Not sure why, but we had to clear immigration when we left Zimbabwe, entered Botswana, left Botswana, entered Namibia, ( to make better driving time) left Namibia, and finally when we re-entered Botswana.
Ok, so being on a houseboat on the Okanvanga Delta is amazing. The actual boat, not so much, but for two nights it gave us some awesome experiences.
We love the staff onboard....Creature the cook, Kaiser, the handy man and social director, and Sam, the skipper, or Captain Deadfish as he likes to be called.
After dinner we stood on the front deck, looking at the almost full moon, viewing the Southern Cross. When we were in Karongwe, H showed us how to find it in the sky, and just as we were all gazing up in amazement, a shooting star flew across the sky.....timing is everything.
We slept under our mosquito nets, (thank God) listening to the water slap up on the boat, the hippos grunting from shore, and crickets louder than I have ever heard. Our first morning, Sam took us out in a smaller speed boat, our 3 hour tour......up the main channel, then up and down lush little channels.
Weaver bird nests hanging on the trees...
We saw millions of water lilies in bloom.....
Sam....aka Captain Deadfish
....we hit just the right time of year for the lilies blooming. He showed us how the people harvest the seeds to mash and use in local dishes. We saw lots of crocodiles sunning themselves on the little bits of land here and there.
We were idling close to shore....luckily not too close, watching a nest full of baby herons, when all of a sudden a hippo raises his head out of the water and scared the crap out of all of us. Sam hit the gas and off we went just in time to see the big daddy hippo resurface and dive back down. I won't soon forget the sight of his huge 2 ton butt and skinny tail in the air as he dove. We saw other hippos that were equally as aggressive and made sure we knew who was boss. I now see why the stats show that hippos kill more people in Africa than any other animal.
Papyrus was so beautiful blowing in the breeze....
Nest with baby herons....
Travel on the Delta....we had Sam ask these men if we could take their picture ( they said yes). A lot of people don't want tourists to take their picture as they think we will sell it and make money off them.
We left the houseboat after breakfast this morning, and are now at our hotel, on the banks of the Thamalakane river, sitting by the pool in Maun, Botswana. Tonight we are dining around a fire, with local storytellers who will be sharing the history and folktales of the area......stay tuned
It's always a pleasure to read your blog's, Lynn. Can't wait to hear about all the little stories you didn't have room to write about. Heather
ReplyDeleteLooks wonderful. I'll have to remember to ask you more details about the houseboat itself. What a hippo shot and experience.
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