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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
100km |
Meals
burgers and fries |
Weather |
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Maun,
Botswana |
08 July,
2004 |
Sedia Hotel |
19°57.245’S x 23°28.717’E |
Odometer: 27095km |
Sunny, 75(F) Degrees, |
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We left camp this morning at 7am. Today was
our last day in the park and we had to be out by 11am to avoid being
charged for another day. As luck would have it we encountered a huge male
lion resting in the road at 930. We watched him for about 40 minutes as he
dozed, rolled around in the grass, and generally relaxed, which seems to
be what lions are best at. When the sun got too hot for him he got up and
wandered into the shade of a nearby tree to flop down again. By this time
it was 1020 and we still had 17km to go to reach the park entrance. We
drove rally style and made it just in time. We paid our bill and headed
back to Maun. We checked into a hotel that provides camping for only 20
pula ($5) and spent the afternoon preparing for our mekoro trip tomorrow.. |
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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
0km |
Meals
couscous |
Weather |
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Okavango Delta,
Botswana |
09 July, 2004 |
Bushcamp |
19°30.707’S x 23°25.318’E |
Odometer: 27095km |
Sunny, 90(F)
degrees |
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Today we start a 3-day mkoro
trip on the Okavango delta. A mkoro is a small dug-out canoe propelled by
a poler, and traditionally used by the people of the delta for fishing and
trading. We were picked up at the hotel in the morning, and after
overcoming a bit of separation anxiety on the part of Graham (this is the
first time he’s been away from his car in almost six months) we headed
north toward the delta. After a very cold 1.5 hour drive in the back of an
open land cruiser, we arrived at our put-in. We were assigned boats, two
tourists and one poler in each, and were on our way. The boats sit no more
than a few inches above the water, and we sat on grass mats in the bottom
with the poler standing in back. We set off navigating through narrow
channels of water flanked by tall reeds. The reeds are home to flocks of
thousands of small quelea birds which launch into the air en masse at our
approach. A flock taking flight sounds like an ocean wave crashing onto
the beach. In flight they form clouds that move in a poetic dance through
the sky. We drifted along slowly and silently, a welcome change from the
noise and roughness of the 4WD tracks we had been navigating in Moremi. We
arrived at our campsite after only a couple of hours. We set up our tents
and had lunch followed by our customary afternoon nap. At four we went for
a bushwalk encountering elephant and a few giraffe. Elephant can be
dangerous and seeing one on foot is quite different than viewing them from
a car. |
A flock (or swarm?) of quelas Debbie and Brian with their poler
A flock (or swarm?) of quelas
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Updated Information
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Date |
Camp Site or Accommodations |
GPS |
Distance Today:
0km |
Meals
Couscous |
Weather |
|
Okavango Delta,
Botswana |
10 July, 2004 |
Bushcamp |
19°30.707’S x 23°25.318’E |
Odometer: 27095km |
Sunny, 88(F)
degrees |
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We awoke early (6 am) this morning and set off
on a walk after tea and rusks. We were able to get a little closer to a
pair of elephants as well as seeing more giraffe, zebra, and impala. The
smaller animals (especially antelope) perceive us as predators on foot and
scatter before we are within a half-kilometer of them. When driving, even
in our loud diesel vehicles, we can approach a herd of impala and they
will only move off the road when in danger of being hit by the car. Back
at camp we had lunch and relaxed, and the guys tried their hand at poling
the mkoros. Balance is tricky and making them go straight down the narrow
channel is even harder. In the end it took them about an hour to go a few
hundred meters. In the afternoon we got back in the mkoros (with the
professionals at the helm) and went another couple of kilometers further
into the delta. We encountered a green water snake and a couple of new
bird species. Debbie now has 108 species recorded in the delta. |
Debbie and Brian with a termite mound Graham tries his hand at poling
Debbie and Brian with a termite mound
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On to
Botswana, Page 5 |
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