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Published: October 29th 2006
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Mokoro
Traditional fibreglass dugout canoe... Our internet access has been non-existent for the last week so we are going to do a brief update on each day.
Day 1 We drove. A lot. 850km, mostly on paved roads which is a blessing. I believe the highlights were seeing a shop called Kalahari Fried Chicken and all yelling 'KFC' at the same time, crossing the border into Botswana and seeing a semi-trailer that had crashed and incinerated. Now, before you start believing that we are callous and hard-hearted, let me fill in the facts. The driver was unhurt. There were no other cars involved (maybe a goat or a donkey - we aren't sure). The truck was incinerated but its contents weren't - a full semitrailer full of Windhoek Lager cans. The part that amused us the most was the fifty or more people climbing all over the trailer, filling any container they could find with beer cans. Not so different to Australians really.
Day 2 Arrived at Guma Campsite on the Okavango Delta. It was a beautiful campsite with quite rustic showers (Ester, you would have been horrified). We overlooked a lagoon and it wasn't long until we were out on a motorboat, cruising
Hippo
This is the hippo that suprised our mokoro guides and us... around and watching the sunset.
Day 3 Spent the entire day on the Okavango Delta (without getting too sunburnt). We took a motorboat ride through a narrow waterway, with papyrus reeds encroaching on each side. When this got too shallow, we changed into mokoros (traditionally, these were canoes carved from a tree trunk but they now use fibreglass, painted to look like a canoe carved from a tree trunk). I felt distinctly uncomfortable in these as I just couldn't seem to balance and was so worried about tipping out James, myself and our guide (who poles the mokoro along like the gondalas in Venice). Despite my stressing, this didn't happen. We poled around for an hour or so, then made it to dry land - an island in the middle of the delta. We spent some time here, searching for animals (just monkeys and warthogs), eating lunch and waiting for the hottest part of the day to be over (wishful thinking).
Once back in the mokoros, we made our way back to where the motorboat would meet us. But not without event. One of my fears about the Okavango Delta was being chomped on by a hippo, so
when I wasn't thinking about tipping over the mokoro, I was thinking about things moving in the water. Is it a croc? Is it a hippo? I shouldn't have worried. We heard the hippo before we saw it. With a great amount of snorting and growling (probably not the best way to describe the sound - will imitate it when we see you next!), it burst out of the reeds and into the water. You would have though the mokoro had a motor on it we moved so fast. The guides put the mokoros into reverse and move what they believed was a safe distance away. I believe that that distance should have been a lot greater. James, of course, was calm and collected enough to take some photos. Me, I was shaking as much as the guides. I asked the guide a bit later what was the closest he had been to a hippo. '100m' he says. 'How close was todays?' says I. 'Um...about 50 m'.
Day 4 Back across the border into Namibia today, to a campsite near the Mahango Game Reserve. We had a short game drive in the afternoon but didn't see anything particularly
Campsite at Sunrise
Yes, we were awake at sunrise amazing. Got little to no sleep that night as there was a hippo grazing outside our tent for most of the night.
Day 5 Again, more driving, this time to Kwando River, where we set up camp then visited a 'traditional village' to immerse ourselves in the culture of the Kavango people. I felt a bit uncomfortable as it was clearly set up just for tourists. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the bar (drinking water), curled up on the couches reading or writing in the journal.
Day 6 Drove through the Caprivi Strip (check it out on a map) today, stopping in the town of Katima Mulilo for supplies and an extremely long wait in the post office. All I wanted to do was send a CDROM of photos home. Firstly, the post office didn't sell envelopes. Secondly, they only sold 50c stamps so we had to cover the entire package with stamps. Finally, James got a glimpse of the package room - packages and envelopes all over the floor. We are not so sure that the CD will arrive.
From Katima Mulilo, we drove across the border, back into
Hungry Hippo
Having five or six boatloads of tourists staring at this hippo probably put him off his meal Botswana. Our stop for the night was the Chobe River Lodge campsite, a delightful dustbowl complete with inquisitive baboons. To make up for this, however, we went on the most amazing river cruise. We saw so many animals, with the highlight being an elephant having a mudbath, then swim.
Day 7 Another border crossing today. However, this wasn't so easy as the last few. When crossing the border from Botswana to Zambia, we needed to use a car ferry. There was a huge queue. It took us three hours from arriving to actually getting our stamps and driving out the other side. Three hours of the hottest part of the day.
We were incredibly glad to finally get to Livingstone. I was super excited to see Victoria Falls again so you can imagine my disappointment upon arrival to discover that there was no water. No water! I mean, this is the mighty Zambezi River, one of the most amazing waterfalls in the world and there is NO WATER!!!!!!! Ok. We are going to check it out from the Zimbabwean side as there seems to be more water there and maybe we might come back at the end of
Mud bath
Chobe National Park January before flying home but apart from that...grrr.
So, our tour is over. We are now going to kick back for a couple of day in Livingstone and do a bunch of touristy things. None of them involving water.
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Catriona
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Hippos scary
All of a sudden 'Hungry Hungry Hippos' doesn't quite seem so cute...