Botswana 4 – Okavango Delta

Botswana Okovango Delta - flight

Our final campsite was in the Okavango Delta, a rich swampy inland delta produced by seasonal flooding. The waters evaporate and transpire, but do not empty into the sea. This wetlands area, including the Moremi Reserve, has been designated as a Unesco World Heritage site. During the wet season, much of the area we drove is under water. In October, thousands of zebras populate this area. The temperatures frequently exceed 40 degrees centigrade (105 deg fahrenheit) during this period.

In order to reach that camp, we needed to fly in small planes reminiscent of those we owned and flew ourselves in the 1980s.  We were warned that we might be in planes with as few as 6 seats, including the pilot, and that our luggage would be severely restricted to no more than 1o” X 14″ X 22″ in size, and no more than 35 pounds per person, which included the camera bags. The camera bags themselves each weighed more than 20 pounds each, leaving very little for clothes. That luggage restriction was the driving force for our buying new luggage (we didn’t have anything that small !), and then cutting and cutting contents until we fit within those limits.

We survived five weeks in Africa in three countries within those limits, even hauling two cameras each plus tripods, all lenses, and other photographic accessories. This was the “tough love” of travel packing, but we were both surprised how well we actually managed with so little.  Of course, one of the things we had to leave behind was a shaver, so Burt ended up growing a beard.  That beard remained after returning home, so maybe even that was a positive…?

While we were waiting for our plane to arrive, we noticed a couple of zebras on the airstrip (middle left). We were told that the small planes always buzzed the field first to ensure there were no animals on the runway. Our jeeps also strategically placed themselves halfway down the air strip to drive off any animals that wandered into the airplane’s path.

As we flew from our Moremi Private Reserve camp to our final camp, we had a splendid view of the Okavango Delta from the air, as seen above.  We were a little disappointed to not see more herds of animals on the inlets below, but even at our low altitude, those that were visible were too small to really make out (lower right).

Botswana Okovango Delta - people

Normally we try to shoot a fair amount of “behind the scenes” images while we are traveling.  As we arrived in our last Botswana camp, we realized that we had been so enthralled by the wildlife around us that we had neglected to do much of that this time, so we made a concerted effort to correct that oversight here. We were served on tables with white table cloth, metal utensils, wine, “candlelight” at every meal (lower right). While we were eating, we had our beds turned down with a hot water bottle in our beds.

Our Land Cruiser 4-wheel drive was a workhorse, as they always are in Africa. There were many places that we would have turned around had either of us been driving, but our guides just kept on going.  The marsh (upper left) and rickety wooden bridge (upper right) are only two small examples.

The Land Cruiser has a seat for a wildlife-spotter on the front bumper that allows a tracker to help follow game or use the flood light to locate the game (middle left).

Sam (middle right) has been our driver and guide from the moment he picked us up on first day from Victoria Falls. His immense knowledge of the animal behavior, plants, general landscape, and his knowledge of photography, combined with his infectious humor has helped make this a very enjoyable week.

We knew that we were signing up for a camping trip (lodges are astronomically expensive, so this was a way to see the country without breaking the bank). Not entirely sure what to expect in camping, we were very pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food cooked on a camp stove (lower left), and totally astonished at the luxurious accomodations (lower right) that were available in the wild.  Note though, that all the light is by kerosene lamp. The only electricity we had during the week was an inverter on the car battery — just barely enough to keep the camera batteries charged, and sometimes kept the computer alive long enough to download the images at night. Our tent nightstand lights were powered by batteries that were solar-driven.

Botswana Okovango Delta - leopard

Sam had heard there was a female leopard with a new born baby, so we began tracking them the first day that we arrived. Just about when we had decided we would not see them in the wild, Sam and Equator (our spotter) found tracks in the sand and started to follow them. Not long later, we stopped, turned off the engine, and listened. We heard a sound in the distance that Sam identified as a leopard call (a low pitch, deep breathing moise, which sounded like a wart hog to our ears), and we were off on a chase to find it.

Turned out to be the female we were looking for. She apparently had lost a baby just a few days before, so was on the prowl again. After almost 2 days of searching, we found her partway up on a termite hill scanning the horizon for signs of her target.  After a few minutes, she left her mount and started walking towards some unknown destination, where we quickly lost her in the brush (lower right).

Botswana Okovango Delta - zebras

This was the second camp area rich in zebra, which are always a delight to see in the wild.  We also saw some warthogs here.  I heard a splashing sound while working on my laptop after lunch, when everyone else was taking a siesta. A warthog had walked out from the marshy water to within a few feet of me, and ran quickly away. Usually when warthogs run, their tails are held straight up.  For some reason, this pair ran with their tails pointed straight behind them instead (lower left).  Of course, as soon as they were out of camera range, the tails went vertical…

Botswana Okovango Delta - plants

Being a marshland, we had a chance to see some of the watery canals in the delta. It is never possible to predict what wildlife will be visible at any time or place, and we happened to be out during a time with almost no animals visible, leaving us with only the images of the plant life rampant in the canals. Papyrus plants, historically used for making paper, lined the canal. We were told that elephants and hippos generally kept these canals clear.  We did have two sightings of the rare Sitatunga Antelope, which is one of the Okavango Delta’s most elusive inhabitants, and Sam told us we were extremely lucky.

As we left camp, the staff (Equador, Kay, Vincent and Mutengo) gathered with a farewell song. This particular camp was also our farewell to Botswana, as we departed Okavango Delta to fly to Johannesburg, and then the long (much longer than expected, due to delayed flights…) route back home to Cuenca, Ecuador.

Photo Galleries

At the top of this page is a menu that will take you to a variety of galleries showing our favorite images.