Life in the Okavango Delta

Hiking in the delta.

The day started by one of the guides walking through the camp saying...time to get up...get up!  So we rose and headed to get breakfast.  Not 15 minutes later he said we will be leaving in 5 minutes!  Apparently he changed his mind as to our start time so everyone starting running around trying to get ready for our bush walk. 

|Not sure who is watching who here!

 Before we could start our walk we had to go in the mokoros to reach the island we would be visiting. There is something so tranquil about gliding through the water while sitting in a boat only a few inches above the water.  There is no motor, only the sound of the poler putting their pole in the water every few seconds. A walk on the island in the delta definitely was an adventure!  You can only imagine my surprise as we were told there were dangerous animals such as elephant, buffalo and lions and we were on foot with only a native guide who didn’t carry a gun!  The fact that Alyssa had a really bad bleeding nose in the middle of an open field that lasted at least a ½ hour didn’t exactly put me at ease.  It was pretty amazing walking in the true wilderness of Africa and seeing animals such as elephant, zebras and wilder beast.  It was so peaceful walking along as you didn’t hear people or automobiles.  After awhile everything seemed okay but I still prayed we wouldn’t see a lion!  Our guide was pretty funny as he would always ask us why something was the way it was then he would tell us we were wrong.  After a number of these types of questions Alyssa thought she would try and stump him by asking him a question about mountain caribou, it was pretty funny and he was a good sport.  The walk lasted about 4 hours before we headed back to camp. 

Weaving in her spare time.

The afternoon was ours to spend as we wished so I took advantage of the time to relax and read my book.  Alyssa, Kevin and surprisingly Jenna, went with a number of other people to the “swimming hole” which was a shallow area in the water where the crocodiles apparently don’t go.  Somehow this did not appeal to me.  One of the polers had collected palm leaves on the morning bush walk and was now making bracelets.  It was amazing how fast she created little works of art.  A number of the lady polers brought some of their crafts to sell.  I bought a couple of bracelets and Jenna picked up a really nice little basket.  A number of us at camp decided at one point to try poling a mokoro on our own only to realize it is not as easy as the polers make it look!  I had the hardest time trying to keep it going straight.  Kevin didn’t really have any problems, the girls did pretty well and only one person ended up falling in the water.

Its a lot harder than it looks.

Later in the evening we went for another mokoro ride to the hippo pool.  It was such an amazing experience gliding so quietly through the water while the sun slowly started to set.  We were greeted at by a loud noise as we entered the large body of water where the hippos were.   A number of us jumped at the noise but thankfully no one fell out.  The hippo was across the way and we settled our mokoros in the reeds while we watched the hippos.  They can be quite dangerous so we were being respectful of the space they needed.  It was very peaceful other than the noises the hippos made.  Before the sun fully set we made our way back to camp where dinner was waiting us.  What an amazing day!

The hippo welcoming us to his pool.  Wow, was it loud!

Poling at sundown.  Alyssa has taken some pretty amazing photos.

Think he's done this a few times before.