The original site of the orphanage has tripled in size and includes a mud wallow and sand bathing area as well as plenty of browsing and grazing habitat. Local tribal authorities, land boards and communities have gifted Elephant Havens with 840 acres of additional land. This will be used for soft release of the elephants as they outgrow the nursery at age 4-5. They will then spend 5-9 years with little human contact before reintroduction into the Delta.
There are 13 enclosed boma area (enclosures), plus 2 bomas for the temporary quarantine of new elephants. We are currently raising 9 orphaned elephants, all under five years of age.
On-site the facilities include an elephant formula prep kitchen, laundry, laboratory, food and medical storage room, refrigeration for elephant medicines and formula, and a scale for weighing the elephants.
The site is fully fenced with an adult elephant-proof solar-powered electric fence, as specified by Botswana wildlife officials.
The guest reception area includes a kitchen, dining room, meeting room and bathroom, as well as a lovely expansive porch.
The staff village is home to 15 on-site staff members. The project requires satff on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Many of you know that we are huge fans and donors to a wonderful charity called Elephant Havens Wildlife Foundation, the principal funder of Elephant Havens in Botswana. I am taking the liberty of plagiarizing their written information, but I want to provide my subscribers and readers a detailed description of this venture. Karen and I became involved originally when we met Boago Poloko, the elephant handler at Abu, in 2015. This meeting and a friendship on Facebook evolved into us meeting Scott and Debra in 2018. We were enthralled with their plans and we became an early donor to the foundation. Our admiration for Bee, Debra and Scott and their dedication to protecting the elephants and providing aid and comfort to the local community has only deepened with the passage of time.
About Elephant Havens
Debra Stevens and her husband Scott Jackson have been trekking to Africa from the US since 2000. Over the years, they fell in love with the villagers and wildlife. But it was on a visit to Botswana in 2013 when Debra met a 6-month-old orphaned elephant named Naledi that her life changed forever. The connection between them was instantaneous and a lifelong bond was created.
The possibility of saving more orphaned or abandoned babies like Naledi inspired Debra and Scott, along with their local Botswana friend and experienced elephant handler, Boago Poloko, to found the non-profit Elephant Havens Wildlife Foundation in 2017. This mission to protect and preserve the African elephant was truly founded by love.
Elephant Havens Wildlife Foundation was formed in 2017 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation based in the US. The US charity supports Elephant Havens operating in Botswana as a separate Botswana charitable trust. In 2018 the Trust was awarded a one-of-a-kind permit by Botswanan authorities that allows the team to quickly rescue and move orphaned and abandoned elephants and raise them with the goal of returning them to the wild – a project that will take more than ten years from the time of rescue for each elephant.
Through habitat protection, community outreach and the rescue and hand-rearing of young elephant orphans, Elephant Havens aims to become a leading voice in wildlife conservation awareness and wildlife protection.
With funds from generous donors, we built the Elephant Havens orphanage on the edge of the Okavango Delta. With more than 850 acres of land, this sanctuary for abandoned and orphaned elephants is a safe place for them to be cared for until they can be reintroduced into the wild. We encourage both foreign visitors and local community members to visit and learn more about these remarkable animals.
We are also working to bridge the gap between communities and wildlife. By educating local communities on elephant behavior and habitat protection, we hope to instill an understanding of the benefits of conservation. Beyond this we also work with the local community to provide resources that make a positive impact on their lives.
Our team in Botswana is creating educational activities and experiences aimed at helping people of all ages to understand and appreciate wildlife and wild lands, encouraging people to take action to conserve it now and for future generations.
The Founders
Boago Poloko, or “Bee”, has been part of Elephant Havens from the very beginning. He is a third generation elephant handler who was raised by his handler father and grandfather. Bee is also a licensed safari guide and a naturalist. In the past he worked at Abu Camp supervising a healthy breeding herd that lived as wild elephants during the day and returned home to the bomas at night. There he learned how to raise these deceptively fragile orphan elephants to adulthood. At Elephant Havens, Bee manages our team of handlers and oversees all aspects of rescue and care of our elephants.
Debra Stevens learned how enticing elephants are as a species after she met and fell in love with a 6-month-old orphaned elephant on one of her many trips to Africa. These animals so need love and connection to community that they simply can’t live without it. She is determined to give orphaned and abandoned babies a “family” of both humans and other elephants so they can thrive and eventually be reintroduced to the wild. Debra is chief fundraiser and evangelist for Elephant Havens and travels fro Dallas to Botswana every other month to bond with the elephants and work with the team there.
Scott Jackson was introduced to Africa by Debra on their honeymoon. After decades behind a desk he found that in Botswana and other areas of sub-Saharan Africa, the human footprint was light and at every turn there was something new to discover and learn. He quickly developed the same passion for elephants that his wife has always known. While maintaining his regular real estate law practice in Dallas, Scott also guides the U.S. charity’s grant writing efforts and helps coordinate operations on the ground for projects in Africa, from elephant care to construction and insurance, land acquisition to permit procurement and more.
