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Published: June 16th 2006
Flower on the delta
It seemed that the flowers would bloom forever - but they did close up in the evening! Our 3rd camp is located in the Moremi Game Reserve, which is actually located in the Okavango. Described as "the river which never finds the sea", the Okavango in northwestern Botswana disappears into a 6,000-square-mile maze of lagoons, channels, and islands. The river system brings more than 2 million tons of sand and silt into the Delta each year, yet less than three percent of the water emerges at the other end to either flood Lake Ngami or cross another 300 miles of the Kalahari, then to enter Lake Xau and the Makgadikgadi Pans.
The Okavango Delta, in the midst of the Kalhan sands, is Africa's largest and most beautiful oasis. The River Okavango, which rises in the highlands of Angola, never reaches the sea; instead its mighty waters empty over the sands of the Kalahari. Here the great Kalahari desert thirst is locally quenched in a blue-green wilderness of fresh water, with emerald reed beds and towering trees. I don't recall seeing so much Papyrus and lily pads in my entire life!
The greatest way to experience the tranquility of the water is to ride in a "dug out" canoe. One of our stops was to search for
Sunset on the delta
Beauty of the sunset @ the delta! the Pel's Fishing Owl, but we never got that lucky. This owl is hard to find, it seems that he plays more "hide" and we play more "seek". I did get to see an African Fish Eagle, they are interesting to watch, especially when they have caught a fish!
I had a great time observing the birds as well as the frogs! I never "croaked" once! Other life forms included: Crocodile; Hippo; Tiger Fish; Vervet Monkeys, etc. One thing about the Tiger Fish, we did try our luck at fishing, thankfully we didn't catch any because Tiger Fish are full of bones and teeth. I'd say they are probably one of the ugliest fish in the world!
I had a delightful afternoon with a group of Vervet Monkeys. Our group had taken a "siesta", but yours truly was distracted by the butterflies, lily pads/flowers, as well as watching the monkeys being up to no good. The baby monkeys were a delight, if I tilted my head to the right, they would imitate me. Hmm, it brings back memories of the old childhood game of "monkey see, monkey do". The babies had no inhibitions whatsoever!
In the evening,
Paddling down the delta
Dug out canoe riding, it is quite peaceful and a great way to enjoy the wild life. we went out to check out the birds as well as hopefully catch a glimpse of Hippos. The Hippos never did materialize, but birding at night is spectacular!
One incredible part about this trip, is each night, I was blessed with seeing the "Milky Way", there were so many stars and quite honestly, I don't think I saw the Milky Way since I was a child! Time seemed to stand still but with greatness!
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