Okavango Delta

I’d actually been in Africa for just over three months when I made my trip into the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Being there felt like I was truly seeing Africa for the first time.

Walking on the planes of the Okavango Delta’s brought back childhood memories of sandy colored velds as far as the eye can see.  It was an amazing feeling, one of exhilaration as long-term memories were revived. But more than that the memories came alive.

Memories Come Alive

I was bringing up the rear in the single file line we formed to move across the veld. I kept looking behind me to see if there wasn’t indeed a lioness quietly walking along in the grass behind me.

My memories are a little unclear, it’s quite some time since I was a child, so I can’t say exactly what started my first desire to visit Africa. The big cats seemed to hold a place in my heart from very early on. Today’s young girls are all about unicorns and pegasus, for me, it was always lions.

The Trip To The Dug-outs

I joined a Swedish couple on the boat from the Okavango River Lodge, that took us down the channel on a stunning 45-minute ride to where our dug-out canoes awaited. The water in front of us was still as a pond and the only noise was of our boats engine and the occasional cry of a bird.

The banks of the channel were lush with greenery that grows down the banks and into the water.  In the first two minutes, we saw a crocodile, basking in the sun. The rest of the trip gave us sightings of horses, donkeys, and cattle all grazing on the banks or standing in the water slurping their fill.

Long-Drops and Kiwis

Our boat dropped us off and as a time filler, they directed us to the toilets. The Swiss couple warned me after going first, that the toilets weren’t “great”. It was a “long-drop” with no toilet paper.  It’s interesting for me personally how one’s perception of what’s “great” and “not great” changes after years of living in a developing country.

While waiting for the loo, a South African tour guide asked me where I was from and as I replied the elder gentleman next to him said, “so am I”. Turned out some of their group were actually from my hometown. What are the odds?Only 50,000 of us Nelsonians and here we are loo-swopping in the middle of the Okavango Delta.

A Dug-Out Glide To The Veld

On climbing aboard my dug-out, my poler told me not to wiggle a lot or turn quickly for photos because we both might end up in the drink.  The boat is fairly narrow and I make it very rocky as I settle in but it is the very best way to glide along, down low in the water.  We drifted along through the reeds and water lilies while checking out the plethora of birdlife lucky to be making these plentiful waterways home.

We spent 1.5 hours on the waterways seeing things like gray herons with their jaw-dropping wing span. The regal African fish eagle was another beauty to behold along with the hundreds of other varieties of birds; storks, kingfishers, cranes the list goes on.

We docked our dug-outs on one of the many islands in the delta and ventured out onto the veld. This is where my childhood memories came alive and although we only saw one wildebeest and a herd of zebras.  It was the scenery, the sandy beige plains littered with evidence of elephants, aardvarks and warthogs that brought it alive for me.