Okavango Delta, Botswana to Maun, Botswana (Monday, Sept 4th)

Maun is the jumping off point for many tourist activities in the Botswana, and specifically Okavango region. We are travelling there today.

I was honoured to be asked this morning to thank the house boat captain on behalf of my fellow travellers after our 2-day stay here on the Okavango River. As I told him, my memories of time spent on the water are some of the best memories I have of holiday time. And this is no exception.

One alarm went off at 6 am this morning and we all knew it was time to get up.First of all because you could hear everything all over the boat. At one point last night I could identify about 4 different snores of various magnitudes. The other reason you could tell it was time to get up was because the water pumps kicked in as everyone was taking showers. In no time flat we were done an excellent breakfast with brown paper bag lunches (with sandwiches wrapped in wax paper the way my Mom used to do) clutched in our hands and ready to board the speed boat bound for the other side of the river and 45 minutes away. It was a little chilly this morning especially in the open boat, but we knew it wouldn’t last long and we’d be complaining about the heat in no time. We slowed down several times for croc sightings but unfortunately no hippos today.

Then it was back on pot-hole highway back to the main highway and on to Maun. We stopped only briefly to eat our picnic lunches and then carried on to get into Maun in good time. It was great to rough it a little the last few days but it was great to get back to a western style hotel with western style washrooms and be a little pampered today. Intrepid knows how long it can push us before we need a little luxury in our lives.

We had a couple of hours to chill, or get caught up on blogs before our next optional activity. Nanci and I and two other couples, decided to sign up for the optional flight over the Okavango Delta this afternoon. Innocent and Sandile took us off to the airport where they were expecting us and we were processed incredibly efficiently. We were escorted through security to the tarmac where the airline van was waiting and out to where the little 6 seater was waiting for us. We felt like VIPs!

We were in the air for 45 minutes and travelled most of the way over various parts of the Okavango Delta at 500 feet. It was incredible to experience it at that level after being on the river, walking on an island and in a canoe. I loved the way you could see a million pathways that the animals have made from one water hole to the next. We saw all sorts of wild life, from a herd of water buffalo to a sting of elephants, 30 strong, to solitary bull elephants going across the open prairie. I didn’t see them, but there were apparently 3 giraffe seen by the others on the other side of the plane. An amazing experience!

Don’t strain your eyes looking for animals in the attached pictures, as it’s next to impossible to spot an animal, get your camera up and get it in the frame and focused in time to get a picture before the plane has flown on.

We don’t leave til 8:30 tomorrow morning which will feel like sleeping in til noon!