by Levison Wood
Behind the Image
Women of the San and Bantu communities fish using traditional handmade baskets on the edge of the Okavango Delta. When they catch nothing, they resort to eating the flowers and stems of the water lilies.
The stoicism of these women is remarkable. Despite the constant danger of attacks by hippos, crocodiles and elephants, the women go out daily to try and provide food for their families. Whilst fishing, they sing local songs, which not only provide entertainment but also scare away troublesome wildlife.
I spent a month walking across Botswana following a herd of elephants to try to understand more about human-wildlife conflict and how people survive on the frontiers of nature. One of these women told me that she had tragically lost her father to a charging elephant nearby just a few years earlier. Many locals I met said that they should have the right to kill elephants, but this lady disagreed, believing that the elephants have as much right to exist as us, and that humans are just guests on their ancestral land.
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The stoicism of these women is remarkable. Despite the constant danger of attacks by hippos, crocodiles and elephants, the women go out daily to try and provide food for their families. Whilst fishing, they sing local songs, which not only provide entertainment but also scare away troublesome wildlife.
I spent a month walking across Botswana following a herd of elephants to try to understand more about human-wildlife conflict and how people survive on the frontiers of nature. One of these women told me that she had tragically lost her father to a charging elephant nearby just a few years earlier. Many locals I met said that they should have the right to kill elephants, but this lady disagreed, believing that the elephants have as much right to exist as us, and that humans are just guests on their ancestral land.
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Levison Wood
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Levison Wood
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