Africa - Okavango Delta

This was by far my favorite place I went in Africa. It's funny, the Delta wasn't anything that spectacular I guess, but it was such a unique experience that few people have had. Not only was the expereince unique, but the scenery was beautiful and the people...well, they made it! The delta is located a little ways outside of Maun in the northern part of Botswana. In the Delta live the BaYei people, they have a village of about 700 and live in a way surprisingly true to their roots. The Delta is an area of land spanning several thousand square meters and much of it is marsh. The BaYei have been using mokoros to get around this land for hundreds of years. A mokoro is basically a dug out canoe and they use a long pole to "pole" themselves around the area.

We took an hour long trip in an open truck to reach the Delta where we were met by our polers and a large group of villagers. I can only assume that it provides much excitement and probably a good laugh when a new group of tourists arrive each week with their clean clothes, fancy cameras, oversized hats and unabashed curiosity. If we only knew we would arrive back at the same site two days later filthy dirty, our cameras safely packed away and full of laughter, conversation and stories we share with our new friends.

Our trip started with a two hour mokoro ride to an island where we would set up camp for the next two nights. The mokoro ride is an incredibly peaceful and relaxing experience, for the person lucky enough to be riding in the mokoro. I can safely assume it is a much more tiring experience for the person at the helm. It is hard to explain the experience, but I can try. First off, the polers have skillfully crafted our bed rolls into chairs in the mokoro so we can lounge back in comfort while we glide through the reeds, creating a comforting swishing sound. All you can hear is the this noise coupled with the chirping of crickets and the songs of the many birds of the delta. There is an occasional grunting of a hippo. It truly was one of the most unique experiences of my life.

Once we set up camp and dug our toliet behind a well concealed bush, we set out for an evening game walk. Our polers served as our guides as they know this land like the back of their hands. There are no fire arms allowed in Botswana, so we were literally walking into bush completely unarmed. On the way out our guides gave us a few pointers about staying down wind, how close you could approach an animal and then they gave us some tips that might save our lives. If an elephant charges you, run zig-zag into the bush. If a buffalo charges you, run to a tree and climb up the opposite side. And finally if a lion approaches you, stand completely still and stare it straight in the eyes...awesome, I can do that, no problem. ha! Luckily, none of us had to put any of these tactics to the test. We ran into a few elephants right off the bat and spent a good deal of time watching them. We weren't able to pass them as they had found a tree that must have tasted like candy seeing as they were unwilling to leave the tree and move from our path. So when the sun started setting we headed back to camp and I experience my first true African sunset. That is one thing that Africa sure knows how to do! It is amazing how the colors can change from orange to red to purple all in a matter of minutes.

The next day we awoke for another game walk and spent the hottest part of the afternoon soaking in the swimming hole. I'm not sure how they can know or guarantee this, but our guides assured us there were no crocs or hippos in this area. If I wasn't so hot, I would have probably been more inclined to question them. Even so, I did have the sense not to go any deeper than my thighs, I just sat down close to the shore (for a quick escape) and watched all of those other fools swim out deeper! Later that afternoon we went on our mokoros to a hippo pool not too far away from camp and watched the hippos. It is crazy how big and noisy those animals are. They have a loud barking grunt and spend most of their time in the water. Did you know a hippo can stay under water for up to 6 minutes! At sunset we headed back to camp for our final night in the Delta.

We had a special treat that night as our polers, who were camping with us, performed some of their songs and dances for us by the light of the fire. It was amazing to hear their songs, and even though you couldn't understand, you couldn't help but be moved by the sincerity of the songs. We asked what the songs were about; nature, people, religion, love...same as us. I was amazed at how similar we were to these people, maybe I shouldn't have been, after all we are all still people. I spent a lot of time on the mokoro ride home thinking about this. We're all people, we all have families, we all love, we all have the same basic needs, what differs is want. I want a bigger flat closer to the city, they want a solid mud hut for their entire family with a fully thatched roof that keeps the sun and rain out. I want a pair of Louboutin's with their coveted red soles, they want a pair of shoes with any soles that don't have holes. I want to travel the world, they want to find a way to get into town to spend the 40 pula (roughly $5) we tipped them. I want to try a Gordon Ramsey restaurant, while they want to provide 3 meals a day for their family. It puts such a refreshing perspective on life and the things we focus on and begin to so easily lose perspective. The people we spent these days with had less physical belongings than I could imagine spending a life with, but they also had a re-assuring amount of joy. So like I said before, it is the people that made the Delta such a memorable experience.

As usual, the rest of my pics are on shutterfly