded much of interest . However the batteries are routinely changed and the camera reset. So in this remote corner of Botswana the conservation efforts of CCB are being supported by rechargeable batteries from Sainsbury and PC World in Exeter and I put them in. Isn't that a lovely thought?
(Oh God, did I switch it on...?)
More later...