Our last stop (before returning to Elephant Havens) was an overnight visit to Pangolin Photo’s lodge in Kasane. Our plans were to participate in two safari boat adventures with Pangolin, one in the latter afternoon and the second early the next morning. In the meantime we enjoyed our overnight including dinner and breakfast with a small group of photographers and the Pangolin staff.
Botswana, Africa photo safari in Chobe
Our focus on both trips was to capture a few bird images, and to take images of a variety of wildlife. We happened to see several crocodiles eating a drowned cape buffalo so that became a real focus. here are a number of images taken by Karen and I.
Our third stop on the 2022 safari was Muchenje Lodge , on the west side of Chobe National Park and overlooking the Chobe River from a magnificent perch atop the ridge. The lodge is another favorite as it offers boating on the Chobe, in addition to safari drives in the park and walking safaris below the camp. The lodge is magnificent, as are the accommodations in ten individual chalets. The boating is a great windup to eight days of twice daily game drives, and offers a real opportunity to closeup views of elephants, hippos, cape buffalo and crocodiles in the river. In addition the bird life around the water and grassy islands is beautiful and quite unique.
One of our absolute favorite camps, Kwara is in the Kwando Concession located on the NE side of Moremi Reserve. Its’ sister camp is Splash, which we visited last May. The Concession is in our opinion one of the best areas in Botswana for wildlife, and we visit regularly. Kwando also is one of the few camp operators which feature both a guide/driver and a tracker in each vehicle, which enhances the likelihood of finding wildlife, spotting birds and so on.
The Camp
Kwara is a new camp, built recently on the sites of an older Kwara (visited in 2013) and Little Kwara (visited 2017) Camps. There are nine guest tents, each of which overlooks a secluded lagoon. The main area includes several comfortable lounges, dining, gift shop and the usual on-the-ground campfire area used for early morning breakfasts. The area is well known for predators including lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetahs and especially African wild dogs.
African Wild Dogs
These are an absolute favorite, often difficult to find. However on this visit we spotted them four days in a row. The first experience was after an “Indy” type drive by our guide Shine!
Leopard
We had one sighting of a leopard and it was a great one. The leopard was settling into the bushes with a newly caught impala, and Shine was able to position the vehicle so we had a really good view of it beginning to eat.
Zebras
Very nice sightings of a large zebra “dazzle”, as a group of these animals are called.
Hyena
Nice sighting of this very young hyena alone in the family den.
Hippos
We saw a lot of hippos, including some real action as some pools were a little crowded!
Hawk
Elephants
Secretary Birds
Cheetah
This one cheetah has been dominant in the Kwando Concession for eight years or so. He is called “Mr. Special” because of his tendency to climb into trees, unusual for the species. Karen and I spent a whole day with him last year at Splash.
On our recent safari trip to Botswana – our sixth – we had the privilege of spending four nights at Selinda Camp in the Linyanti region of Botswana. Selinda is a premier camp owned and operated by Great Plains Conservation, and a member of Relais and Chateaux properties. The camp is located on the banks of the Selinda Spillway at its’ juncture with the Linyanti River, and consists of the main lodge, three magnificent guest suites and a two bedroom Selinda Suite. The concession is 130,000 hectares in area, and offers excellent game viewing with most of the typical wildlife encountered in Botswana. While at Selinda, we were treated royally, fed gourmet food, rested in luxury and experienced a number of special sightings. I might note that the water levels throughout our trip were higher than we have ever seen, grasses were very tall and wildlife detection difficult at best.
The Camp
Through our arrival the camp was skillfully managed by its’ two gracious and friendly managers Anica and Michael Jones. Anica is South African, Michael English; both have managed propertries in Botswana for some time. They were in the process of moving to another assignment in Great Plains, and have been replaced by Bujos and CeCe Moabi, good friends of ours from Shinde Camp. Bujos is also Bee Poloko’s (Elephant Havens) nephew. Botswana is a small world!
Lions
We saw quite a few lions at Selinda. One notable experience included seeing a male and a female lion repeatedly mating – – action was quickly accomplished several times within 45 minutes.
More interesting – and heartwarming – was the sight of lion cubs. Our guides Alex and Opie were aware that one of the local females had three cubs, and we spent considerable time trying to locate the little ones. Finally Opie found them – three small cubs and their mother, who were soon joined by the mother’s mother and her three cubs. What great fun!
The Kill
One morning we were driving along, and came upon a small zebra sitting in the grass beside her mother. As we approached the two began to walk away to our left, nearing a fairly large group of impale and more zebras. Suddenly the mother and baby – and others – cam rushing past us in the opposite direction. We then spotted a cheetah pulling down an impala, slowly suffocating the prey and then dragging it onto the adjacent buses. A live kill!
Cheetahs
Sables
Carmine Bee Eaters
We were constantly followed by carmine bee eaters who were going after insects stirred up by the safari vehicle. We all tried to capture these birds while in flight, possible because they tended to return to their original perch. But difficult indeed.
