Magkadigkadi Camp Maun

Where else than in the Okavango delta can you feel you are really part of Nature. <br><br>Flying over the delta to grasp the intensity of this huge wetland was breathtaking. <br><br>Going then on a 3 day Mokoro (dhow) trip, finding your own little island to camp, digging your toilet hole :-), cooking on the fire, being waken up by the elephants in the morning, walking in the bush to observe the zebras, warthogs and giraffes.... was just a unique experience...!

... wet due to water leakage coming in from the window frames. (yes, this old Mercedes Benz copy keeps getting more impressive). By noon, however, the mist and drizzle stop, the sun peeks through, and skies turn to blue. Consequently, the temperature and humidity rise considerably.<br><br>Of course we have to stop for a picnic lunch, today consisting of tuna pasta salad and self-made sandwiches.<br><br>We are stopped at a foot and mouth checkpoint ...

... blieben wir hoffnungslos stecken. 4X4, Differenzialsperre, Luft ablassen, Holz unterlegen, schaufeln, alles für nichts. Irgendwo in der Wildnis waren wir jetzt also gestrandet. Mit der Hilfe eines roten T-Shirts und einer Trillerpfeife konnten wir einen Wagen auf uns aufmerksam machen, mit dessen Hilfe unser Auto schlussendlich kurz vor Sonnenuntergang aus dem Schlamm gezogen werden konnte. Daniele, Serge, wir werden euch ewig danken, dass ihr uns aus dieser misslichen Lage befreit ...

... ready to take guests further on to the uber-luxurious lodges in the delta. <br><br>We were immediately met here by a lady from our 4x4 company who wisked us away to their office down the road. During this 10 minute drive the rep started to give us the run down of the town, swinging around to talk to me in the back seat while swerving around donkies and goats which apparently have the right-of-way.<br><br>We pulled up and set our ...

... plus the heat is very tiring for all but especially so for whoever is the main driver.<br><br>The weather has really warmed up since we entered Botswana and at the moment it is about 36 degrees around lunchtime. Zambia seemed to be fresher even though it was just as warm; there was nearly always a breeze about. This is the end of wintertime, and our next destination is the Kalahari and Deception Valley area so it could be even warmer.

... sits by the river but was very dusty. Here we had a group dinner of chicken, potatoes and salad which was lovely as we had been missing roast chicken for some time. We are camped here 4 nights as most of us were doing the Okavango Delta trip which was 2 nights bush camping in the delta getting there by Mokoro dug out boats.

... all they saw were birds. Alan went down just before bed with one of the lads but they saw nothing. <br><br>We had yet another very early start the next day as we needed to get to Rundu to get some shopping and spend the last of our Namibian Dollars. That night we stayed on the banks of the Okovango river that feeds into the famous Okovango Delta. There were crocs and hippos in the river but we didn't see any that night. <br><br>On Saturday morning we had to get up early as we had a long ...

... hence our concern. Two hours of arguing finally led to a re-issuing of all our scheduled flights (though improperly, which would prove to cause many problems in our future). After all this, we had missed our bus to Botswana, and Steph was in a foul mood. Persistence with an employee and then a manager finally led to our big break&#8230;they offered to put us up in the Emperor&#8217;s Palace fancy casino hotel for the night, and provide a generous ...

Crossed over into Botswana in the morning and made our way to our campsite in Maun. The next day we went into the Delta in Mokoros which are dug out canoes, though the ones we were in were of the fyber glass variety. It was still fantastic though lying back as we got poled to our campsite 3 hours away. Apparently the Delta was far more ...

... Oliver's intent on doing the lion walk in Zimbabwe so think we'll just put the money towards that instead. <br><br><br><br>So our first night in Maun proved to be quite eventful with Muzza once again working his magic and scoring with an Aussie lass from another Oasis truck headed for Cape Town. The single lads are starting to form a rule, that being always hook up with someone headed in the opposite direction. Very wise. <br><br><br><br>People were getting thrown in the pool ...