Islands of Adventure

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Day 20 (Sunday, 10-May-09, JRJ)

Didn't have to get up until 8am, but got up at 6:50 to see yet another amazing sunrise over the lagoon. Had brekkie and then loaded all our belongings onto speed boats. We set of from camp with our speedboat driver 'Cobra' through the narrow channels between the papyrus reeds that make up the Delta. On the way we saw a few kingfishers and a couple of crocodiles. It took about 45 mins to get to the mokoro (local canoes) station. The 'station' was a spot in the mangroves where we got out of the speed boats and clambered into our mokoro's. Each mokoro was loaded with supplies along with 2 people. They were 'driven' by a local man. Our poler was called Spugs.

It took almost another 2 hours to get to our island. The mokoro trip was very calm and serene and the scenery was beautiful, although disappointingly we didn't see much wildlife. The only downside was that when you went through the reeds loads of spiders, flies and other insects would land on you and in the boat, which was a bit annoying at first, but we got used to it soon enough. At one point a frog even jumped on my chest. When we got to the island we pitched tents and prepared lunch. After lunch, a few of us did a little bit of exploring and found hippo and elephant tracks close to our camp site. Apparently it's quite common for these animals to roam through the campsite in the middle of the night. There had also been lions spotted in the area, although the shouldn't be a problem as the recent floods should have isolated them on bigger islands so they can hunt.

At our campsite, a makeshift bush toilet had been set up, which Natalie had no hesitation in christening. At 4pm we got back on the mokoro's to see the hippos. We saw a few from a safe distance and managed to see the sunset whilst in the mokoro, over the delta, which was wonderful.

Got back to our island and sat around the fire on the upturned mokoros and had a dinner of stuffed pumpkin and potatoes before bed at 9pm.

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