Maun, Botswana

OKAVANGO DELTA

Charles and I arrived in Maun, Botswana looking forward to getting ourselves into the Okavango Delta! We based out of the Okavango River Lodge where we've been camping for a few days right on the water (great view, a bar/restaurant and huge bonfire every night too-bonus!). We hired the Lodge to arrange a village guide from Boro village to take us on an overnight mokoro trip in the delta this weekend. Nice!





We've been dividing our time here in Maun between touring and working (on-line classwork). We're at our "office" now - a booth in the local Wimpy's restaurant (a Denny's-style joint) with free fast internet. (SCORE!) So far, we've been able to stand 6-7 hours of continuous loops of Kenny Rogers music before needing to run out. We're heading north tomorrow toward Chobe National Park. (Unfortunately, Moremi Park roads are mostly flooded so we have to bypass that park - it's the most water they've had here in 40 years (!) - so, we're catching up on work and heading to Kasana and Chobe after this...



The Mokoro trip this weekend was amazing!! Despite the really cold mornings here, the days and afternoons are perfect. We took the warmest layers we owned, our camping gear and enough food for 2 days and we were off. First, a 1/2 hour motorboat to Boro village (and neighborhood children making silly faces around a pot of 'pap' porridge). Our village mokoro poler guide, Newman, was selected and we were off in our mokoro to explore the delta.

We were spotting nearby fish eagles, jacanas, and swamp boubous every once in a while but mostly....silence. No sound except the pole through the water and the rippling water sounds as we moved slowly through reeds and delta. Amazing. We were lulled to some sort of meditative state.









A 1/2 day of poling and we set up camp, had a nice siesta and then went on an afternoon game walk on this nearby island. I think we covered a 500-meter circle in 2 hours stopping about 100 times for sightings of wildabeesst, impala, lechwe, warthogs, burchell's zebra, elephants, baboons - all at a little uncomfortably close range. Newman, our guide had us hide low while warthogs came VERY close. (Yikes, are you SURE?)! We had to make a choice to pause as elephants were crossing our path...and here we were on foot - a crazy long anticipation/adrenaline rush.









Then a pre-sunset mokoro back to camp. Newman caught 3 talapia with his fish net - so we had a beautiful camp braai of meat, fish, potatoes, baked beans and wine! A nice sunset and a million stars around the campfire...WOWwwwww...and inevitable talk of 'if you hear an elephant walk though camp just stay in your tent' (holy shit)...so I'm not totally sure I slept soundly that night.
Manthanyane "Newman", our Moyeyi guide of Boro village was teaching us some simple Setswana words around the campfire:

Wari: Hello
Tali-boha: Thank you
Dumela: Good Morning
Hakuna matata: you're welcome/no worries
Ra/Ma: man/woman

A Conversation:
Newman: "Wari, dumela ma".
Kristi: "Wari, dumela ra, taliboha"
Newman: "Hukuna matata ma"

Next day was a 3-4 hour game walk (fresh lion tracks and hippo scat), back in the mokoro for 1/2 hour to camp (Charles tried his hand at poling semi-successfully - ask him to tell you about the thorn bush) and another break, a nap, book reading, and campfire lunch of pasta and fresh fish. Then a few hours of meditative mokoro riding to the village, bye to Newman and Boro village, some welcome drinks on the motorboat back to the river lodge and then the best 'bunny chow' (beef curry stew in a bread bowl) dinner and beer you've ever tasted. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!







BIRDS
African Jacanas
Pied Kingfishers
Palm Swifts
Lesser Jacanas
Blackcollared Barbet
Whitebreasted Cormorant
Great White Egret
Redbilled Wood Hooeoes
Senegal Coucal
Squacco Heron
Hammerkop
Pigmy Goose
Cape Vulture
Blacksmith Plover
Grey Lourie
Greater Swamp Warbler
Swamp Boubous
Reed Cormorant
Spurwinged Goose
Sparrow Hawk
African Fish Eagles
Bateleur
Turle Doves
Sand Grouse
Lilac-breasted Roller
Swallowtail Bee-eater
Little Bee-eater
Crowned Plover
Grey Hornbill
Larks
Forktailed Drongo
Redeyed Bulbuls
Chinspot Batis
Longtailed Shrike
Blackcrowned Tchagra
Longtailed Starling
Myer's Parrots

OTHER WILDLIFE
Bush Buck
Blue Wildabeest
Impala
Lechwe
Burchell's Zebras
Baboons
Elephants
Tilapia (dinner): 3-spotted, Redbreasted, and Largemouth
Click frogs (tons)