National Geographic - Snapshot Chronicles Roadtrip

Pete’s Pond

December 12, 2009 by Susan Getgood

We went to Africa because of Pete’s Pond.

A few years ago, my mom got involved in the online community for the National Geographic webcam at Pete’s Pond in Botswana.

Pete’s Pond is an artificial watering hole created to give the animals on the Mashatu Game Reserve an alternative water source to the nearby Limpopo River where they are easy targets for poachers. The webcam shares the activity at the Pond with viewers around the world.

Including my mom.

Last year, at about this time, my brother got the idea that we should take Mom to Africa. Amazingly, we made it happen.

The webcam is located in a hide, and runs 24×7. At night, it is on an automatic sweep, but during the day, there is a camera operator to find and follow whatever action is happening at the pond. In our western mentality, we think, how much could happen at a pond? Quite a lot actually. Especially in a semi-arid climate like Botswana where there isn’t much water most of the year. And, unlike the game drives, where the animals and birds are aware of the vehicle, at the Pond, they are mostly unaware (unless there are unexpected loud noises from the hide.)

When our plane from Mashatu to Mala Mala was delayed by four hours, we were privileged to spend the time at the hide. Afke, the volunteer who runs the webcam, had come to see us off, and when we had the long wait, she graciously invited us to wait at the Pond.

My full set of pictures is on Flickr, but here are some of my favorites.

It’s hard to get good pictures of warthogs. They scamper off PDQ. I got my best shots of them from the hide.

A Bee-eater

And a Pied Kingfisher

George & Gracie, the Egyptian Geese and GuineaFowl

Leaving Mashatu

December 9, 2009 by Susan Getgood

Sunday September 20 2009

On our last drive at Mashatu, we got closer to an elephant than any of us ever thought we’d be… without zoo bars in between, that is. I knew we were pretty damn close when I heard Elvis mutter something like “that’s right mama, keep going…”

We also saw another leopard, ostrich and the ever-present impala. It was so interesting to see the different species interact, something we rarely see in zoos, even wonderful ones like San Diego’s Wild Animal Park.

More pictures from the morning drive.

All too soon it was time to make our way to the airport and say our good-byes. Afke, my mom’s friend who runs the camera at Pete’s Pond, came to see us off.

(Mum on the left, Afke on the right)

A mighty good thing that was, as our charter plane to Mala Mala in South Africa ended up being delayed by about four hours. Instead of hanging around the airfield or going back to Main Camp, Afke cheerily and without hesitation invited us to come to the Pond.

So all five us, Mum, Doug, me, and our now fast friends and traveling companions Michael and Gary made our way to Pete’s Pond for a completely different and quite unique wildlife viewing experience. One that you can share thanks to National Geographic’s 24-hour webcam.

You’re going to Africa? – Part 1

August 20, 2009 by Sandra Getgood

I enjoy watching animals, whether they are my cats (who are relatively goofy) or Susan’s Scottish Terriers, or the birds and squirrels and extremely fat chipmunk who hang out around our bird feeder in the back yard. I also enjoy watching wildcams. Although there are quite a few wildcams available on the internet, some of them are simply a stationary camera focused on a waterhole or eagles’ nest. My favorite wildcam quickly became National Geographic’s WildCam Africa, which featured Pete’s Pond , located on the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana. There was always something to see there, 24/7, and because there are no humans or vehicles to distract the animals, birds and reptiles, they interact with each other as they would anywhere else in the wild, offering a rare opportunity to see wild animals being themselves.

Also, there was Afke, the world’s best cam operator, who can always find something interesting to see, whether it’s a family of elephants dropping by with their babies to have a drink and play in the water, or wildebeest and zebra herds jockeying for position at their favorite drinking spot or, if there are no animals to watch at that moment, perhaps a close-up of ants and bees investigating a hibiscus blossom. If you would like to see what triggered my obsession and started us planning this trip to Africa, here is the link to the wildcam. (You’ll need Real Player.) Warning: this site is addictive. :>D

There is also a forum, where folks watching the activity at Pete’s Pond could talk about sightings, ask and answer questions, share information, have conversations with each other and with Afke, and even post screen captures of the animals, birds, and reptiles who visited the Pond, to save the sightings for others who were sleeping or at work. You can find the forum on Facebook.

I knew I had become obsessed when I began waking up at 4 o’clock in the morning, so I would have time to spend a few hours at the Pond before it was time to get ready for work. I had become a “Pondie.”

So when my daughter Susan and my son Doug mentioned that they had noticed my obsession (a very tactful way of putting it, I felt) and that they were thinking the three of us should visit Africa, I was astonished,. Although I had often thought what fun it would be to visit the Pond in person, the idea that I actually would do it had really never occurred to me. It seemed…and is!…so far away. But the more we talked about it, the more it seemed something we could do. The three of us have always enjoyed traveling together, and this sounded like a very exciting trip for all of us.

Next: Planning the trip