Jakob Horvat
And suddenly a lioness jumps out of the bush. For two days, Lesh read trails from the open Land Rover Defender, identified tracks, searched for them. And then she shows up, crosses our route with a direct eye and disappears back into the thicket. Only two lions and the same female live in the closer territory around the safari camp "Xigera" in the middle of the Okavango Delta. It is a voyeuristic impulse that calls to the curious tourist: Descendants, in the bush, you want to experience the hunt of the lioness up close. But our guide does just the opposite and turns off the engine: "We stay at a distance, because we do not want to disturb the lioness in their hunt." He listens to the impressive variety of birdsong and other animal lute exotics, as if this noise would tell something: "Over there, on the left, we hear a squirrel call," Lesh explains, as he points to a tree about 100 meters away. "And right here, a Red Bill Francolin warns his fellow species in front of a predator. The lioness is right in the middle. "As we approach later, we find her sleeping right there in the shadow of a bush.
Travel
It is this in-depth knowledge of nature and sensitivity for a gentle way of dealing with it that makes Lesh one of the best safari guides in the region. The company "Wilderness" is its employer - and that of more 2.600 people in Botswana, Zambia, Namibia and six other sub-Saharan countries. With 61 Camps one of the largest providers of premium safaris ever - operating in Botswana for thirty years. With whom I speak during my research - government, travel agencies, employees - "Wilderness" is called in terms of environmental protection as a flagship company. An assertion that I can convince myself again and again. For example, in a conversation with Thsolo, 25 years old and about to complete his training as a safari guide at "Wilderness": "I grew up in a time when it was legal to shoot wild animals in Botswana. Since I can think I wanted to help the animals to do something good for them. That's why I want to become a safari guide and use my know-how to raise awareness of how to deal with the environment. This is my dream and I'm about to live it. "In many conversations here I can feel this deep commitment to animal and environmental protection.
Minimize human influences
When the Okavango River, coming from Angola, floods large parts of the north at the end of the dry season, it forms the basis for one of the world's most diverse regions: the Okavango Delta. In Botswana tourism is the second most important source of income after the export of diamonds. Not surprisingly, the government also has a keen interest in the concept of 'ecotourism', encouraging companies such as' wilderness', but also rigorously controlling it: 'There are regularly very stringent inspections in which the government ensures that we meet all conditions ecotourism. They study waste management but also control how we keep our food. No wildlife should have access to food that would not be there without it, "explains Richard Avilino, a guide at Camp Vumbura Plains. Anyone who eats an apple on the Land Rover will pick up the burp again - apple trees are not native to the Okavango Delta. The camps are built on stilts. For protection against wild animals, on the one hand. But also after the expiration of the twenty-year concession - if it is not renewed - to bring the area back to its original natural state. Every little human influence should be avoided. Ecotourism is omnipresent here. Above all, a future perspective for the country.
With the military against poachers
The spicy scent of sage is in the air as we are back in the bush with the Land Rover. Mopani trees stand in the landscape, bare and eroded - a delicacy for elephants. The mopanis used to be used as an excuse for the hunters - the animals destroyed the environment, so their argument. Today, another wind is blowing the salty air through the delta. Today, Botswana is an exception in several ways. The country is considered a model state for democracy in Africa - there has never been a civil war or military coup. Botswana 1966 was able to break free of British colonial rule. It is also the country in Africa where the hunt for wild animals is completely forbidden - only in the year 2013 President Ian Khama has issued a corresponding law. Draconian punishments of up to twenty years imprisonment threaten those who kill a wild animal. "When some poachers once shot at antelopes, the Botswana Defense Force moved in with their military helicopters to look for them," says Eugene Luck, manager of Wilderness. "The government of Botswana takes this very seriously."
"The policy of low density tourism against cheap mass tourism is an important contribution to the concept of ecotourism. This enormously reduces the negative impact in both social and environmental terms. "
Environmental protection as a luxury problem
Map Ives is one of Eugene's colleagues, a veteran safari specialist at Wilderness, who also works closely with the government: "The policy of 'low density tourism' against cheap mass tourism is an important contribution to the concept of ecotourism and us one big support. This model keeps the number of tourists low and the prices per night high. This greatly reduces the negative impact in both social and environmental terms. "Speaking of Social Impact: The concessions for safari camps are awarded by the government in consultation with the local communities - they should all agree when a new camp is created. For this they benefit from jobs. And tourists who are interested in their culture. This is important in a country where poverty is so great that, despite all efforts, environmental protection is still a luxury issue for many people.
"Way of traveling has changed"
Monika Peball owns a travel agency in Zimbabwe and Botswana and observes an ever increasing interest of tourists in culture and nature: "The demand for ecotourism is increasing enormously. People no longer just want to go on safari, but participate interactively in sustainable camps, develop awareness of local conditions and challenges. Many also want to work on projects, such as the Wild Dog Conservation. The way of traveling has simply changed here. "
Wild-Dogs, a species that I have not heard of before I went to Botswana. Their protection is a big issue in the Okavango Delta. Only 1.200 copies are still here, as our guide Lesh explains. We were lucky enough to see some. "The tourists mostly do not know how important it is to protect the environment here. But they learn it while they are here with us. We create awareness and in the end, they value it as much as we do, "says Lesh about his experiences with tourists. With guests like me. Visiting a country that is so overwhelming in its natural diversity and so surreal that you fully understand the experience only days later. But one thing was already clear to me after the first hours in the Land Rover: Without ecotourism, this natural spectacle would not be so long.
Photo / Video: Shutterstock.
