In Maputo Special Reserve, Uwe Muhl, Peace Parks’ Chief Helicopter Pilot, is taking us through the arrangements in this picket where a small unit of field rangers is stationed to protect the reserve’s boundary. The rangers here guard the area as well as the solar system that powers the electric fence.
Uwe has come in with a team to help to sort out a water problem. For quite a while the pump has been broken so the rangers based here have had to resort to driving water into the picket. This has meant over a two-hour’s drive each way with a tractor every time, which is waste of precious time, let alone an inconvenience to the team. Uwe and the team take time to try to come up with a better long-term solution.
Uwe installs a new solar controller for the water pump. As the system has not been stationary for some time, nature has been having a field day, growing roots into the pipe system to access. Ingenious as this is for the plant, it causes major problems for the team. When the pipes are opened up to clear them of the invasive plant roots, the fittings break. This is all part and parcel of life in the bush. Things rarely go according to plan when you are living and working in the field in southern Africa. A long way from supplies and shops, the team has to rely on their own skills. They soon come up with a plan to fix things – a bush plan – involving PVC piping and old-fashioned fire.
Once power is reinstalled, the borehole pump is working once again and water flows from the tap. All in a day’s work for a ranger working for Peace Parks Foundation. Keeping the day-to-day operations running smoothly assists the greater conservation efforts while making the lives of field rangers stationed here a whole lot easier.
