Animal tracking is an art. Each track has many clues, helping us determine how recently the animals have passed, the types of animals and their direction of travel. Our noses smell the subtle scents of the bush and we use our intuition to know when we are close. Our eyes tell us so much about animal behaviors, whether they are calm or whether they are threatened. We were first introduced to the art of tracking in South Africa learning how to analyze animal tracks, determining the direction of the wind and listening to the sounds of the bush. We learned about animal behavior and how to use all of our senses to track. We succeeded in finding a herd of elephants and were able to photograph them without being noticed. In Botswana, we left the comforts and safety of our vehicle and traveled by foot to track a pride of lions. Although we did not come across the pride, we walked for hours and came very close. Minute by minute we used all of our skills to navigate through the Okavango Delta in search of these lions putting aside all of our fears and focusing on the art of tracking.
So, what is our take away? How do we as a family want to remember these experiences? We want to take our tracking skills back with us and improve awareness of all of our surroundings. We want to use all of our senses when communicating with our friends. When we think of tracking we will always be curious and look for clues.
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