Okavango Delta

From Chobe NP, we headed southwest to the Okavango Delta, which is a maze of lagoons, waterways and little islands, created by the Okavango River spreading out across the flat desert land. The traditional mode of transportation, which is still used today, is the mokoro, a shallow canoe generally dug out from the trunk of the sausage tree (yes, that is the real name of the tree). However, some of our fellow travelers were in modern mokoros made of fiberglass. Imagine you are sitting in a canoe, low in the water, slowly gliding through small waterways, passing through beds of tall reeds, with no other sounds heard except for the wind blowing through the trees or the occasional bird flying overtop. Lily pads are seen scattered across the surface of the crystal, clear water. It is a sunny, warm day, you are completely relaxed, without a care in the world, except for the occasional spider that falls off the reeds and into your mokoro. It is complete tranquility. This is what it is like being a passenger in a mokoro, which is maneuvered by the poler (think of a gondolier). The poler stands at the back of the mokoro and uses a long pole (about 12 to 15 feet long) to steer and propel the mokoro. To be a poler takes skill and practice, and is typically a trade passed down through the family. The above is Betsy's opinion on the mokoro experience. Hugh's commentary differs a bit, as you'll read.





The view from the back of the mokoro


We spent the night on an island in the delta, only reached by mokoro. Despite being surrounded by water, the island was actually quite dry and most plants and trees were devoid of greenery. During our overnight stay in the delta we went on a few bush walks over two different islands, with the hope of seeing animals (elephant, hippo, giraffe). Let us just say that after three walks, the highlight was seeing part an elephant skeleton. While it was cool to see, it was a bit of a disappointment not to see one live animal. However, the delta is more known for it's beauty, and in all fairness, it is known that better game viewing is in the northern delta, and we were I the south. However, the mokoro experience, especially our outing at sunset, was so outstanding, that it easily made up for the lack of animals.


However, as we were approaching dry land at the end of our trip, there was an elephant drinking at the water's edge and it was kind enough to let us take it's picture.


The other way to truly appreciate the size and beauty of the delta is from the air. Flying over the delta was highly recommended to us and so we went. We were in a little 5-seater Cessna, and after having flown in small planes before with no problem, I almost laughed when the pilot pointed out the barf bags (or air sickness bags if you like) during our safety demo. The flight was 45 minutes and we flew about 500 feet above the ground. It was true - the flight was an incredible to see the delta, to appreciate its size and beauty and the interweaving of the waterways and small islands. And it was a great way to see animals!! We saw lots of elephants and some hippo and giraffe. We even saw elephants swimming again. This is when the flight became not so great for Betsy. Even though only 500 ft. up, you had to focus kinda hard to see the animals. That, in combo with the plane's banking turns at a downward angle, was enough to make Betsy really nauseous and not really loving the flight for the last 25 minutes. While she never had to use her bag, we got the report from our group members in another plane, that they had two people who definitely used theirs. Just before takeoff





Hugh's take on the mokoro/delta trip: Riding in the canoe was interesting and enjoyable, but it would have been better as a morning only, not a 2 day trip. We were worried about whether us or our stuff would get wet during the rides - our poler was good, but another poler fell off and our companions got soaked. I had been psyched to do this trip, but we only saw one hippo from quite a distance and one penny-sized frog on the way in, and then a couple of elephants on the way out. The camping part was lame. We were stuck on the island with nothing to do, as the island was devoid of interesting plant and animal life. As was the second island they took us to see. It might have been good had there been good stargazing, but the campsite had some tall trees that obscured most of the night sky. Note: My mother should stop reading at this point. The most exciting part of the island was when a fellow traveler went to use the "toilet" and a green mambo snake jumped into a tree about 2 meters from him. I didn't see the snake but of course, that meant I was petrified to go to the bathroom after that, so I usually took an escort and a big stick. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Botswana