Okavango Delta

Day one of our overland trip to Nairobi we woke up at some ungodly hour before first light, something which I fear is going to be a bit of theme for the next month. After some quick, sleepy introductions to our travelling companions we loaded our gear into Dorris (the truck, who apparently gets very upset if you call her a bus) and headed off out of Jo'burg. We soon learnt that early morning travel in Dorris is not much fun, as instead of windows, she has plastic sheets which do little to keep out the cold. Fortunately, I had my sleeping bag to hand so huddled up and snoozed until we stopped for shopping in Polokowane, where we had nearly got lost a couple of days earlier on our drive down from Krugger.

Now, apparently this trip is not a holiday, so we all take turns in cooking, washing and cleaning up. As I was on cooking duty (along with Ed, an Australian guy who was doing very well at pretending he was under the tour company's age limit of 45), it was my job to run around the supermarket buying supplies for the next day or so. After this we had a roadside sandwich lunch before continuing on to the border with Botswana.
















After a relatively quick and simple border crossing at Martin's Drift (there were some short negotiations over the paper work for the truck, which is often the most time consuming part of the crossings), we arrived in Botswana and our first campsite. Unfortunately, as the journey had been quite long, we had the fun of putting up the tents and setting up camp in the dark.
















We woke early again the next morning, and packed up camp with bleary eyes and freezing hands. Although, to be clear, when I say sleep, what I actually meant lying shivering in the tent, as it was way too cold to actually get to sleep. (Rich slept well in his “Ice Breaker” sleeping bag). Wrapped up in sleeping bags and all the clothes we had, we embarked on another full day of driving. After a pit stop to buy supplies in Maun, we set up camp and Delta Rain campsite, which is a crossing point for overland trucks doing different routes – there were around four there when we arrived. This time I went to bed equipped with thermals as I wanted to be vaguely awake for the next day when we were to venture into the famous Okavango Delta.

The Okavango Delta is one of the largest true wilderness areas left in southern Africa. It is formed by the Okavango River, which starts in central Angola, before fanning out over a vast area which is home to a huge variety of animals. Eventually the waters evaporate and are soaked up by the thirsty sands of the Kalahari. We started our journey in traditional style, in a Mokoro (dug out canoe). After an hour or so we found a suitable island to set up camp. Now, this was a true bush camp, with no facilities, a hole dug for the toilet and no fences to protect you from the elephant, hippos and lions that were potentially lurking in the bushes.

We spent two nights in the delta, filling out time with game walks, learning to pole Mokoros, a stunning sunset Mokoro ride and snoozing during the midday heat. Given the vastness of the area and the abundance of water, it is very hard to find animals here. It is, however, quite exciting being out on foot, with no weapons, following the tracks of elephants and lions. We didn't find the latter, but did find giraffe and zebra.

Our evenings were spent around the camp fire, playing games and swapping stories with the local guides. I decided it was time to go to bed when Rich started trying to convince one of the guides, a Seventh Day Adventist and very surprisingly for these parts a vegan, that evolution was really not just a joke. I fell asleep to the sound of raucous laughter as Rich tried to convince him that the Earth was five billion, not five thousand, years old – he wasn't having it.

We arrived back at the base camp dirty and in desperate need of a shower. Clean and feed we left again for the airport in Maun and scenic flight over the delta. This was a 45 minute flight in a 7 seater Cessna and allows you to get a much better sense of how large the area is, and hopefully a good chance of seeing animals. Not long into the flight we saw a herd of elephants which looked spectacular from above. Unfortunately, as the flight is very low, and I spent the first 10 minutes focusing at the fast moving ground below with my camera lens, the nausea soon started to set in. I held on until just before landing, and the became closely acquainted with the sick bag. In fact all seven of us were looking very green when finally reached stable land.