July 26, 2024

Well, we survived a hippoless night. After breakfast we packed up the camp and started our journey south. Tonight, we will be in the heart of the delta!

We passed several houseboats on our way. Yes, a houseboat in Botswana is definitely a plan. I love the idea.

It was time for tiger fishing again.

Greg caught a beauty

and threw it over board for a nearby fish eagle who wasted no time swooping down into the water and grabbing the fish. They are so powerful and fast. It is such an impressive sight.

We came upon a huge crocodile sunning itself,

And lots of beautiful bird life.

I looked into the papyrus

and there hiding in the reeds was yet another crocodile, except all that I could see was its tail.

We carried on down the river

And met up with the 2 boats which had our goods onboard.

We then left the main channel again and headed into a narrow papyrus lined channel. Greg said we would have to take it slowly as it was very windy, and we would have to listen out for boats coming in the opposite direction. It was like driving down one of those narrow, windy lanes with tall hedgerows in Wales when you hope you don’t crash into a car coming in the opposite direction.

We did in fact come across another boat carrying guests to a nearby lodge, but we didn’t crash into it.

Then it was time to take a break for lunch.

I have loved all the islands where we have stopped for lunch so far, but somehow there was something very wrong with today’s lunch stop. For no particular reason it had a post-apocalyptic feel to it. There just seemed to be something wrong. It was pretty enough

And the sight of an elephant footprint should have made my day,

But it just felt very weird.

Strangely enough, the others also felt uncomfortable there as well. We were happy to climb back into our boats again and continue our journey into the heart of the delta.

We left our “papyrus forest” and entered a hippo highway. A hippo highway is where the hippos plow through the reeds and water lilies to forage for food at night. They trample more vegetation than they eat and thus play an important ecological role by keeping the waterways open, which allows fresh water to enter the Delta. However, I really don’t think these highways are designed for boat travel.

We had to increase our speed to get us through. This was very exciting as we had to make sharp turns at high speed. It was the ultimate theme park ride. But I must admit it was a little bit scary.

Soon we were in a more open area of water.

I thought the excitement was over, but no, there was way more to come.

After a lovely break bird watching we entered the very narrow papyrus channels. Here we had to go very slowly, stopping frequently to let the boat engine have a rest. It’s a good job we had slowed down, when we were on the move we were constantly being slapped by the papyrus, and the boat very soon filled up with papyrus debris.

Finally, we emerged from the channel into a large open area, and we had our first sighting of red lechwe, a beautiful antelope that lives in the swampy areas of the delta.

Then in the distance we saw our tents, yay! We had reached our destination in the heart of the delta.

Our tents were up and ready for us to move in,

and they were working on getting the shower tent set up.

Next they were going to work on the toilet tent.

We had spent a lot of time on the water today, and I need to de-papyrus my hair, so I was quite happy that we didn’t have a sundowner boat ride this evening, but we could relax by the campfire and watch the ever-changing colors in the sky as the sun slowly disappeared for the night.

Unlike our other camps which had been on very shady islands, tonight we were totally out in the open. Perfect for star gazing, and an unobstructed view of the Southern Cross.

I liked the idea of being out in the open. We could see any approaching lion or hippo long before they could attack us. We would not be taken by surprise.

Then I looked at our tent. We were right on the edge of the camp, next to thick bushes. The sort of bushes that elephants and buffalos like to hide in and then pounce on you. Then I thought that I was just being silly. Elephants and buffalos are not known for their pouncing abilities. They may charge you, but if you are snoring away in your tent, they are most likely to ignore you. Well that’s what I think. The fact that there are large elephant droppings all over the camp just means that elephants have been there, not that they want to come back again.

I fought my way through the screen opening into our tent and snuggled down into my bedroll. No we won’t be attacked by elephants tonight.