July 28, 2024

Yay, we have another full day in the delta.

It was another cold, but beautiful morning and we set off in the boats for a combination of boat ride and bush walk.

On the walk we saw lechwe

And birds

We also saw leopard tracks, but no sign of any leopards.

As we were approaching an area of thick bush, Greg motioned to us to retrace our steps. We walked back a few paces and waited. Suddenly an elephant appeared through the bushes and walked right by us. I was so excited! We watched him walk away, and then carried on with our walk.

We returned to the boats to see what we could find on the next island

Stopping frequently to clean off the propellor

One of my concerns about this trip was that we would have to wade through water to get to the shore when we wanted to visit the islands. Until now, we have always had dry landings, but for the next island we would have to get wet.

Now I am not in favor of taking off my walking shoes and socks, wading through the muddy water to the shore, and then putting my shoes and socks back on with wet, muddy feet. The thought of then walking through the bush with squelchy toes just didn’t appeal. However, I knew I couldn’t stay behind on the boat by myself when all the other brave souls waded through the water. Greg must have sensed my dilemma and offered to give me a piggyback from the boat to the shore.

Normally I would have turned down the offer, and risked the squelchy foot approach, but what the heck? I took him up on his offer, which I think he instantly regretted, and let him take me ashore.

As it turned out, the water wasn’t too muddy, but I was still glad I didn’t have wet feet. The others seemed to manage very well with wet squelchy feet however.

We had all noticed that unlike on other bush walks neither Greg nor Clinton carried a weapon. Clinton explained that should we be in any danger, he could use his handy dandy thunderflash which would deter the approaching potentially dangerous animal, and they would come to no harm. I liked this idea. I have heard of animals being shot and killed while people were on bush walks, and it seemed a shame because we are the ones encroaching on their territory.

Anyway, feeling happy that Clinton will keep us safe, I headed off to join the walk.

The afternoon’s excitement was that Greg had arranged a helicopter ride for those who wanted to do it.

We chose not to, but it sounds like it was really wonderful, and the folks who did it saw a huge pod of hippos and many large herds of elephants. I think we should do it next time!

Our late afternoon boat ride involved fighting our way through the papyrus again. I suppose that’s what you expect in the delta. Still, it was a lovely way to end the day

And as always there was a roaring fire waiting for us back at the camp.