I’m Wiley Holbrooke, and I am doing an internship with the Okavango wilderness Project (OWP) in Botswana. The OWP is an organization that is researching the Okavango Delta, the worlds largest internal delta. They complete these research projects by spending a month or so paddling down the Okavango Delta on makoros (canoes) and record the bird populations as indicators of general wildlife diversity and abundance. In other words, the birds follow the same patterns of habitation as the ground fauna. By obtaining this data,  the OWP can research the most unstudied place in Africa. This year their goal is to sample fish though a method called E-DNA, which is essentially a water filtration system that filters out fish DNA. This, along with wetland flora and fauna will demonstrate population densities in the Delta.

These expeditions are completely off the grid. This means that they must have all their research gear, camping gear, and food all prepared and ready before the makoros set off; this is where my duties lie. I have been involved in packing staggering amounts of food, including 60kg of rice, and 40kg of beans.

Other than packing, I have been assisting with general preparations for the mission, this includes washing and fixing the makoros. Yesterday, we drove eight hours around the delta to a camp called Seronga.

At Seronga, my mentor Chris Boyes flew in a helicopter over the delta for them to choose the best path for the expedition. This year, due to both a drought and necessity to research other parts of the delta, the OWP will deviate from their regular path of nine years. This calls for scouting the eastern part of the delta. He established a route that has not been used in decades. This route is filled with hippo activity, but contains water, which is not guaranteed due to the drought.