Photo above: Getting a better look at elephants on the opposite bank of the river. Photo: G. Kayano.
By Gabe Kayano, Student Program Associate Director
The Botswana Fall 2025 program started at full speed with exciting news: the Thamalakane River, which runs through basecamp in Maun and had been dry for many years, was fully flooded and running! Hippos and crocodiles were back in the river, and elephants could be seen in and around town, heading into the now flooded Okavango Delta. One of the challenges that the Fall programs face is the heat of the dry season, making the days often uncomfortable. However, our students could not have arrived at a better time – orientation and academics were completed with a flowing river in sight, teeming with birds, water lilies, and serenity of moving water. This certainly helped ease our students into the heat of the Delta as we prepared for our first days in the field.
Class in the field as the sun sets. Photo: G. Kayano.
Following our orientation days in Maun, we headed out to the bush towards the community of Khwai. After facing the dust and heat of the road for almost five hours, we were finally greeted by smiling, familiar faces at the reception of Mogothlo camp. Among them, Mmapula, Amos, Dux, Pat and others gave us a warm welcome, drawing some awkward smiles and shy “dumellas” from our group. With help from some of the escort guides, we found our campsite and put our tents up, rushing to finish before the sun went down.
Once we worked out the position of the tents and camp kitchen, we started unloading food and the remaining gear from the cars. With darkness setting in, one by one we broke out flashlights and head lamps – organizing a camp in the dark is no easy task. Amidst the confusion of lights and people asking where things should go, Dix and I spotted a pair of eyes, shining by a bush some 30 meters away. ‘It seems the hyenas are already out’, I said to Dix, as I handed Berkley and Sierra boxes and boxes of eggs. We shone our lights on it, and a second look revealed an ever watchful slender body with a long tail, sitting elegantly and erect. Under the light, the coat wasn’t thick, but it was bright and full of spots. ‘It’s a leopard!’, we both exclaimed. We immediately proceeded to rally all the students so they could see our illustrious visitor. For a few minutes, we all watched as the leopard slowly walked around our camp, carefully investigating the source of all the noise. Suddenly, it leapt into a blue bush and disappeared.
A leopard seen outside of camp. Photo: G. Kayano.
We were left in awe. Iconic encounters such as this are common in the Delta, where animals are everywhere. For our cohort, it set the bar pretty high in terms of what to expect of this wild place, especially when there’s so much left to discover.
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