|
|
|
|
journal entries22 Oct 04: [TS] Etosha Nat Park
|
okavango deltaThe Okavango Delta is an oasis in Northern Botswana where it meets the Kalahari desert. It is a maize of waterways, canals and lagoons so abundant with wildlife you would find it hard to believe. Its area is over 50,000 sq. kms and a "must" to see when on the African continent. It is fed by the Okavango river which begins in central Angola 1500 kms away and forms part of the border between Angola and Namibia. We take a mokoro out into the delta for a couple of days, camping out, to explore this vast wilderness for ourselves. A mokoro is dug out canoe cut from a sausage tree. Its about 12 foot long 18 inches wide and comes with its own poler, which is a bloke standing at the back with a long pole to move it along. Being propped up by our backpacks, one at the front, one centre and Puso, our poler at the back, we glide easily along and through the delta. It is an experience in itself riding in a mokoro. It felt like royalty being gently maneuvered through the lagoons with reeds and waterlillies everywhere. On the islands you could see herds of elephant, water buffalo and kudu. All around us were countless types of birds, fishing and having fun. There was a huge splash nearby and Puso immediately pulls into the reeds. We are silent for a couple of minutes then Puso says" crock or hippo". I was trying to decide my preferred option being 3 inches off the water with little faith in the stability of our craft. "Crock" Puso decides and I immediately know I wanted the other. It is reported that hippos kill more people in Africa than any other animal however this is disputed with the crock. Anyway after waiting a while longer, we move on without incident, for now. Its about midday when we pull into an island with shady trees, green grass, inviting lagoons and a herd of elephants 100 meters away. This is where we made camp and spent the hottest part of the day out of the sun. Went swimming lots of times, cooling off in the shade, reading and napping right up until early evening. Heard a lion roar a couple of times not to far away. In the evening we take the mokoro out further up the island and onto another island exploring and checking out the wild life. We go out to a lagoon to see the family of hippos that we had seen earlier. The hippos stay in families of about 15 to 25. They walk along the bottom of the lagoons totally submerged putting their heads up occasionally for air and to ward us off when we got to close. We had another sighting of a crock a couple of meters from out boat so there was no rocking the boat here. Checked the fish net which Puso had thrown in earlier and pulled in 4 good size fish which we grilled over the fire using green branches as a rack. They were called Telopea and Brim and suited the setting with the full moon rising and the chorus of the night sounds in nature. Slept under the stars. The following day we're up at dawn. Took the mokoro to another island and walked until mid morning checking out more of the nature. We came across a troop of monkeys that are always fascinating to watch. Their mannerism's are so alike with ours. We saw warthog, water buffalo and elephant. There were hyena tracks sausage trees and a wide range of birds to numerous to mention. We got back in time to sit the heat out. Reminded me of the Mexican siesta. Started our trip back in the early afternoon and eventually got to Seronga, the village, and the van. Pumped up our flat tyre as our spare had disintegrated a few days earlier an no place sells them here. We decided to make tracks while our tyre still had air, to Shakawe and catch the car ferry by 6.30 and the Namibian border which closed at 6. Everything went our way as we made both deadlines and found a bush mechanic, open, who fixed our tyre. Also found a place to stay on the river with unique outdoor bathrooms. Like being in the garden of Eden with a shower nozzle coming out of a tree. Went for a swim here in the cage, built to keep us and the crocodiles separated. The following morning our tyre was flat again so after pumping it up we found our tyre bloke and spent half a day with him. When we left we had a spare as well taken from another van that was well out of service. The Caprivi Strip is a narrow piece of Namibian land across the top of Botswana. It is renowned for having some of the largest elephant herds especially at this time of year so we used this route to get to Zambia and onto Victoria Falls. Bugger all elephants but had seen so many lately it didn't matter. What did matter though was needing a visa for Zambia or having a good wad of US dollars to buy one. We had neither and no place to get any so we change direction back through Botswana, through the Chobe national park, where more elephants were seen, and into Zimbabwe. |
|
email us!tom@stuckintoafrica.com.au | damien@stuckintoafrica.com.au
|
