a day on the water of the Ovavango Delta

The plan for today was a little different as the morning game drive was to include a go in a traditional mokoro, witnessing the way the locals of the Okavango make their way tranquilly through the Delta. A photo is in extra, it was the only time our guides took out a rifle, well the waters are infested with crocs and hippos. By the way, taking out a rifle in Botswana means lots of paperwork that the guides hate to do. Apparently every round used is checked by the military auditors and has to be accounted for. Such is their governments commitment to preserving the wildlife. The afternoon drive included a longer trip on the water but this time in a comfortable boat which we again shared with the couple in our truck who by now had become good friends. The boat ride was like a totally different world, travelling amongst the reeds and water ferns, seeing malachite and pied kingfisher, monitor lizard to name but a few. Sundowners were taken on the boat followed by a race back to the truck before it was totally dark and the time the hippos started to make their way out of the water.


Sightings on the game drive were many. I have blipped zebra just because I like them and they are regarded as too common to stop and look at. We had an exciting encounter when we saw 2 cheetah in the distance. Our tracker initially thought they were the regular 2 brothers who hunt together within the concession but he was surprised when the cheetahs were initially timid of the truck as it approached. They later settled and didn’t mind our presence. This was apparently the first time that this female and her son had been seen in this area and they had probably not seen safari trucks for quite some time.  At lunch time we arrived back at camp to find an elephant outside the lounge area, they seem to enjoy minding their own business and eating the bushes around the camp. They aren’t of danger if you are sensible and don’t walk past them or startle them. The day ended coming back from the boat in the dark using the lamp to find nocturnal animals. We saw 10 hyenas on the way to the dead elephant we found yesterday and more notably a very rare sighting of an aardwolf (in extra), I hadn’t even heard of an aardwolf before ! They apparently feed on termites.