Off to Maun in
Botswana, the gateway to the Okavango Delta. Our flight strangely
went via Victoria Falls in neighbouring Zimbabwe before backtracking
to Maun ??!! (no information on our Air Namibia flight about this).
Stayed at a really cute
hostel called Old Bridge right on the river outside of Maun. Our
little furnished permanent tent was overlooking the river.
Pumping bar where all
the locals go (we can't say that wasn't part of our decision to stay
there).
That night met a whole
lot of people living in Maun, but as it happens not Maun locals –
mostly south africans working there as pilots as so many parts of the
delta are only accessible by air and there is also a huge business in
scenic flights. The pilots were all in their early 20s, getting
progressively drunker with the same favourite subject – themselves.
Comforting thought that we were heading off on a flight the next
morning and they were all working the next day...
Did meet one cool guy,
an American called Wilder (yes real name) who decided on a whim to
come with us to Oddballs the next day. He was on a short break from
working in South Africa and hadn't really organised anything. As it
turned out he became our little travel buddy for the next week
through Okavango, Chobe and Vic Falls.
Next day – off to
Oddballs in the Okavango!
Our pilot, you'll be
pleased to know, was luckily not one from the night before and looked
quite fresh (josh – he reminded us of Toofer from 30 Rock both in
looks and the way he spoke!).
Flight over Okavango to
Oddballs. Flew quite low – pretty, but didn't see many animals,
though it was the middle of the day when fewer animals are out and
about because of the heat.
Arrived at our private
airstrip – shortest one in the Okavango apparently, but our pilot
dealt with it perfectly. Greeted by a bunch of friendly African
faces at the airstrip. Our host, KG (I keep going to call him HG)
and our guides.
A short walk and we
were at the lodge – first to the lounge areas rather than our
rooms, and OH MY GOD, so beautiful! A set of shacks built from wood
and reeds and built around trees to blend perfectly in with the
surroundings. They're fully open and set right upon the river, with
mokoros (hand-made dugout canoes) floating serenely in the water just
ahead. There's a deck above for better viewing of the river and
maybe hippos!
|
Old Bridge backpackers, in Maun |
Staff nice and happy to
share their knowledge about this beautiful place. KG is quite a
joker always telling us there's a lion around the corner or some
other tale to try to scare us.
Afternoon mokoro ride -
just anna and me and the guide who punts us around like a gondola
ride really. Through the beautiful lilypads and reeds, and hippo
infested waters – totally scary as we could hear them grunting
around us!
Then a walk, yes a
walk, around Chief's Island where there are potentially all sorts of
scary animals. Just a guide with no gun or phone and us. We felt no
less concerned after hearing the brief talk from our guide about
which way and how to run from various sorts of animals (zig zag
downwind [now how to tell that when there is no breeze], up a tree
etc - but apparently you don't run from a lion even if it's right in
front of you! Quite an adrenalin filled walk although we didn't see
anything too scary, just some impala and a couple of monkeys
shimmying up a tree.
Back before sunset when
the crazy hippos fully wake up and start to rule the waterways!!
After a yummy dinner KG
told us there were elephants in the camp. After his crying wolf
occasions before, we though he was joking, but off we went and a huge
ellie was just by the kitchen! We heard another one splashing around
the water nearby. At bedtime, the water ellie was very nearby and
it stayed there for hours munching on the reeds and making lots of
noise, while there was another one just outside our bathroom,
stomping and crashing through the brush which was a little
disconcerting given our 'bathroom' was essentially just an open shack
built of bamboo set on wooden deck over the [elephant and
hippo-filled] water, and our accommodation was a tent on the same
deck. They never seemed scary before but they are so huge close up,
and our mind was fresh with tales of young bull elephants (which
these were) cluelessly crashing through brush and knocking trees. We
did get to sleep though and the sounds of the splashing elephant, and
later the grunting shuffling hippos out around our tent for a feed,
were interesting accompaniments.
Next day, more
beautiful mokoro rides paired with island walks. Walks much less
scary now - amazing what becomes normal after you've tried it once.
Mokoro rides always serene but with an undercurent of potential angry
hippo action. Didn't see much in the way of wildlife but it was such
a gorgeous place.