The Delta

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After over a month of either getting lifts or having our own hire car it was back to using African public transport. An especially difficult task it would seem, if your journey is Windhoek to Maun in Botswana. We were told it couldn't be done without hitching, but a few enquiry's got us a phone number of some random dude that drives to Zimbabwe once a week and could drop us off on his way. A few calls led us to a down town bus station with the promise of a 3.30 departure. As the taxi driver dropped us off there he gave us the parting gift of telling us we "should not really be there, everything will be stolen". Thanks. In fact it was quite the opposite - everyone was dead friendly and helped us find the guy we only knew by phone number. It was a good job everyone was friendly, as our bus was running on African time and we were to spend the next 3 hours waiting for it to leave.

The reason for our Maun visit was two fold. The first is that cousin Dave Ellis lives there and the second is that it is the gateway to the Okavango Delta. This is where the Okovango River, after completing its journey through Angola and Namibia comes face to face with the Kalahari Sands. The Kalahari wins. However, in the process 18 billion cubic meters of water annually spread and sprawl across the open landscape forming thousands of lagoons, channels and islands.

Thanks to our delayed bus we actually didn't arrive in Maun until 7am, meaning Dave was spared us interrupting his sleep. We then had a full day to chill in Maun and find ourselves a decent 2 day trip into the delta. Maun is a unique place. Seeing as that the only real way into the delta is to fly, there are young pilots everywhere - of which Dave is one of them. Most of them flying small 6 or 12 seater planes and all hanging out together - the place had very much a student feel to it - except for pilots

So as not to feel left out, we booked ourselves on a small plane the following day and flew in to a camp deep in the wetlands and flying over Elephants as we did so. The ideal time to visit the delta is in June as by that stage of the year all the summers rains have collected in these channels meaning you can explore the wildlife by Mokoro boat. However in January it is a lot drier, so most of the exploring is done on foot. So with our new friend William as our guide we went on several long walks to explore the delta. He was a fascinating guy, explaining to us about every aspect of the surroundings. Not just the animals and birds but also the trees and plants and their medicinal uses in the bushman community. As during our walks it was possible to come face to face with all sorts of wildlife William delivered what has to be my all time favourite safety talk, featuring gems such as:

"Buffalo are bad. If a buffalo charges at you, you must run. Run as fast as you can for the nearest tree. Go round the back of the tree and climb. If you climb the front of the tree the buffalo will charge into you and you will die".

Luckily we didn't need to call upon our tree climbing skills as we explored the bush. William found us Giraffes, Wildebeest, Zebra and Impala and it was really something to encounter them on foot, rather than from the safety of a car. We had a fantastic few days.

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This Week Likes:
* Catching up with Dave. It had been a while and he was a great host. It was great to have a braai with him and all his neighbours and to go out drinking with the pilots. We ended up drinking Springbok shooters with both our pilots from our delta flights. Nice.
*Sleeping under the stars again and waking up to find fresh hippo prints outside the tent.
*Flying into the delta in a plane to ourselves ... we could see why it was so popular!

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This Weeks Dislikes:
*Not getting enough time on the Mokoro. At the right time of year we cold have gone Hippo spotting from water level
*12 hours bus journeys on a seat with little space and no support for your head.
*Botswana tourism costs! We would have stayed here a week if it wasn't so damn pricey.

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Photos

Giant Mushroom
We found this growing on a termites next. We munched it raw and it was quite delicious.

Mfowetu
This I'm told is brother in Zulu. In fact it might be Xhosa. In fact I think my source is pretty dubious about the real facts here. Either way, this dude, William was our very knowledgable guide through the Delta

Kinda like punting
This is a Mokoro. We tried to explain to William that a career in Cambridge awaited him if he ever wanted a move. Not so much wildlife to spot from the banks of the Cam though ...

Kiddies
These guys lived at the local village. The village is there just to house the staff of the various camps.

James, William & some giraffes
Seeing animals on foot without the protection of the car is amazing. I think these giraffes where more scared of us than we were of them.

Hippo Skull
He seems to have acquired a false tooth

Marissa on Fire
Dave told us it was customary when staying with him, to carve your name into his table and set fire to it.
We both obliged.

Cousin Dave Ellis
Our host ... looking chuffed with his winning hand.

Poker Night
We had a great night playing poker using macaroni and drinking some homemade Amarula and local brandy called Klippies.

Our Plane
A Cessna 206 Stationair
...(this one is for you Keith)

Comments

[Zulq]

"Call that a mushroom? This is a mushroom!"
Sweet shroomage. Glad to see mad dog has been practising her skills. I wonder if you introduced them to your circle of death?

[Joools]

Sweet shroomage indeed ...
Guys guys guys ... still looks like you're having an ace time but unfortunately I have to say that of all the amazing things included in this episode my favourite thing was to find out James has a cousin called Dave Ellis - must be on your dad's side!