40. Okavango Delta

I was a little nervous
driving over this bridge!

Our ride to the Okavango Delta took about 2 hours. The first 40 minutes was on tarred roads, but then we switched to dirt and sand which was ofen corrugated and bumpy. We passed by a couple of villages before finally arriving at ones of the gates into the Okavango Delta. We would later learn that these are private concessions owned by the local villages, which meant that there were far fewer vehicles around and no self drivers. We saw the usual cows, goats, donkeys, and horses but once inside the gate the wildlife viewing got much better. A steenbok popped its little head up long enough for us to say “what’s that?” before it was gone into the brush. Then we hit a clearing for a dried up waterhole where we spotted our first wildebeest and giraffe! While taking pictures, our guide Thata said “Zebras coming” though none of us saw anything. Sure enough 30 seconds later a herd of zebras came filing through the bushes. It was incredibly cool!

Thata walking around the Jeep

The sun was setting so our guide convinced us to move on and look for other animals. We saw a few baboons in a tree, and then he took us to a young elephant a passing guide had told him about. Now it was getting dark and we headed for the camp. We crossed our second river and as we went across I was watching the water line which did stay below the sides of the truck though the wheels were under water. When I could see the dry road and we were almost out I breathed a sigh of relief and said softly “we made it.” I have never been so wrong. Just after I exhaled the truck lurched and stopped in the water. Thata tried to go forward, but it was stuck. He walked around the 4x4, shuffling his feet along the metal ledge on the sides and checked out…I don’t know, stuff. Maybe he was assessing the state of the vehicle, maybe he was checking for dangerous animals. Then he called for help.

beautiful place to get stuck

stuck in the mud

The nearest help was Richard, 30 minutes away. While we waited, full dark arrived. We asked if there were hippos or crocodiles and Thata said no hippos but crocodiles. At least he was honest. Dawne noticed a couple of eyes that looked like crocodiles, and Thata got out his big lamp and confirmed that it did indeed belong to a crocodile though he seemed to feel it was a safe distance away so I didn’t worry. As long as we stayed in the 4x4 we were safe. I’m not sure that my safari-mates shared my confidence. I will see if they will share their videos below with their commentary. Richard arrived and they both stepped into the water checking things out and decided they needed rope to pull us out but Richard had no rope. Another group was called in and 45 minutes later three guys arrived in another SUV.

hooking up the strap

They had a strap that they tied to their car and ours but it kept coming untied when they pulled. Finally they determined that our rear right wheel was lodged too deeply in a hole. Being very “customer first” they carried us on their backs to the shore, unloaded the supplies from the SUV and put our luggage in, then let us drive off with Thata while they dealt with the stuck 4x4. It took them 3 hours to jack the vehicle up and get boards under it, but largely because they had to stop when the crocodiles got too close, and then they had to stop again and wait in the vehicles when some lions came by! I’m glad we were safely at the camp by then or it may have been the end of our safari as Dawne would have been on the next plane home!

trying to pull us out

Douglas giving me a ride to shore

Finally we arrive at camp!

Mom and baby hippo in the night

On the plus side, we saw several things we never would have if we hadn’t gotten stuck and arrived at camp well after dark. Our guide shone his bright light about and they caught on a pair of eyes that turned out to be a springhare, which is like a tiny African kangaroo! It hopped across the road right in front of us and I am still kicking myself for not getting a picture of it. We all immediately nominated it to be part of the “cute five” as our guide was teaching us about the “ugly five” and the “small five.” Our first pick of course was the meerkat. We also saw a hippo mom and her baby though they were a bit far away and walking away from us so we only saw a large round grey body with a smaller round body next to it.

Now we have our own tent!

our "bush babies" we're fuzzy and warm in the cold mornings

The second day we got up at 5:30, had breakfast at 6:15 and headed off to safari a bit late around 6:45. We cruised around for awhile seeing small things like impalas, wildebeest, and warthogs. Then we caught a break and found a leopard! Seeing those is really rare so we were super lucky. We got a great spot at first and he literally crossed right behind our parked vehicle. After that we got a couple more views of him through the brush. He was very shy and preferred to stick to the brush.

