Our trip into the Okavango Delta was of the budget variety. This meant going into the Eastern Delta close to the buffalo fence (which separates wild animals from cattle to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease), so we were warned by everyone involved that we were not likely to see many animals, but that it would be a chance to see the delta and the bird life. The other aspect of a budget trip is that it is self-catering. This means taking not only all your food, but also your tent, sleeping bag and anything else you want... they provide the transport and a guide.
So, the morning of the tour we got into the open safari vehicle to be transferred to the mokoro station. There were 8 of us going in, but only Jason and I were staying overnight. It took about 2 hours to get to the buffalo fence and soon after passing through we spotted the first wildlife. Zebra!! Then some giraffe. These were quite a way off but still exciting. We were also eagerly following elephant tracks down the sandy road, but by the time we reached the village to pick up a guide we still hadn't caught up to the elephants. At the village there was much discussion and talk between the locals to decide who would be poling (there are 2 people to a mokoro so we needed 4 guides/polers). Once they were sorted we continued down to the mokoro station... although maybe that's an overstatement. There was a bit of shore with what looked like a few logs in it... our mokoros. A mokoro is a dug out log, which is filled with straw to help keep you dry (help, not succeed). Each mokoro was a different shape and about half were already filled with water. Undeterred our guide loaded all our camping gear, food, his camping gear and three of us into this mokoro.
We were sitting below the water level, with only about 5cm of mokoro above the water level. The guide (Olly) stood at the back and pushed off with the pole. We wove our way down narrow channels, choosing one over the other apparently at random. Although on one particularly narrow channel where he had to get out and push the mokoro when we got stuck we were informed that there were hippos in the main channel, and being that low in the water we were just as eager as him to avoid any hippos. Never has there been a more menacing sound than that of a hippo's laugh. By about 20 minutes in the mokoro was soaked with water and a puddle began to form in the bottom. It took about 2 hours of slowly making our way through the channels surrounded by grass the height of a man, water lilies and lots of different birds to make it to the campsite.
Here we set up camp and rested before heading off for a bush walk (not a game walk we were assured) with Olly and his trusty stick. Olly was a great guide giving us lots of information about different plants and there uses, including the sausage tree which can be used to, um, increase a mans size - but you must be careful not to go too big we were warned! Olly also showed us some red berries which he named lucky berries. A few minutes later we stumbled onto a blue wildebeest and cautiously approached hiding behind a termite mound. We were stared at as we stared back and it was wonderful to be so close. Later in the walk we also saw giraffe - approaching to within 20meters, and a big bull elephant - which we were about 10meters away from. Olly did seem rather worried about the elephant and kept checking the wind direction to make sure we were down wind. It was absolutely amazing!!
The night passed uneventfully although the hippos sure were noisy! The next day we did a further bush walk with more elephant, hippos, giraffe, zebra, warthog, impala and baboons galore. For a trip where we weren't expecting to see animals it was amazing, and so much more fun on foot. We relaxed in the mokoro on the way back enjoying the peace and quiet (and now sitting on plastic bags enjoyed being dry!).
All in all a fabulous safari to start off with.
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