LAZY SUNDAY
We travelled first by boat, then by truck to another area of the Okavango Delta so that we could be taken out on the waterways in mokoros, traditional canoes which used to be wooden dugouts but are now made by fibreglass since the government introduced a ban on cutting down trees for the mokoros. The mokoros hold two passengers and one poler and I shared mine with Cosmos, our driver.
While it was extremely peaceful gliding through the water, I didn’t see the wildlife I was expecting of the Okavango Delta – only a herd of elephants sharing the shore with cattle, a couple of water buffalo, birds – but no hippos. We went ashore on an island for a walk with our guide who was able to explain the difference between elephant and hippo dung, how to tell the difference between a young or old elephant by their dung, and other essential skills necessary for life in the big city! We also saw where the elephants and hippos sleep at night. Apparently elephants prefer ground with a slight slope as it is easier to lift their heads when they get up.
Cosmos sat in the front of the mokoro on the way out and we swapped places on the way back, ostensibly so I could take photos but I think Cosmos knew we would be going through lots of reeds and I would have to part them as we went. I didn’t mind doing this until a poisonous snake was pointed out to me, skilfully camouflaged on one of the reeds, so after that I kept my hands on my camera inside the mokoro.
This trip has been hard on my sunglasses. The frame on my good pair I brought from home broke early in the trip so I duct taped it together until I could get a replacement pair at my first opportunity. This happened to be Swakopmund where I bought a pair in a department store then another pair which I preferred from a street seller in Mondesa (both around the $4 mark). This second pair lasted until Rundu where the frame broke so yesterday just after we crossed into Botswana and stopped at a small town, I bought a pair of ‘Ray-Bans’ in a store for the bargain price of US$3.75. My beautiful ‘Ray-Bans’ are now in four pieces – they didn’t even last 24 hours (I wonder if Botswana has a Consumer Affairs Department?) I’m now without sunglasses until tomorrow evening when I can get the first pair I bought at Swakopmund out of my luggage. Hopefully they will last until I can get home. I should mention that I haven’t seen any more expensive options while I’ve been travelling through Namibia and Botswana.
Some of us had wanted to do a flyover of the delta this afternoon but as there were only a few of us interested the price was prohibitive so we had some free time before dinner instead - I opted to read in my sweatbox, I mean cabin.
With no other entertainment on board, this evening after dinner we all had to do a party piece – either by singing, dancing or, in my case, by storytelling (or joke telling). Even the captain took part!
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| Innocent doing his party piece |
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