Day 14 Over the Okavango Delta

Monday December 27th.

This morning I had a quick breakfast and then a short swim in the quarry again. The water was beautiful and warm. Then we were off. We drove for the morning to Maun, Botswana. There we did some more grocery shopping while most of us tried to get some pula (Botswana currency) from the ATM's. I had some difficulty, but finally managed to get some from the ATM at the airport. I also bought a new pair of headphones for my iPod.

Botswana is a cattle ranching country. Ever since we crossed the border we have had animals on the road. They are free range animals and there are no fences. We have to slow down for cows, horses, donkeys and sheep. Makes for an interesting ride.

Then we went to our camp, Island Safari. It is situated on a river, that apparently has both crocs and hippos in it, but we are protected by a fence. It's another nice campground with a pool. We hung out for the afternoon and I updated my blog, but without photos.

Then we went to the airport to take a scenic flight over the Okavango Delta. We were loaded into three planes, two five seaters and a twelve seater. I went with John, Richard, Roger, and Stan. I got to sit in the front seat with the pilot.

The flight lasted about an hour and cost $100US. We flew over miles of open land dotted with marshes, rivers, trees and grasses. We saw some elephants, hippos, giraffe and a few antelope I couldn't identify from the air. Unfortunately it was very difficult to get photos from the plane and I'm quite disappointed with mine.

I was also disappointed with what I saw. I think I'd seen too many National Geographic documentaries about the Okavango where you seen lots of water and lots of animals. The reality for us was that it's basically the dry season in the delta, as the rains from Angola have yet to arrive. As a result the area looked a lot drier than I expected and had more trees and grasses too. And there weren't as many animals as I expected either. However, I'm glad I did it and did enjoy the ride and trying to spot the animals from the air.

Afterwards we all had a beer in a bar near the airport and then drove back to camp for dinner. While they were cooking, Larry, John, Edward and I had a swim to cool down.

After dinner, Retief gave us a long briefing about what to expect and what to pack for our three day, two night bush camp trip into the delta on mukoros (wooden dugouts). There are no showers or toilets, no electricity, just bush, water and animals. Should be lots of fun.

Now off to bed to get ready for another early rise.