Tuesday, April 8 – transit from Nata to Maun

Based on the lack of air-conditioning and mosquito nets, I was prepared for a rough night. It turned out to be just the opposite though. I slept great! The early wake-up yesterday I’m sure was a contributor; but there was also wonderful cross-ventilation in the cabin. I actually got under the comforter at some point during the night. And, wait for it, no mosquito bites! Bonus!

Some sunrise views…

From the screened window in my cabin.

Breakfast was at 7am (English breakfast again – eggs, bacon, baked beans, sausage), and we were on the road by 8am.

Our destination today is Maun, which will be used as a jumping off point for our trip to the Okavango Delta. Our road trip included a couple rest stops, a lunch break (some of us went to a Nando’s), another snacks/liquor/ice stock-up excursion, and a visit to a souvenir market (I didn’t buy anything).

African Baobab Tree at a rest stop.

We arrived at the Sedia Riverside Hotel around 3:30pm.

Nice place!

My room is in the single-story building ahead…

No mosquito netting, but it wasn’t required (tightly sealed room with a/c).

There were no activities planned for the rest of the day.

Many of us took advantage of the pool!

For dinner I tried the Ox Tail Stew. It was good, but hard to eat – many (large) bones. I eventually gave up and used my hands to hold the bones while I gnawed at the meat! Shaddie complemented me on following the local technique! I finished off dinner with a bowl of ice cream. Cost of the meal: 225 BWP ($14).

Travel Note: I don’t think I mentioned that the time difference between London and these southern African countries that I’m visiting is only one hour. Convenient. No jet lag!

Wednesday, April 9 – transit from Maun to the Okavango Delta

We’ll be spending tonight in tents at a bush camp in the Okavango Delta. It’s where the Okavango River meets the Kalahari Desert. The “water in the desert” ecosystem is equivalent in size to Switzerland. It became UNESCO’s 1,000th World Heritage Site in 2014.

Access to our campsite will be via hand-crafted dugout canoes called mokoro. As such, we were only allowed to bring a day pack with us. It was also recommended that we leave behind our passport and money (to be locked up in the storage compartment of our tour bus). Not a comfortable thing to do, but I complied.

The contents of my day pack. I did bring a little money and my driver’s license (for ID purposes – in case a hippo takes me down!).

Another early start. Breakfast was at 6:30am, and we were on the road by 7:30am.

Ready for the roughly two-hour road trip to the boat landing! In front is Matt; that’s Naima and Janin (a flight attendant from Berlin) in the middle; and next to me is Annie (a school teacher from Highgate, London).

Most of our journey was via unpaved roads.

Oh oh! Temporary delay to clear a road obstruction (tree).

Wildlife sighting!?! Never mind, just cows!

We arrived at the Daunara Mokoro Station around 9:15am.

These land cruisers are standing by to transport the arriving groups who spent last night in the bush camps.

Mokoros

Sidenote: After the groups from last night’s camp out arrived, some of us noticed one man sitting alone in in a safari truck, looking very forlorn and hugging his sleeping bag (fetal position equivalent). That’s a little disturbing. We later learned that the groups that spent yesterday in the bush camps endured a miserable day. There was heavy rain throughout, and they had to stay in their tents the entire time. Brutal! I can understand his misery. Hopefully our time will be better!

Annie graciously joined me on our journey to the bush camp. We departed around 9:45am.

This was a fun trip!

We arrived at the camp site around 11:30am.

We chilled out a bit while the porters set up the tents and prepared lunch.

Our accommodation for the night.

Lunch was burgers and pasta salad. Not bad!

Following lunch we had a bit of rest time before heading out on a sunset hike.

Elephant remains (likely died from disease).

Termite Mound.

Hello! (Cool tree too!)

This herd went off in the other direction once they heard/saw/smelled us approaching.

At least they decided to retreat rather than attack!

In the background are Red Lechwe.

A beautiful end to the two hour hike!

Dinner was waiting for us upon the return from our trek. We had oxtail stew. It was good, but had I known tonight’s menu, I probably would have ordered something different for dinner last night! Oh well…

Following dinner, the porters demonstrated some local singing and dancing for us. A little touristy, but cute.

An ominous sign – thunder and lightning in the distance…

It started raining around 9pm, so we all headed to our tents. Tonight I’m sharing my accommodation with Juan. He’s originally from South Africa, but currently lives in Seattle, working in operations for a cruise line.

We had to close the screened window and entrance flaps on the tent due to the rain, thereby eliminating any breeze that might provide some relief from the heat. Ugh! We were required to bring our own sleeping bags on the tour, but I ended up not even using mine. I just slept (or tried to) in my clothes while lying on the cot. This could be a long night…

Travel Note: I ended up buying my sleeping bag at an outdoor supply shop in Harrow. I got lucky and found one on deep discount (originally £70, marked down to £27!). I was planning on just leaving it behind in Africa, but since I never used it, and it’s a nice compact size, I decided to keep it.