A Slow Ride Through the Delta

Bill is enjoying his "Indiana Jones/Autotopia" Ride
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We woke up fairly early expecting our tour guide to pick us up between 7:00 and 7:30.  We ordered a breakfast pack to take with us from our hostel, and they had it prepared the night before in case we left really early.  Time kept going and going and still no sign of our guide.  My mind of course goes straight to the pessimistic side wondering if he's even going to show up.  But finally closer to 8:30, he shows up, Tongai and his assistant, Isaac, and off we were on our way.

Guma Lagoon on the Okavango Delta
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The first day was basically a loooooooonnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggg drive towards our first lodge.  We were driving into the Kalahari Desert on a road that did not bent, twist, turn, or go through a town for almost 500 km.  The view of the scrub and small bushes was suprising as they were very green for a desert, but we were told there is alot of water under the desert.  We did stop to buy some grub and water, and then we made a lunch stop where we made sandwiches.  We arrived at Toutona Lodge as it was pouring rain though in the car Bill mentioned it looks like it'll rain, and Tongai swore it wouldn't rain.  We were the only people in this campsite, so Tongai set our tents up under the roofed common area that is usually used for cooking but seeing how it was raining and we were the only people there, we took it.

A Crocodile is out trying to warm himself in the sun
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The problem with being the only people there was the lodge had turned off the water in our area as it's not used much this time of year. It took Tongai four drives up to the main lodge as it was far away for them to finally come down and figure out what the problem was.  We finally had water 5 hours after arriving.  Isaac cooked a huge meal with lots of steak and sausage as well as veggie soup and a cornmeal mesh like grits but tasted better, and then it was time for bed.

As we had driven into the lodge yesterday, we had seen cages, and Tongai told us that the lodges keeps lions and cheetahs.  Bill asked if we could see them on our way out, and Tongai did show us the one cage of lions but that was about it and then it was back to driving.   We stopped right outside of a small town to have some lunch along the side of the road, again

The narrow channels leading out into the heart of the Delta
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we got to make our own sandwiches.  But the nice thing was that they supplied a lot of condiments to go with everything almost like a fast subway.

We arrived in a small town where all the locals had circular straw huts type of housing with a few houses made of mud bricks but not many as those are pricey.  We sat in the village for quite a while waiting for a 4x4 vehicle to take us to the next campsite.  Then we kept waiting, so Bill and I kept playing cards.  I almost beat him at war but I couldn't seem to win the actual wars, so he ended up winning that game.  We kept playing games until finally a guy came to tell us that his vehicle broke down, and he had to walk all the way to tell us as there was no cell reception along the way.  So Tongai took him to call the lodge back and sent another car.

One of the many lily paddies that we went through on our ride
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By this time, Bill had made friends with some of the local children and was playing catch with them with a deflated soccer ball.  Bill sat on his chair as he tried to sike three boys and one girl out throwing the ball to someone he wasn't looking at.  They seemed to have a great time and where sad to see us leave when the second car finally showed up.

After we loaded all of our stuff into the new car and ditched our little minivan, we got a warning that the ride would be bumping and since we were in a safari car with now covering, we may have to duck from time to time to avoid branches along the side of the road.  As we drove, I started to understand why the second car took so long to come from the lodge.  We were

Michelle has had enough Mokoru for one day
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basically in an Indiana Jones type vehicle ride but since the sand was so thick, it was almost like the driver was driving autotopia as he followed all the deep curves of the tracks set before him.  So basically, we were on a

real live Disneyland ride well as least a combo ride.

As soon as we arrived to the lodge, we set up camp or I should say Bill helped a bit and Issac and Tongai set up camp.  I went to explore the bathroom facilities to find outdoor top open bathroom and shower that have a little bar you pull down to indicate your using it.  We also got a little tour of the grounds to see the common areas of the kitchen and eating/ deck area.  There was a great view of the lake where we spent the rest of the day sitting by the lake reading.  When the mosquitoes started to come out, we put on a longer shirt and pants as we went to have dinner that Issac made.  So much food for four people, you'd think 8 people where on this trip.

The sunset over the Kalahari Desert
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The next day was really the first day of any activity we had.  We were to take a speedboat to one of the islands in the Okavango and on that island we would pick up a mokoru (similar to a canoe) ride through the delta as we looked for more animals.  However, the flood arrived a few weeks earlier so most of the animals had already moved out of the delta.  We did see a few crocodiles and some birds, but for the most part all we saw were lily pads.  A few tiny frogs the size of a quarter did jump onto our legs as the rode in the mokoru.

The Lion tries to get as far away from us as possible
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Though we did have a bit of excitement on the way out to the first island as we went down a narrow channel with the speedboat.  Our driver was going at a good slow pace, but the boats coming the other direction were going at full speed.  We almost flipped over as we run into the second boat, but our driver was able to get over to the side enough that we just brushed this boat.  And then not more than a few minutes later, another boat came zipping by but again our driver kept us from harm.  He apologized later and said he would report it to the lodge, but there really wasn't much he could have done.  It was just locals transporting their stuff with no regard for anyone coming the other way.

Bill's new friends
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When we arrived to the lunch stop, we had a walk around another island as our guide explained how the island was created from termite mounds as well as animals dung.  He also showed us a lot of the vegetation and trees and we saw the remnants of elephants as many of the trees had their bark strip from the elephants.  There was also an interesting tree that looks like it was planted upside down as the bottom is so thick and the branches look like the roots coming out of the ground.  We also ran into these green little prickly bushes that would just attach themselves to your clothes, and you'd hear a quick Velcro of a sound as your realized they got you again and were stuck to your clothes.  My pants really attracted them.

A typical village on the Okavango Delta
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We then had lunch and then it was time to turn around.  Our guide took a different way back and we were stuck in the papyrus and couldn't go through.  So he backed the boat up and made it so he could go first as he hacked a route through the brush for us to get through.  On the way there I sat in the first spot, but realized it was the worse spot because I ran into all the spider webs first.  So Bill took that spot and the way back and realized exactly what I had meant.  And by this time the sun was out in full effect, and we didn't have much of a breeze plus we were wearing long pants because of the walk around the island.  This trip would have been a bit more exciting if there still was animals to see.  Bill had thought there would be, so he was very disappointed by this trip.  The second mokoru ride back was just too much for me because it was so hot and there wasn't much to see that when we finally made it back to the speedboat, I was so happy.  Again we spent the rest of the afternoon on the porch reading after taking cold showers.  This was one of the few lodges that didn't have a pool that I really wish it had at when we got back.  I'm not sure I would have gotten out until dinner time.

Again we topped off the rest of the day with some reading but our space was a bit limited on the deck as a new South African self guided tour group where now sprawled across the patio.  Bill and I found a spot in the corner and kept reading. Isaac made another delicious meal on the two burners in the kitchen.  I'm not sure if he does better on the burners or the fire, but he makes great dinners.

Michelle