Okavango Delta - River Khwai

Start the day with a trip on the river on a mokoro – just like punting really but the Okavango Delta is a bit bigger than the Thames at Oxford. Then we had a little guided walk which was a sort of poo walk – Here is week old elephant dung, two day old Zebra poo, day old impala droppings.

We were told to stock up on drink as our camp wouldn’t have much in that line. So we weighed down our vehicle with gallons of water, soft drinks and wine, only to find eventually that the camp had a very well stocked bar, and it was all free too.  So we couldn’t possibly consume what we had acquired. (Indeed one of the Polish couples used the mineral water to wash their hair in the end – well nothing else to do with it.)

Then on to our final camp at the River Khwai.  Now I had forgotten how bad African roads could be, but my coccyx retained a vestigial memory. Ouch. 4 hours of bouncing later and we were, er, lost. You see once you get off the road and into the forest, well there are just lots of little forest paths and no signs and its not easy to give directions when the only markers are trees, and lots of them. But finally we made it to the wilderness camp. Again on a river, just 6 tents. And at the grand old age of 48, my first ever camping experience. Okay some may sniff at a tent which has its own toilet and shower, but hey, this is as close to roughing it as I want to get thank you. There was of course no electricity, but they gave us a battery lamp. And a whistle, just in case anything big got in in the night. After dark we had to be escorted to the "restaurant" tent and bar and back. Brilliant little bunch of staff, especially the elderly chap, Pilot, who ran the place, and Brooks who looked suitably embarrassed when the whole staff turned out to greet us with traditional singing and dancing. I just thought yeah, I would be at the back shuffling too.

So on to two days of morning and evening drives. Afternoons were very hot, at least 35 degrees and obviously no pool here, so one tended to lie around and read in one’s tent, and have regular showers. I took three each afternoon. Shower, let breeze dry you off, then back to shower.

And the wildlife was great. Huge herd of Zebra, the fantastic sight of a herd of elephant crossing the river. Lovely sunsets (helped by substantial G n T as a sundowner). Lots of nocturnals including genet hyena civet and serval. Pair of leopards cavorting. Ground Hornbill family wandering in formation. All just too, too wonderful to leave, but we had to sadly. Our final lunch was on the opposite bank to our camp, tables and chairs having been brought out for the purpose in a separate vehicle (a vehicle which we had to tow out of the water when it got stuck in a “river” crossing, of which there were many). Just felt rather priviliged to be able to experience all this.

Pictures to follow. Now off to Istanbul. Will update when can, but may be a month away