Roughing it

The Delta is unlike anything I've seen before.   It was dusty, it was hot and sticky, it was a long drop and no shower, the truck ride there was bouncy, dusty and uncomfortable  (the bank robber scarf was an excellent purchase). I cannot overstate how dusty it was.  I was wearing trousers but still managed to be caked in dirt up to the top of my thighs. There was the ever present possibility of the mokoro  (canoe) tipping and getting us and our gear all wet - assuming there weren't any hippos or crocodiles looking for a snack.  But it was still fantastic.  Animals are everywhere. There's a group of elephants practically right beside the safari truck on the way in. 

Our transport is mokoro - traditionally made from wood but ours are fibre glass.  Very thin fibre glass.  I can see the sun shining through parts of it.  Our polers stand at the back while we sit on bucket seats lined with our mattresses.  We have three trips in these.  An hour and a half on the way there and on the way back and a "sunset cruise" on our second evening.  Mum and I both had a go at poling in the shallow waters of our swimming hole and were quite good.  Until mum fell in.  As a dutiful daughter,  I ensured I got pictures before checking she was okay.  We use them for crossing a narrow passage way for a good photo shot, and the mokoro that I was in t-bone another and nearly sent the poler for a swim.  Whoops. (Just to clarify, I was a passenger not driving.)

The camp ground is awkwardly nestled into a group of trees.  The circle of shade under one of the bigger trees becomes a cluster as it nears noon and we all move our chairs into whatever shade we can find. There's a swimming hole a short walk from camp but we need to be escorted as the surrounding area is the home ground of the animals.  The deepest point is to the knees of a short person, but we all gratefully sink into the cool water and wash, lounge and put our drink bottles on the edges to try and cool our water.  We're cleaner after each swim but by no means clean.  The bathroom (or bushy bushy) is a hole dug in the ground with a toilet seat chair and a tent around it. 

We have a short hour and a half walk in the late afternoon of the day we arrive, a longer three hour walk early the next morning, and a short walk to see the sunrise on our last morning.  It was nice to get some exercise. We saw lots of hippos including one that was about 50 metres away and staring at us.  That was as close as I'd like to be.  Giraffes, zebras, and impala are everywhere.   Elephants and water buffalo are a bit rarer but we still see plenty.  Baboons were the surprise of the trip.  At one point we were standing on a small mound surrounded by wildebeest, baboons, impala, zebras, and warthogs in the distance. We came across an elephant soon after. There's great bird life. I'm not sure of all of their names but Open Listo is what Ram, our poler, calls one large bird, some kind of white and black heron like birds, some eagles with fantastic wing span, and some small bird the follows us while twittering.

Our second night our polers put on a bit of show with some songs (they have fabulous voices), some dancing that they occasionally pick some of our group to join in, and some riddles (which animal is number 17?).  We attempt to ululate  (women) and roar like lions (men) as this is apparently an expression of appreciation.