Setswana Names

Name   -   Setswana name   -   Meaning

Erin   -   Tshepo   -   Trust

Loraine   -   Lorato   -   Love

Marshall   -   Kagiso   -   Peace

Rose   -   Sethanya   -   Rose

Nastasha   -   Masego   -   Luck

Bernard   -   Kgosi   -   Leader

Lily   -   Lesego   -   Good luck

Kareem   -   Mpho   -   Gift

Ilse   -   Mmapula   -   Rain

Anna   -   Thato   -   To be loved

Emma   -   Loapi   -   Sky

Margaret   -   Teemane   -   Diamond

Sabryna   -   Kabo   -   To be given

Maggie   -   Lesedi   -   Light

Jessica   -   Naledi   -   Star

Nkadi teaching us Setswana. 

We started our field work today and completed two vegetation plots. Our plots are 10 x 30 meters, and we measure all trees (stem and canopy dimensions, species identification, etc.) and take soil samples. We will go back to the plots tomorrow to cut everything down so we can measure the weight of all trees in order to get the total biomass of the plots. 

We will post photos of the thorny action soon!!

Setswana Lesson with Nkadi

Maggie and Jessica arrived in camp yesterday, so everyone is now here!! Nkadi Setilo visited us yesterday and today to give us Setswana lessons. We learned lots of Setswana including greetings, numbers, animals. Nkadi also gave everyone special Setswana names, with their meaning ranging from leader to star.

Nkadi Setilo

Tomorrow we will continue our lectures on savanna ecosystems and learn how to take field measurements, specifically for vegetation assessments. We will then begin our fieldwork on Tuesday, starting with vegetation plots, where we will measure tree characteristics (stem and canopy dimensions, number of stems, species identification, etc.).

Top row: Tshepo (Erin), Lorato (Loraine), and Kagiso (Marshall).

Middle row: Daryl, Nkadi, Sethanya (Rose), Masego (Nastasha), Kgosi (Bernard), Lesego (Lily), Mpho (Kareem), Mmapula (Ilse), Thato (Anna), Moshimane (Thomas), Loapi (Emma), and Teemane (Margaret).

Bottom row: Kabo (Sabryna), Lesedi (Maggie), Naledi (Jessica), and Tefo.

We will post the meanings tomorrow!! (-:

Camp Phone Numbers

Calling from the United States to Botswana:
011 - US exit code, which must be dialed first for all international calls made from USA or Canada.
267 - Country code for Botswana.
US to Botswana international dialing format: 011 + 267 + phone number

Student Phones:
We have bought two student phones, which will be shared freely by all students. The students can use these phone to call home or you can reach them as well. Please be patient as the Botswana network is not as reliable as the networks in the United States. The Botswana network may go down from time to time, but usually not for periods longer than a day or two.

Student phone #1: 75708877
Student phone #2: 72818867

Emergency numbers:
We also have a satellite phone in case of emergencies. This phone is only switched on between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Botswana time and will ONLY be used for emergencies. You can also call Thoralf or Thomas in case of emergencies, if needed.

Satellite phone # 00 881631627587

Thoralf (instructor): 72670836
Thomas (teaching assistant): 76473080
Emergency email (Thomas): t.brandt8@gmail.com

Small update:
Nastasha and Margaret joined the group yesterday before we drove down to Ghanzi. Base camp was already set up and everyone have paired up in comportable tents. The last two students, Maggie and Jessica, are arriving in Maun today and will travel down to join the group tomorrow. Today, we are getting familiar with our camp, safely rules, and taking a walk to get a small introduction to the areas vegetation, soils, birds, and might even get lucky and spot an antilope or two.

More to come soon!!

Welcome Dinner in Maun!

Students are now in Maun and we are ready to start the program! We are waiting on 4 students who had a little trouble with connecting flights, but we will wait for them and make sure we get them down to our camp once they arrive.

Tonights sunset 

Tonight we all met at Okavango River Lodge for our welcome dinner. Everyone is excited and ready to learn about Botswana and savanna ecosystems!!

Group (minus 4) photo before tonights dinner

As mentioned, all student phone numbers will be posted tomorrow, including our emergency satellite phone number. We'll also make sure to post more group photos once everyone has arrived.

Cheers from Botswana!!

Welcome to Botswana!!

Hey everyone! We are ready to go here in Maun and are looking forward to seeing you all this Wednesday. We will be picking you up Wednesday morning, but would like to get in contact with you before that. Please CALL Thoralf as soon as you arrive in Maun. You can use the phone at Discovery, where most of you are staying.

Thoralf (instructor): 74476479

Thomas (teaching assistant): 76473080

Emergency email: t.brandt8@gmail.com

Student and Satellite Phones:

We will have student phones, which will be shared freely by all students, once we arrive in Ghanzi on Wednesday. We will also have a satellite phone for emergencies, as the regular phone service does not work perfectly all the time (as we are used to in the US).

These phone numbers will be posted on Wednesday once we arrive in camp.

See you all soon!!