Okavango

---

Maun and the Okavango Delta

Due in part to things going all wrong early on in the week we have spent in the Maun area, part of this time has been an amazing experience.

We had planned to spend a few days relaxing at a community based camp north of Maun in an area called the Pan Handle of the Okavango Delta. The delta area is renowed for its beauty but is also quite exclusive and expensive so this was going to be an affordable way for us to see the delta. We drove the 400km north to the ferry crossing near the Namibian border, all relaxed and excited about the next few days. The ferry pulled up, we drove down and the steep angle of the ramp plus the steep angle of the boat's ramp plus the very low front on our modern saloon meant that there was no way we could get the car onto the ferry! So we turned around, looked in our guide book and decided on another camp we could try back south from where we were. Despite saying in the guide book that it was acessible by 2WD the low clearance of ours together with the deep sand was another impossibility. So we turned around and looked in the guide book and this time telephoned another camp that we knew was 4WD access only but they offered a pick up service. They didn't sound keen to pick us up and were going to charge close to USD150 each way for the 17km service, so we decided against that and had to drive all the way back to Maun. 11 hours with nothing gained but petrol expenses and tired backs.

Things improved from that point and we went on an organised mokoro, dug out canoe, trip and bush walk in the eastern delta. Although terribly uncomfortable the mokoro ride was a very pleasant experience, low down and up close to the reeds, frogs and bird life. Fortunately no close encounters with hippos.

See the next blog for the amazing Kalahari experiece.

---