Botswana - Okavango Delta

After a morning walk and breaky we boarded a couple of trucks for a short drive to another section of the Delta to meet our hosts for the next 36 hours. 

Our hosts were of 2 different tribes, both of whom live on the Delta. They transported us to our new campsite with Mokoro’s. Mokoro’s are traditional canoe’s which were once dug out from the trunks of ‘Sausage trees’ but these days are fibreglass. To move these canoes the guys (“Poler’s”) stand in the back and use a long pole and propel the canoe forward using the bottom of the river. Initially the thought of this ride was a little scary because we all were very aware of the inhabitants of the Delta and had been advised of what to do in case a Hippo tipped our Mokoro... ie swim very fast away and try not to get eaten by a croc!! 

Thankfully our trip was very pleasant and uneventful!

Once at our island campsite, our Poler’s helped everyone set up their tents and orientated us to our surrounds including the all important ‘pit’ toilet :-)... no showers tonight!

After lunch and a bit of a relax we were back in our Mokoro’s heading toward another island in the Delta for a “Bushman” walk. This walk was really interesting, we learnt about some of the local tree’s, wildlife, footprints and droppings. We were fortunate to see a herd of Zebra’s and a couple of warthogs. We learnt of the symbiotic relationship that Zebra’s have with Warthogs, ie. they are quite often found together because the Zebra’s fabulous vision allows them to see what the Warthog can only sense. Brii was also very interested, from a medical perspective, to learn that Wild Sage (nothing like the conventional Sage at home) is the “Bush cure” for Syphilis and Gonorrhoea.

We arrived back near our campsite in time to witness a magnificent sunset from our Mokoro’s over the water of the Delta. It was stunning.

After dinner, our fantastic day was topped off with some dancing and singing by our Poler’s. Unfortunately they didn’t explain the stories behind their dances but it was entertaining if not sometimes a little strange. We were asked to also perform for them... as a group we did the Hokey Pokey which was a great hit and finished with Waltzing Matilda which they also seemed to enjoy. Our 2 Irish companions also did a song and dance from home that was also pretty cool.