A lotta impalas

first leopard

wildebeests

warthogs running away

a baby zebra

After that it seemed we saw tons of animals: impalas which are everywhere, zebras, giraffes, and then lions. LIONS! We came upon 3 siblings: 2 females and a young male whose mane is still growing in. They were lounging on the side of the road and we sat for several minutes taking in how majestic they are. One female was adorable sprawled on a ledge while the male sat and groomed himself. The other female wandered off to stroll around her territory then the other female and the male followed.

another baby zebra

zebras

giraffes

more giraffes

giraffe

One sister snoozing while the other gets ready to go

young male

mokoro ride

After that we headed for our mokoro ride with some local villagers. We took a mokoro (like canoe) ride down a waterway but had to stop because an elephant was in the water blocking our way. They tried to scare it away with thumps and noises but that only made the elephant mock charge us by flapping it’s gigantic ears. Our guides wisely decided to do our bush walk first so they found a place to pole into and let us out onto land. We walked about 20 minutes and saw a herd of giraffes hanging out with a herd of wildebeests and zebras. It helps them to hang together because the wildebeest have great ears by lousy vision while the zebras have decent vision. Additionally, the zebra eat the top part of the grass and the wildebeest eat the bottom part.

elephant mock charging by flapping ears at us

African fish eagle and roller on mokoro hike

our mokoro guides at their village with mom the weaver

We had lunch on the island, bought some small bowls that Derek’s mother wove, and visited their village where we got to meet his mother and Kathie gave out more pens. When we got back they had heated water up for us to have some nice showers. They bring a bucket of hot water and fill a bag hanging in our outdoor bathroom. The bottom of the bag has a showerhead spout that you can turn on and off. Pretty darn effective.

Kathie giving pens to children in the village

our bathroom with shower and drop toilet

the bush stove where they make actual delicious rising bread

New folks arrived in camp before dinner. Three Germans: Daniel and his parents, Angela and Urban, along with their guide Master. They were very jealous of our leopard spotting as they have been on multiple safaris and not seen one yet. After a fabulous dinner we got a good nights sleep.

Tea time in the bush

one of the older males

The next morning was our last in the general Okavango Delta (though the next several days are also technically sections of Okavango). We ran across two male lions! They were even more majestic with their long manes. Then Master told us of the three we had seen yesterday who had brought down a pregnant giraffe. We drove over there where they had sated themselves and were all resting and digesting. These three siblings were not that old. This meant that soon (likely within another day) the scent of the kill would waft across the area drawing the two older males who would run off these younger ones and take possession of the food.

dad mom and baby elephants

Saddle billed stork aka German Flag stork

buzzards

tiny steenbok

bee eater

injured buck with claw mark on flanks

"toilet seat" buck

Thata told us the story of the waterbuck aka toilet seat buck. Back in the days of Noah's Ark, there were two of every animal on the ark. The waterbucks were some of the first ones to get on the ark. They went to use the toilet but went before the paint was dried, thus the white toilet seat markings on their butt.

hippo roaring

hippos near our Okavango camp

lilac roller flying

After lunch we headed back to Maun and a hotel for a real shower and cleanup. On the way our guide spotted two lilac crested rollers on the road in front of us. Everyone got nice shots of them and I finally got a picture of them in flight as they took off just as I was focusing. Maun was still a very long drive back: over 90 minutes on 4WD roads within the concession to get to the gate, then another hour or so on bumpy dirt roads back to the main paved road, then another 30 minutes back to town. We were tired but very interested in shopping by the time we got back. First a quick stop at bucks and boars brewery so Kathie and I could use the restroom while Dawne bought beer for folks back home. Then to the airport area where Thata waited patiently while we did some shopping and I hit the ATM.

lilac breasted roller

Thata dropping us off

Botswana money

Botswana money front