Bush camping in the Okavango Delta
Trip Start
Jan 04, 2008
1
11
23
Trip End
Jan 31, 2008
Okavango Delta,
Botswana
Thursday, January 17, 2008
We arrive at the boat launch and meet our guides. They are a local family who will transport us to an island, arrange our camping, and live with us for the two days. The only way to the island is by a shallow wooden boat called a Morkoro pushed through the shallow water with a pole, much like in Venice. My poler for the two days is a small boy named "DT" who quickly takes my bags and tent an loads up the boat for the trip. He doesn't speak english very well, but makes a point of shaking my hand and learning my name
A Zebra
. I can't believe this skinny little kid has the muscle to move my fat ass in the boat! He gets me sorted and I sit back and relax for the hour and half long boat trip to the island. We all arrive at the campsite on the island around noon. Our group is "bush camping" which means there are no services... no shower, no water and no toilet. Our bathroom consists of a small pit that we dig in the woods to bury our business to keep from attracting animals. We are also warned to go in pairs "just in case" any animals happen to be curious. God help me!
During our lunchtime briefing, we are warned not to leave the camp without a guide. We are in the wilds of Africa and the animals see us as being a tasty dinner. Because it is so hot, we are told to chill out under a shade tree for the afternoon and our first walk on the Delta will begin when it "cools" at 5pm.
Our first walk was described by our guide, "C- Company", as being a short walk to the hippo's watering hole. Along the way we saw lots of birds and other small animals including monkeys and wilder beasts. The short walk to the watering hole was over two hours long!
An Elephant track
But it was worth it! There were seven hippos wading with their noses and ears sticking out. So cool! Every so often they would jump up and stick their bums up in the air and grunt. The rest of the "short walk" was during sunset. We were surrounded by the symphony of frogs and crickets while the bright red sun set over the delta. The next morning, our wake up time was 4:30 am for the "Long walk". C-Company warned us to bring at least 2 litres of water, sunscreen and bug spray. This is going to be hard core! Over 5 hours, our walk took us to most of the island. We saw zebras, more wilder beasts, antelope, baboons, and lots of other smaller animals. For an hour were tracking an elephant and some giraffes by following some tracks and warm fresh poo. We never did catch up to them... they were simply too fast. However we did find an elephant skeleton. I could barely hold up the leg bone. It must have weighed about 100 pounds! By 9:30 were back at camp for breakfast. I don't think I have ever done so much in the morning!
The rest of the day was a nice relaxing time at the camp. Like the hippos, I spent some time in the river wading up to my chin in the water to keep cool. Just after lunchtime, a boat pulled up to the sight. It was our long lost Finnish girls
Another Delta Sunset
. They managed to get the passport and paid a driver $200 to drive them to the boat dock, some 700km's away. A little down in spirits, they were none the less glad to be back with the group.At 4 o'clock the sky turned black and another storm was upon us. This time, I put my Gore-Tex jacket on and went out and watched the storm. In a mater of minutes, I was drenched! The lightening was just a intense as the previous night, but not so scary when it is daylight out. By 5 o'clock, I was laying in the sun drying off. The weather here is so unpredictable.
In the evening, our guides who were living with us put on a show with traditional African songs and dance. Shortly after we caught onto the words, we all joined in and all sang and danced the night away. Then they turned the tables on us... they wanted us to perform a song for them. We gathered around and though much debate, we decided on that old song "The lion Sleeps tonight". What a laugh we had trying to perform this! Our co-coordinated dance routine made them roll on the ground laughing. This back and forth singing went on for some time. We brought much western culture to the Botswanan people, including The Okie Pokie, Bohemian Rhapsody and even an Abba song!
In the morning, we headed back to the mainland. Our two day Okavango Delta adventure went so quickly. It has been 3 days since I last showered and I have to say, I still am getting a bit rough around the edges. I can't wait for a shower tonight at the next camp site.
