Hitching on the back of a ute
Poling along the Okavango Delta
Okavango Delta on 'mokoro' canoe
Elephant Dung
*** Botswana ***
* Hitch hiking *
Arriving on a Sunday with a couple of Irish lasses, we hitched 600km to
Maun, a town just below the Okavango delta. Our first hitch for 300km
was on the back of a ute (pick-up). It was fun for the first 10 minutes,
but 3 hours later at 120km/h we felt like we were blown to bits. Our
next hitch was with a guy who lost his licence, so I had to drive his
car past the police road block!
* Okavango Delta – 3 day canoe ‘mokoro’ trip *
After a fun speedboat ride up the main river, we started our ‘mokoro’
trip at the bottom of the impressive inland delta, where the Okavango
river from Angola drains into the sandy earth. We travelled in
traditional dug-out ‘mokoro’ canoes that were poled along by our guides.
In this part of the delta, there are uncountable islands of different
sizes surrounded by reed filled waterways and channels. Travelling
through this terrain sitting down in a mokoro is some experience.
On our first day we enjoyed a couple of great swims in the crystal clear
channel waters. We spotted a few elephants having a mud bath in the
reeds, as well as some hippos in a gorgeous lagoon full of flowering
water lilies.
Arriving to our first camp at the end of a reedy bay, there were
elephants nearby, and one nearly walked into our camp before he realised
we were there. Our water source was a reedy pool that had a few bits of
elephant dung floating in it! The next day we went on an early morning
bushwalk around the island. There were animals grazing everywhere in the
more arid centre of the island. We saw elephants, giraffes, zebras,
numerous antelope, baboons, a herd of stampeding buffalo and even a
wildcat. Plus a lost baby elephant came running at us, so we ran away
too. Walking without any protection amongst these animals in their
natural habitat was truly awesome and a little scary at times.
We lazed about during the stifling afternoon heat, before setting off
for our second camp on a small island surrounded by reeds. Along the way
we saw a giraffe in the reeds, as well as some more elephants and
hippos. On our final day, we explored a little more of the delta, and
again cooled off with a couple of swims. This trip was a definite
highlight!
* Hitch hiking *
Arriving on a Sunday with a couple of Irish lasses, we hitched 600km to
Maun, a town just below the Okavango delta. Our first hitch for 300km
was on the back of a ute (pick-up). It was fun for the first 10 minutes,
but 3 hours later at 120km/h we felt like we were blown to bits. Our
next hitch was with a guy who lost his licence, so I had to drive his
car past the police road block!
* Okavango Delta – 3 day canoe ‘mokoro’ trip *
After a fun speedboat ride up the main river, we started our ‘mokoro’
trip at the bottom of the impressive inland delta, where the Okavango
river from Angola drains into the sandy earth. We travelled in
traditional dug-out ‘mokoro’ canoes that were poled along by our guides.
In this part of the delta, there are uncountable islands of different
sizes surrounded by reed filled waterways and channels. Travelling
through this terrain sitting down in a mokoro is some experience.
On our first day we enjoyed a couple of great swims in the crystal clear
channel waters. We spotted a few elephants having a mud bath in the
reeds, as well as some hippos in a gorgeous lagoon full of flowering
water lilies.
Arriving to our first camp at the end of a reedy bay, there were
elephants nearby, and one nearly walked into our camp before he realised
we were there. Our water source was a reedy pool that had a few bits of
elephant dung floating in it! The next day we went on an early morning
bushwalk around the island. There were animals grazing everywhere in the
more arid centre of the island. We saw elephants, giraffes, zebras,
numerous antelope, baboons, a herd of stampeding buffalo and even a
wildcat. Plus a lost baby elephant came running at us, so we ran away
too. Walking without any protection amongst these animals in their
natural habitat was truly awesome and a little scary at times.
We lazed about during the stifling afternoon heat, before setting off
for our second camp on a small island surrounded by reeds. Along the way
we saw a giraffe in the reeds, as well as some more elephants and
hippos. On our final day, we explored a little more of the delta, and
again cooled off with a couple of swims. This trip was a definite
highlight!
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