Day 15 Okavango Delta

Got up early to shave and stuff and found a sink full of dung beetles swimming in the sink. We carried all of our camping gear, tents, mattresses, cooking stuff and food, plus our small backpack of personal stuff to the boat launching site.

We headed off into the delta on speedboats with 135 hondas. We passed some small farming areas and saw a couple of fish eagles on our hour long ride. Then we arrrived at the Boro River boat station where we transfered all of our stuff again to the mokoros. They are carved out wooden 'canoes' that are poled rather than paddled. Retief and Vernon stayed behind and GP was in charge with a continent of about 12 local guides and polers. We were poled for about an hour and half through the channels in the delta on our way to our campsite on island ng32.

When we arrived we set up camp and had the afternoon to hang out. We were warned that we were in a wildlife area without fences and that in the delta at any given time the big five are around. So we were not to go to the washroom or wander off by ourselves. The toilet was a hole dug in the ground were we were all to go and then put a bit of dirt to cover. The way we could tell if the area was already occupied was if the roll of paper and the spade were gone.

The temperature had to be about 35 to 40. One of our guides took us to a swimming hole where we were told we could wade around and cool off and be safe from crocs and hippos. The water is beautifully clean, clear and quite warm.

In the late afternoon we went for a nature walk and explored the area as a group. When we got back and GP was cooking dinner, we had a thunderstorm. Most of us sat out in the rain because we were already wet from swimming again, or tried to hold a tent over the fire we were cooking on.

After dinner we talked for a bit before turning in for another early start.