Okavanga Delta
The Okavango Delta provided our first real opportunity to spend time with the locals and sleep in the wild. The delta is an area of land and waterways whose shapes and positions change with the season.
One and a half hour drive in the back of a truck left everybody with sore bottoms, whilst the fact it was a weekend also meant that nobody had been able to buy alcohol to ease the pain. Botswana seemingly has quite strict licensing laws.
Arriving at the Delta we were selected by the locals to be transported in their Mokoros. These mokoros could transport two individuals along with a poler. Our poler for the weekend was Michelle who was very chatty. We asked her if she had ever fallen in to which she said no but she knows that she will one day. Not the most reassuring response in a wobbly boat in an area with hippos.
On a side note I was advised to go at the front of the Mokoro so that any spiders that fell from the reeds would land on me rather than Cara.
The trip to the delta had been described to us as a real night in the bush with holes for toilets and no showers. We were all pleasantly surprised to find that each tent had its own toilet hole in the back covered by a make shift plastic cover along with a bucket shower. We did wake up on the second morning to hear somebody on our toilet. I found out at a later date this was somebody who had gotten mixed up with our tents. A very amusing and disturbing way to be woken up.
Whilst in the Delta we had a dabble at navigating the waterways in the Mokoros. It was actually a lot harder than it looked although other people in the group took to it very quickly. Arriving back at camp after this excursion we spotted our first buffalo of the trip.
In the late afternoon we completed a nature walk with the locals. Almost immediately we spotted Zebra in the distance along with Wilder beast and impala. Walking further towards the animals the Wilder beast retreated but were replaced by a herd of elephants including calves. It was incredible to be so close if not a little intimidating. Our walk ended with a visit to the hippos who were still in the water at that stage.
The evening entertainment was a mixture of songs sang by the locals, in return each nation was expected to sing a song from their country. Australia started with a rousing rendition of waltzing Matilda whilst Britain elected for S Club 7 for some reason. A further notable highlight of the evening was the riddle’s from the locals.
The morning Mokoro journey lead us past an Elephant playing in the water less than 20m away. This obviously worried Michelle as she began backing away from the animal.
All in all this was a fabulous experience and we could not recommend the Delta Rain company any more highly.
Arriving back at camp we had only a couple of hours before we took a flight out over the Delta in a 6 person aircraft. Cara asked “where are the engines” before noticing the small propeller at the front of the plane. Our pilot was a young local lady who allowed us to take some photos with her at the end of the trip. It was nice to see a break of the stereotypes that seem quite strong throughout the journey so far.
Whilst on the aircraft we saw many of the animals we had seen during the river trip although we did also manage to see giraffe, hippos on land and Rhino! The aircraft travelled over the hoof and mouth fence on the way back to the airport allowing us to see the scale of the construction.
Joe Dunleavy