At Home in the Okavango

At Home in the Okavango
Author: Catie Gressier
Publisher:
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2015
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781782387732

An ethnographic portrayal of the lives of white citizens of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, this book examines their relationships with the natural and social environments of the region. In response to the insecurity of their position as a European-descended minority in a postcolonial African state, Gressier argues that white Batswana have developed cultural values and practices that have allowed them to attain high levels of belonging. Adventure is common for this frontier community, and the book follows their safari lifestyles as they construct and perform localized identities in their interactions with dangerous wildlife, the broader African community, and the global elite via their work in the nature-tourism industry.

Wildlife of the Okavango

Wildlife of the Okavango
Author: Duncan Butchart
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Total Pages: 550
Release: 2016-09-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1775843394

A remarkable variety of animals and plants can be found in the wilderness region surrounding the Okavango Delta. This photographic guide covers more than 470 of the area’s most conspicuous and interesting mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, fi shes, invertebrates, trees and aquatic plants. An informative introduction describes the area’s geology, climate, habitats and the key roles played by some animals, such as termites and elephants. The species accounts feature concise text describing the species’ appearance, size, habits, habitat and status, with full-colour photographs to facilitate identification.

At Home in the Okavango

At Home in the Okavango
Author: Catie Gressier
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2015-08-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1782387749

An ethnographic portrayal of the lives of white citizens of the Okavango Delta, Botswana, this book examines their relationships with the natural and social environments of the region. In response to the insecurity of their position as a European-descended minority in a postcolonial African state, Gressier argues that white Batswana have developed cultural values and practices that have allowed them to attain high levels of belonging. Adventure is common for this frontier community, and the book follows their safari lifestyles as they construct and perform localized identities in their interactions with dangerous wildlife, the broader African community, and the global elite via their work in the nature-tourism industry.

Dibebe of the Okavango

Dibebe of the Okavango
Author: Thomas J. Larson
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2001
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0595204333

This exciting Huckleberry Finn kind of story is about two African herdboys in 1950 going down the Okavango River in a dugout canoe. The beautiful river flows down out of the Benguela Highlands of Angola, crosses the Caprivi Strip of Namibia, then into Botswana where it spreads out through the vast Okavango Delta. The true-to-life adventures of Dibebe and Andara are about hunting, fishing, surviving, visiting friends and kinsmen along the great meandering river. The Hambukushu tribal ceremonies are true to the culture of these remote riverine people. Brave canoemen have traveled through the vast delta in dugout canoes. Bushman paintings can be seen in the mysterious Tsodilo Hills. It is possible that prehistoric peoples left their bones in a cave in these hills. The anthropologist author made eight expeditions from 1950 to 1994 to study the culture of these matrilineal, Bantu-speaking hunters, fishermen, farmers. All events in the story were possible in those long ago days of 1950. This story of karikaripamatango - the olden days - is most informative and educational reading for young people and adults alike!

The Hambukushu Rainmakers of the Okavango

The Hambukushu Rainmakers of the Okavango
Author: Thomas John Larson
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 526
Release: 2001
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0595184561

In light of the terrible AIDS tragedy unfolding in southern Africa, one gets an enormous sense of sadness and loss when reading The Hambukushu Rainmakers of the Okavango. Tom J. Larson was one of the last anthropologists to experience and record their ancient culture before it was so radically impacted by modernization and the ravages of the AIDS epidemic. Over the course of many years, he earned the trust of the Hambukushu and was allowed the kind of access needed to painstakingly record the minutiae of every aspect of their daily lives. What emerged is a portrait of a complex, distinctive African culture defined by the abundance of their homeland, the vast and wild Okavango River delta, and by the powerful Rainmaker chiefs who controlled the very fabric of their existence. To read Larson's extraordinary book is to understand how the belief systems that worked so well for them for centuries wreak such havoc on them today.

From Oxford to the Okavango

From Oxford to the Okavango
Author: Thomas John Larson
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2003
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0595264107

World explorer Tom Larson is off on another grand adventure this time with his wife and three small children! First they go to Woodstock, England while he studies for his MLitt degree at Oxford, then they are off to Johannesburg, South Africa where Larson has a teaching position at the Witwatersrand University. During vacations he goes to Botswana to continue studies of the Hambukushu people he started in 1950. There is never a dull moment for the Larson family or the reader as the story moves from their lovely home "The Cardinal1s Hat" near stately Blenheim Palace Park in England to native African outposts in the vast, wild Okavango River delta country of Southern Africa. This book is an amazing read! Alec Campbell of Botswana states: "Tom is an old time indefatigable explorer who still works on his enormous accumulation of data, lectures to students, and who still works at research in the Society Islands of French Polynesia."

Fishes of the Okavango Delta & Chobe River

Fishes of the Okavango Delta & Chobe River
Author: Mike Bruton
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2018-05-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1775845060

A comprehensive guide to the fishes of the Okavango Delta and Chobe River, this book offers background information on the diverse aquatic habitats of the region and on fish feeding, breeding and survival strategies. It also provides useful hints for anglers. The species entries describe each fish in detail, with key ID points and information on habits and occurrence. Each account is accompanied by a colour illustration or photograph. The book concludes with information on how best to utilise and conserve the fishes of the delta system and Chobe River. This is the only such guide to fishes of the region and will be invaluable to local and visiting fishermen, naturalists and conservationists, as well as the many tourists who visit this spectacular African paradise.

Okavango Gods

Okavango Gods
Author: Anthony Fleischer
Publisher: New Africa Books
Total Pages: 220
Release: 1998
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780864863850

At one level Okavango Gods is a fast-moving adventure at the mouth of rivers, a story of a young Hambukushu man, Pula Barotse, and his beloved friend Julia, daughter of the Portuguese doctor at Shakawe clinic. Together the young couple struggle to contend with the traditional rituals of sacrifice for rain, and with the biggest flood to ever hit the Okavango delta. At another level, it is an allegory of Africa - mystical and beautiful, both wayward and ordered - evoking the ancient story of Gilgamesh and the flood. Nature, magic, fetish and ritual rule, just as they did 5000 years ago. But the Hambukushu people, and the Okavango river that sustains them, are threatened today.