Blogs from Okavango Delta, North-West, Botswana, Africa

Prior to beginning this blog I have a couple of corrections from previous blogs and status updates: My apologies, it is the buffalo which is found in Africa, the water buffalo is in Asia. Sorry Worthingtons!As previously updated we camped by the banks of the Ovkavango river. I feel I should confess that we didn’t actually camp that night. In Etosha I was beginning to get sick and grumpy so we made the tough decision to upgrade to a lodge room for $25 for a good shower and good nights sleep required to maintain our sanity -- this may not have been the last time we took the comfy option either, more on that later! I would also ... read more

In the largest inland delta in the world, the Okavango Delta was the last place we would think to be seeing more bushfires than wildlife. The islands that surrounded our camp were burning for the duration of our stay and it was only a 15 meter channel that spared our island from the same fate. The animals were escaping from the delta sunburned bushes which were coughing by fire with the wind speed and maybe why we were lucky seeing more wildlife than it is normally possible in the off-season. Well the Okavango Delta was still incredible (especially in the sunset) and worth to visit but unbelievably hot (in the day time above 40-45 degrees in the sun). We didn’t expect to have a possibility to swim in the delta as it is home for many ... read more

We are adding an entry for the Okavango Delta because of all of the great photos that Chuck was able to take there. The guides referred to his huge telephoto lens as the "bazooka lens" and it lived up to its name with some great shots. Please make sure you scroll down to the bottom of the page to access all of the photos! It will say "there are more photos at the bottom of this page" but it's not very obvious and you have to go past the ads. I am also annoyed to notice that some of the captions got mixed up. The joys of blogging....... read more

M – Most people who visit the Okavango Delta go to Maun at the Southern tip of the delta. But we took the road a little less travelled and ventured into the Okavango Panhandle at the North West corner of the delta. Look at the pictures, it’s not very good, and is mobbed with people so don’t go there … Botswana apparently has a tourism policy of higher prices, lower numbers and with the idea of some degree of ‘exclusivity’ and a smaller impact on its environment. We did our research, whilst Maun has the highly priced tours and accommodation we weren’t totally sold on the exclusivity piece. By now we have gotten used to being on our own. Any other tourist represents a bit of a crowd and we start getting twitchy so Kate came ... read more

Shakawe -now there's town. It does not get much further from civilization. So we went to the village and approached the chief. He appeared in all his fine livery, a nice shiny navy blue jacket, a white cardigan, drainpipe pants and worn black shoes. His round bottle end glasses, missing tooth and cane gave him a regal standing. He would have been 70-80 yrs old. Most of the village assembled with about 30 women in beautiful dresses of all ages and states of repair on one side and men loitering on the other side. Teenagers with mobile phones and worn blue jeans made up the foreground. I got one of our helpers to ask the chief if we could take a photo as the chief only spoke his dialect. I was told the chief wanted money ... read more

Africa is vast with many national parks and game reserves located in remote wilderness areas. Often as with Botswana, the only way to reach them is with a small aircraft. Typically, aircraft are not airliners. They are relatively small and therefore always have strict luggage and weight restrictions. A variety of safety issues also dictate teh luggage restrictions; from the small baggage stowage bays, lenght of runways to fuel limitiations, etc. Your safety in the air always comes first so beware, pilots will simply not fly when teh plane is overweight!! Here are some valuable guidelines when flying to a safari destination in Africa: * Maximum luggage weight is 20kg's per person including carry-on luggage if more than one bag and camera equipment. * Check the baggage dimentions permitted by each airline. Airlines vary, however the ... read more