Pangolin was conceived by two individuals in 2011, who saw a potential demand for photographic support of wildlife safaris in Botswana. They began with conducted photo safaris, added a houseboat on the Chobe, then a hotel in Kasane in 2018. The hotel has 14 rooms and overlooks the Chobe River form an elevated site in Kasane. The boat dock is only five minutes away. Pangolin has several eight chair photo boats, each with swivel chairs and gimbel arrangements for guest’s cameras. Each trip is led by a photo professional; in our case we were well educated by Dennis, who happened to be a high school classmate of our friend Bee of Elephant Havens.
The hotel is very comfortable, and has a main hall with mounted photos taken by their professional. Rooms are quite large and rather rustic in nature with exposed piping and so on. Meals were very nice, and served in a group setting which made making acquaintances quite easy.
Karen and I can certainly recommend Pangolin as a short stop at the end of a safari, or as a focused stay to learn the art of wildlife photography.
So now that COVID has at least diminished and travel seems safe enough, we continued our love for Botswana with a group trip originally planned for 2020. The trip took place in March of this year, with a group of eight – six had been with us on at least one prior trip. We began with a few days at Elephant Havens – more later. Then we spent four nights at three camps. These included Great Plains Conservation’s Selinda Camp in the Linyanti region, then Kwara Camp (Kwando Concession) in the Okavango Delta and finally Muchenje Camp on the Chobe River near Kasane.
Some of us finished with one night at Pangolin’s photo lodge in Kasana, and enjoyed a late afternoon photo trip on the Chobe River, followed by an early morning reprise. Both were on their well known photo boats, each outfitted with eight swivel chairs and gimbels for our cameras.
This Botswana series of blogs with start with Pangolin, and then each of the three safari camps. Those will feature the camps first, then images of the primary wildlife we experienced. Hope you enjoy the series. This may be interupted from time to time with other experiences. For example we about to embark on a two week tour of Morocco.
The Inner Passage of SE Alaska is not heavily populated. Juneau, the state capital, has a population of only 32,000. Sitka and Ketchikan are two other larger places, with populations in the 8,000 range. On Our recent cruise on Alaskan Dream we stopped at three smaller towns which are all interesting with strong heritages. Those are Wrangell, Petersburg and Kake.
Wrangell
Wrangell is the largest of the three. It is situated near the mouth of the Stikine River and is one of the oldest towns in Alaska. It is also the only town in Alaska to have existed under three flags and be ruled by four nations: Tlingit, Russia, England and the United States.
Wrangell is located on the northwest tip of Wrangell Island, and is known for its Tlingit culture, wildlife viewing and exploration on the beautiful Stikine River. Just north of town is the Petroglyph Beach Historic Park, where one can see primitive rock carvings believed to be 8,000 years old.
In late June through August, one of Southeast Alaska’s largest pink salmon run enters Anan Bay and heads up Anan Creek, 30 miles south of Wrangell. From an observatory at Anan Wildlife Observatory one can watch eagles, seals, Black and brown bears feeding on the spawning humpies.
Fishing is another activity to be enjoyed in Wrangell.
Accomodations in Wrangell include the Stikine Inn, and the “Stik”, an excellent dining spot within the hotel.
Petersburg
We then visited the charming Mitkof Island community of Petersburg. Nicknamed “Alaska’s Little Norway”, the community was founded by Norwegian fishermen and is named after the Norwegian immigrant, Peter Buschmann. He arrived in the area in the late 1890’s and noticed that the clean and plentiful ice off the nearby LeConte glacier could serve as an invaluable source for fish packing. Over the next decade he built the Icy Strait Packing Company, a swamill and a dock. IN 1916, Alaskan Glacier Seafoods was established.
Today, Petersburg remains heavily populated by people of Scandinavian descent. Many homes qare painted bright colors. The Sons of Norway Hall has become an icon of the community.
Kake
Located 38 miles northwest of Petersburg in the Inside Passage region, this community of 570 residents is the historical home for the Kake tribe of Tlingits who controlled the trade routes around Kuiu and Kuprenof Islands. The water s around Kake are rich with halibut and salmon, making it an angler’s paradise. Kake is also home to the largest congregation of humpback whales in Alaska. Kake boasts a 128 foot totem pole, one of the world’s largest carved for the Alaska Purchase Centennial.
We recently took a one week cruise on Alaskan Dream, a 40 passenger catamaran operated by the company of the same name. The cruise was focused on the Inland Passage of SE Alaska. This is a great way to see this spectacular area, starting in Juneau and ending up in Sitka. We only had 27 passengers, serviced by a crew of 17 led by Captain Eric Morrow. Every day was an adventure, the food was wonderful and the social setting lovely.
Our first day was spent touring Glacier Bay, a national monument established in 1925, and officially made a national park in 1980. The bay is 65 miles in length, running north from Icy Strait. It was first visited by Capt. George Vancouver in 1794, when the bay was covered in ice out to Icy Strait. Eighty five years later, John Muir visited by canoe and found the glacier receding as fast as a mile per year..
A boat tour north from Gustavius is fascinating, beautiful and full of interest – glaciers, mountains, bird life, whales, seals and so on. The smaller ship of course can access the glaciers very closely.
The Carefree Photographer 