From Mozambique we took a series of flights ending in a small (4 passenger) flight to an airstrip in the middle of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The Okavango Delta is the world's largest inland river delta. The Okavango River flows down into Botswana and empties ito the Kalahari Desert creating a huge oasis for wildlife in the middle of a very arid landscape.
We had a relatively luxurious (free wine, beer and booze) tented "camp" out in the middle of the wetlands and we took mekoro (local wooden dugout canoes) everywhere we went, which was basically back and forth to the main island in the delta to look for wildlife.
The first thing that hits you when you get there are the sounds. The place is teaming with so many birds, frogs, hippos, etc. that the air is costantly filled with a chorus of songs - especially at night and in the early morning. We saw plenty of hippos in Tanzania, but never once heard one. We heard them almost constantly in Okavango. They would start their part pig snorting part dog barking in the early evening and start venturing out to graze on the long grass that was everywhere in teh shallow water. I feel very sorry for the hippos in Tanzania after seeing this place - this is definitely hippo heaven. Unfortunately we didn't really get to SEE many hippos becuase of the tall grasses and their refusal to come out into open pools when we were watching.
We also did some walking safaris here, which are very cool and very different than driving in a Land Rover like you usually do. The big game is less common here (which I guess is why they can do the walking safaris safely), but we did come across giraffe, elephant, zebra, and many different species of antelope on there terms, which felt pretty cool. We spent most of one day tracking some lions (following prints, looking for vultures that might be heading towards a kill, etc.) but never found one. Finding them would have been amazing, but fun nonetheless.
A very cool introduction to Botswana!
These are Rob's pics again as all mine from here are in fancy non-compatable with regular software format.
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