Amy: It is Dec. 15th as I type this update and I can’t believe how fast the time is going by on our Safari. We arrived in Maun (gateway to the Okavango Delta) on the 13th and went on a scenic flight of the Delta in the afternoon. It was beautiful to see the Delta from the air and we saw a large herd of elephants and buffalo, a large pod of hippos and we caught a glance of the bush camp we were going to be heading for on the 14th. We were picked up by a local tour company at 7am on the 14th and driven approx. 1.5 hours into the Delta. From there we met up with our mokoro (dug out canoe) drivers and guides who used long poles to propel our mokoros 1.5 hours further into the delta. We were happy to see that there were 3 women who were part of the group of polers. We spent the afternoon swimming in the river (no crocodile or hippo sightings) before going on a 2 hour bush walk. It was a very different feeling looking for game on foot then it was from the safety of a vehicle. Our group was broken into 4 smaller groups for the bush walk and our group was the only group to see 2 elephants. We also saw some wildebeest, Zebra, black backed jackels, antelope and many different kinds of birds. The elephants were the highlight though and we got quite close to one. After returning to camp for a pasta supper our guides entertained us with some singing and dancing. We were up early this morning for the return trip in the mokoros and we were taken on a tour of the village that our guides live in. There are approx. 350 people living in quite primitive conditions but I couldn’t help but notice that they all seemed very happy and friendly. I am glad that Acacia (our tour company) doesn’t try to do it all, they are quite good at hiring the locals to do some of the walks and tours. This has given us the opportunity to learn about the local culture by interacting with the local people.
It has been an interesting experience to spend so much time with a large group of people that we had never met before. It is a good group of people but it is very hot here and some people are starting to loose their patience a little more quickly. I am still very glad that we signed up for this tour but I think 19 days will be enough time in such a large group.
