The Okavango Delta

Monday 14th December 2015 – Rest day in Maun. Enjoy a lovely lay-in until about 9am when we beat a hasty retreat from the tent to avoid being cooked in the furnace-like heat. Alysa rescues a number of scarab type beetles from the sinks where they get trapped by the smooth sides. They burrow into the sand outside when they are freed. Alysa opts to enjoy a languid day by the pool while I head to Maun for supplies, deciding on a whim to walk the 8 miles into town rather than using public transport. Arriving in town a hot, dusty two and a half hours hence I suck down 2 ice cold cans of coke and gather provisions. It is surprising how quickly one loses fluid in these conditions and it took a good day or so to get properly rehydrated.

Tuesday 15th December 2015 – Up early. A 4wd conveys us and 4 Korean pensioners about an hour into the Okavango delta; a journey which seemed to have more in common with riding a bucking bronco than motorised transport. On arrival we were greeted by local mokoro oarsmen whereby we were ushered in pairs into their dugout canoes (one traditional one, carved from the sausage tree and 2 modern fibreglass versions). We were then conveyed through a maze-like system of waterways towards an island in the delta where groups on longer trips camp overnight. The journey was quite magical as we moved from more open sections of water where hippos, maybe 30 metres away on the other bank eyed us cautiously (they can get as close as 10 metres before the oarsmen start to get nervous) into narrow courses where the reeds and bulrushes grow high around. The mellifluous sound of the reeds whispering in the light breeze mingles with the swish of water as the oarsman pushes the mokoro gently onward and is punctuated with the occasional jacana or heron flapping, startled from the vegetation.

On arrival the head oarsman took us on a walking tour of the island. When distant fauna was pointed out we would take a look with our binoculars and then pass them to the Koreans so they could see too. This precipitated much mutual bowing which was very amusing and whenever we encountered each other at the camp there would be another bout of bowing as we greeted each other. At one point, as we skirted a section of reeds two buffalo that had been entirely hidden from view hurriedly rose from the water barely 20 metres from us and ran in the other direction. We were mighty glad they chose to go that way! On the mokoro trip back we stopped and had a wonderfully refreshing swim in the delta before meeting the 4×4 for the drive back to camp.

Wednesday 16th December 2015 – Up at 5:30am to pack. We take a hurried breakfast and start towards the main road into town. A German couple headed to the airport kindly stop and give us a lift a good part of the way. We arrive at Maun bus depot by 7:30am under the mis-apprehension there is an 8am minibus leaving for Ghanzi. In fact the departure time is 10:30am. We stock up on frozen bottles of water, sold by small vendors at the bus depot. These are great as they offer a slow release of ice cold water over the course of long bus journeys. We arrive at Ghanzi around 2pm. Amongst the disembarking passengers are a handful of Kalahari Bushmen picked up in the latter stages of the journey. After an unusual meal at the Kalahari Arms Hotel we return to our guesthouse for a good nights kip.

Thursday 17th December 2015 – Lay in. Go shopping for T-shirts and hat for Alysa. Spend the day in our room sleeping and watching videos. Tomorrow we attempt to cross into Namibia.