We are leaving Mashutu this morning. I took a shower in our outdoor shower. I thought it was going to be cold but it wasn’t bad. After breakfast we drove an hour to the airport. Our plane was waiting for us. We were the only ones on the plane. I felt very jet set, having a plane to ourselves. No getting to the airport early, no security, I like it! It was similar to the plane we took here except we didn’t have a co-pilot. Rick spent the whole trip talking to the pilot and learning how to fly the plane.
We flew over the Botswanan salt flats.
We stopped in Maun to refuel and then on to the Okavango Delta. The landing strip was grass, a little bumpy.
We were greeted by the camp staff. It was just a short walk to the camp where we got an introductory briefing with our new guide, Owner, and had lunch. The camp consists of 12 “suites” which is really 12 separate buildings. The room is very nice with a lovely deck that looks out over the delta. Here are pictures of our room.
The suites are connected by a raised walkway.
Like most of the camps they have an electric fence which keeps elephants out but other animal are free to roam the camp. They want to keep the elephants out because they can do so much damage as we saw at MalaMala.
After lunch we had about an hour before our afternoon safari so I took a nap. That afternoon Owner gave us an overview of the area. The delta is formed by the Okavango river which originates on Angola. The delta is the low point between two tectonic plates. All the water reaching the delta ultimately evaporates and transpires, and does not flow into any sea or ocean. He also told us that three main sources of income for the Botswanan economy are mining, tourism, and agriculture. Agricultural is in the form of cattle because the soil is very sandy which makes it difficult to grow anything.
After a short lecture Owner took us out in an aluminum boat that just skims the surface. The boat has 12 chairs bolted to the floor of the boat. Here is a picture.
The delta consists of a maze of water channels and it is amazing that the guide knows where he is going because every channel looks a like. On our way out we stopped to take pictures of a number of birds. We also saw a crocodile and some hippos submerged under the water.
Eventually we arrived at a point where there were traditional canoes called mokoros. This is Kay and Mike in their mokoros.
We moved into the mokoro which was propelled by a nice man named John and a stick. We continued our journey for about an hour all the time watching the sun set. The reflection of the sunset on the water was beautiful.
We had drinks in a field. Owner is the man with the sunglasses.
We returned to the camp after our canoe ride. The bugs were very bad and Rick and Mike had to protect themselves from bugs flying into their faces.
We had about an hour before dinner so we went back to our cabin. We are not allowed to walk alone after dark so Owner came and escorted us to dinner. After dinner we were escorted back to our cabin. We pretty much immediately went to bed because we have an early wake up call tomorrow morning.