Who poles your mokoro?

After Etosha our standard for African wildlife was set pretty high. Luckily, we were headed towards something comepletely different -- the Okavango Delta.

Okavango is the worlds's largest delta, with seemingly neverending channels cutting through tall hippo grass, papyrus, and long reeds. Somehow, the guides who navigate those channels never get lost, and know the territory of every hippo (especially the grumpy ones).

Our entry to the delta was complicated by the devastating flooding that occured last month in the Caprivi Strip -- over 30,000 people are displaced. Though waters have subsided somewhat, our put in location was literally swamped. After ferrying across to it (we weren't allowed to walk across because of crocs -- the reptile, not the shoes for you New Yorkers), we headed out by motorboat to the town of Seronga, nestled at the top of the delta.

The next day we met up with our mokoro polers -- ours had been navigating the delta for 27 years. We immediately started cruising to our campsite on an island in the delta. Mapowa, our poler, seemed to propell our boat effortlessly. Pete and I gained a new respect for his ability when we tried it ourselves that afternoon. Pete took to it quickly, I got the hang of it by the time we were done, but bottom line, we were a far cry from being able to ferry 2 Americans and all their gear around the delta. We are, however, considering constructing our own mokoro when we get home.

Hippos are the big kahunas in the delta, and we saw a couple of them -- thankfully they kept to their territory and stayed away from our boats!

The next morning we headed to Seronga for a town tour. We visited a school run by missionaries and taught the kids the Hokey Pokey before heading out to our accomodations for the night -- a houseboat with REAL beds (wooooooooot). That afternoon we went for a scenic flight over the delta. The flight was unforgetable for two reasons:

1) Game. We saw hippos out of the water, elephants, cape buffalo (completing our big 5, which is the list of animals where a hunter's survival rate is 50/50), and a pride of lions.

2) I didn't get airsick, which means I am renewed in my ambition to get a pilot's liscence (watch out, Tennessee)

The flight was unforgettable.

The next day we headed out of the delta, bound for Chobe National Park. More on that tomorrow ;).