Blogs from Okavango Delta, North-West, Botswana, Africa - page 6

Hey all! Back again for the semi-shortened version of our safari in Botswana. I marked it as the Okavango Delta but we actually began in Kasane, our first night of camping in Savuti, then headed into Moremi which is kind of the tip of the Delta. From there we headed back into Savuti and then last two nights in Chobe. Nonetheless, this was an amazing experience despite totally roughing it in the bush. A maximum of 2 showers in six days, layers upon layers of insect repellent and sunscreen. A lot of beans and toast along with sandwiches galore - avoid the palony. :) But thru it all, my friends and I had a blast and dealt with all the uncertainties really well. We left our hostel in the morning and took a van over to ... read more

Botswana - The Okavango Delta Saturday 12th February After our adventures in crossing the border from Namibia we eventually arrive at our base in Botswana, the Delta Rain campsite near Maun on Saturday afternoon. We've stopped off in Maunfor supplies, to change money and to try and use the internet before arriving at our campsite in the late afternoon. Botswana has a record of stability since independence. This, together with its natural recourses of diamonds and minerals, have given the population one of the highest standards of living in Africa. Surprisingly it also has the second highest HIV infection rate in the world with nearly 40% of the adult population infected. This has reduced life expectancy from 65 years to less than 40. At all the border crossings in Southern Africa and at som... read more

The adage, ‘there is no place like home’ could not have been more apt than after almost a year and half overseas but what would be an even more apt expression for my return would be ‘there is no place like Africa!’ A long flight home, a brief stopover in Jo’burg to see some of my lovely family and it was once again back to ORT to catch my last flight, for a while, to the land of more family, food and lots and lots of R & R! My excitement was truly too much too contain. I landed in Maun just after lunch time on the 22nd of December just in time for Christmas and I was expecting to be picked up and ushered, by a random, onto a Cessna on rout to see mom ... read more

After Leaving the natural wonder of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, we headed west into Botswana where the highlights were camping out in Chobe National Park and then two nights in the Okavango Delta. More animals and natural beauty abounds in this small country. Only about 1.6 million people; there seems to be more wildlife than humans. Chobe is a large national park that is famous for its large elephant herds. Whether it was driving through in 4x4s or floating down the Chober River, you quickly understand why. Huge elephants everywhere. The Delta is the largest inland delta in the world. After driving for 2 hrs in the back of a big 3 ton truck we were transported another 1 hr further in the delta on Mokoros, which are dug out canoes that are propelled by a ... read more

Up the creek without a paddle Where yesterday was all about land with a little water, today was all about water with a little land. Power boat for 3/4 hour to reach a local village in the Okavango Delta followed by 2 hours of mokoro (dug-out canoe) through reeds of the delta powered by a 6 metre pole manned by a local mokoro poler. At one point on the way, we broke out into a deep channel and Kayla asked our poler if hippos were around. He said yes, but mostly in the evenings. We could clearly see the sandy bottom of the channel where hippo feet had trod many times, which was just a bit disconcerting since we have heard horror stories of careless mokoro polers endangering the lives of their passengers by approaching a ... read more