Roxanne Reid
  • Home
  • Book author
    • Travels in the Kalahari >
      • Photo gallery: Travels in the Kalahari
      • Book reviews: Travels in the Kalahari
    • A Walk in the Park >
      • Photo gallery: A Walk in the Park
      • Book reviews: A Walk in the Park
    • The Essential Guide to Self-Editing >
      • Book reviews: Essential Guide to Self-Editing
    • Betrayed
    • Book reviews online
  • Editing & proofreading
  • In the media
    • Travel features
    • Health features
    • Online media
    • Media kit
  • Blog
  • Testimonials
  • Links
  • Contact

Voices of Botswana: the kind man and the crazy guests

4/8/2016

2 Comments

 
Xigera Camp, Okavango, Botswana
By Roxanne Reid
For 12 years Warona (Wax) Kebabope worked as a ranger and environmental education officer at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, a community-based wildlife project near Serowe in Botswana. Then he got married and he and his wife began looking around for somewhere they could work together. 

​Two years ago they both got jobs at Wilderness Safaris Banoka Bush Camp in the Khwai Reserve, Okavango Delta. I met him when he was filling in on the management team at Xigera Camp for a few months. His wife was head housekeeper there, but off on maternity leave. They would soon be moving together to Gomoti Camp further east.
Solar panels, Xigera Camp, Okavango, Botswana
Solar panels at Xigera Camp
He showed us around Xigera’s solar plant, an impressive 135 panels producing 30kW of renewable energy, enough to power all the camp’s lights, fridges and freezers, sewage and water pumps. The energy is stored in huge batteries for use at night.

Solar energy has obvious environmental benefits, which is what drove Wilderness Safaris to make the change in 2011. ‘It’s also better because bringing fuel to run a generator in this remote area is a mission,’ said Wax. 
​
Batteries, Xigera Camp, Okavango, Botswana
Xigera's battery bank
​The Okavango Delta is pristine and special enough to have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014, so it’s important that waste water from the camp doesn’t contaminate the environment. All grey water is treated by anaerobic aeration in an above-ground treatment plant before it’s allowed back into the environment.

Crazy guests
Since many of the eco-camps in Botswana are unfenced in areas where there are wild animals, I wondered if there were ever problems. ‘There was an incident when I was by the pool and an elephant came there, standing between me and some guests who came to take pictures,’ Wax replied. ‘The people got too close so it mock charged. I shouted at them to move but they just stood there.’ 
Wax Kebabope, Wilderness Safaris, Botswana
Wax Kebabope
When they finally moved the elephant was w-a-ay too close, the charge no longer so ‘mock’. ‘I asked them afterwards why they didn’t move when I told them to. They said they’d read that you must stand still, not run.’ He shook his head. ‘I told them, “When your manager is telling you to move you don’t worry about what you’ve read, you just listen to what he’s telling you.”’

Wax’s winning mantra for dealing with fussy guests is to kill them with kindness. ‘I’m a kind person and sometimes that’s all you need to make people feel better,’ he said.

And when they feel better, they start to enjoy themselves. Clever man.

* This is part of a series called Voices of Botswana, which shares the stories of some of the people we met on our Botswana adventure. You can find them all in the people category of this blog.

You may also enjoy
Okavango: where the mokoro is king
Okavango: the best game drive of our lives
​
Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
2 Comments
Eric
4/8/2016 10:23:06 pm

A vey impressive solar setup. Well done Wax.

Reply
Roxanne
5/8/2016 08:58:33 am

I'm not sure Wax can take credit for the solar system, Eric, but I agree that it's impressive. I love the eco-tourism ethic that Botswana's safari companies have.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Get email links to the latest blogs

    Buy my books
    NEW e-book 2017
    2nd ed e-book 2015
    E-book 2012​

    About 

    I'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel.
    Since 2015, travel buddy and husband Keith has been the primary photographer for this blog.
    We're happiest in the middle of nowhere, meeting the locals, trying something new, or simply watching the grass grow.
    In this blog you can discover new places to go, revisit places you've loved, or take a virtual tour of destinations you only dream about.

    Popular posts 

    * Top 5 favourite national parks in South Africa
    ​
    * Sleep in a cave: where to stay in the Baviaanskloof
    ​​* 15 things to do at Mapungubwe
    * 8 things to do and see in Sutherland
    * How to choose a camp site at Chobe, Botswana
    *​ 17 things to do in Tulbagh, Cape Winelands
    ​​​
    ​Other blogs I write for
    Africa Freak
    Africa Geographic
    Getaway
    Untold Africa
    Wild

    Categories

    All
    Baviaanskloof
    Berg En Dal Kruger
    Books
    Botswana
    Camping
    Cape Town
    Chobe
    Conservation
    Drc
    Eastern Cape
    Etosha Namibia
    Food
    Free State
    Garden Route
    Gauteng
    Guest Blogs
    Issues
    Kalahari
    Karoo
    Kenya
    Kruger National Park
    Kwazulu Natal
    Lesotho
    Letaba Kruger
    Limpopo
    Linyanti
    Malawi
    Mozambique
    Mpumalanga
    Namaqualand
    Namibia
    Nature Parks
    Northern Cape
    Okavango
    Olifants Kruger
    Overberg
    People
    Photography
    Richtersveld
    Satara Kruger
    Tanzania
    Travel
    Tsendze Kruger
    Videos
    West Coast
    Western Cape
    Wild Creatures
    Zambia
    Zimbabwe

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    January 2010
    November 2009

Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without written permission from roxannereid.co.za

​

Photos used under Creative Commons from berniedup, t_y_l, Lucy_Hill
✕