NatGeo Okavango Delta Schools Tour

Nat Geo Okavango Delta Schools Tour

To write Let’s Save the Okavango I consulted scientists working with the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project in Botswana; alongside climate change scientist Dr Mike Murray Hudson of the University of Botswana. I was subsequently invited by NatGeo and the Wild Bird Trust to join local authors Onica Lewkuntwane and Bontekanye Botumile in visiting rural schools in the Eastern Panhandle. It was an exciting invitation that was both an incredible learning experience and a joy.

Education coordinator Tjipo Keaikitse organised and headed our tour. Together we visited five schools and thanks to the generosity of my publishers, Quarto, Otter-Barry Books and Walker Books I was able to donate copies of my books to each school. The children in these schools have very few or mostly no books; so all of our books were enthusiastically explored and shared. These primary pupils encounter elephants on the walk to school (which can be a dangerous daily challenge) and at night, hear a lion’s distant roar. I learnt about the ‘Elephant Express’ bus keeping children safe on their journeys to and from school and so much more about the lives and livelihoods of these rural communities.

I hope I have helped to build international bridges and share stories that will inspire and endure, learning from local communities and experts in this breathtaking place. The Okavango Delta is one of the biggest, wildest and most untouched wetlands in the world. Its wildlife and its people depend on the floodwaters that arrive each year. The story of its stunning diversity – the greatest concentrations of wildlife in the world and the threats to its precious water supplies are explored in my book. For more information about the Delta and the work of the National Geographic team there, explore www.nationalgeographic.org/projects/okavango/