Safari - Part 3 Okavango Delta, Botswana

After two nights at the Victoria Falls Hotel, we were picked up in the morning and driven to the border with Botswana by Fortune - yes that’s his name.  Being the subtle person, shy, and retiring person that I am, I asked him:  “What’s your real name?  I assume you give yourself these names because tourists probably can’t pronounce your African ones.”  We’ve encountered names like Fortune, Scotch, Civilized, in addition to normal western names like Patrick, Albert.  He replied, “This is my real name”  and showed me his drivers license.  He then explained that culturally they give children aspirational and character names (sort of like Native Americans).  Originally in their native tongue, but after centuries of Western colonialism and dominance, they switched to English words that captured those aspirations.  For him, his parents wanted him to make his fortune.  And he is doing well in Zimbabwe as a guide.  However, if he were in a western country he’d be much further as he was so smart with plans for the future.  He reads constantly and knows more about US history than I’d say 99.9% of our citizens.  We discussed concepts of individuality, capitalism, socialism and other philosophies and economies.  He’d love to go to the US for individual liberty and opportunity.  

To reinforce the power how they name their children, his brother was called Trouble.  Let’s just say he is living up to the expectation.  After his explanation I told him I was embarrassed and culturally ignorant; I apologized for my assumption and question.  

After a 45 minute drive he guided us through passport control and we were picked up by our Botswana driver on the other side who took us to Kasane Airport.  Here we boarded a 14 seater plane for the hour flight to a gravel strip on the edge of the Okavango Delta, and then drove half an hour to the Khwai Tent Camp.

Red Circle in upper right is Victoria falls to circle at center left in the Okavango

Leaving Botswana and the river system

Flying over the Kalahari Desert which extends into Namibia

Our gravel airstrip.

 When I was planning this portion, I got interested in another geography geek thing; like flying the great circle route or going to the furthest compass point of the counties/continents we visit.  This time it was the antipodes!  It started because several years ago I wanted to know the antipode of Seattle, i.e. what is the location on the exact opposite side of the earth on a line through the center.  Seattle’s antipode in the southern Indian Ocean; the closest land mass being the Kerguelen Islands several hundreds of miles away.  Most antipodes of earth’s land-mass end up in the water because 70% of the earth’s surface IS water.  The antipode of all Africa, North/Central America (except above the arctic circle), Asia (except for bits South America that overlap), Europe (except New Zealand's overlap with Spain), and Australia are in the water.  Only South America, Southeast Asia, and Polynesia’s have substantial portions that overlap land mass.  Cool Huh?

Projection of antipodes

In March of this year we went to Hawaii and it turns out that the antipode of Hawaii (in the center of the Pacific) is the Okavango Delta!  Ta Da.  On further research I realized I’ve been to several other antipodes, which is not all that easy as noted above.  All include South America. Buenos Aires/Shanghai, Lima/Bangkok, Quito/Singapore, Montevideo/Seoul, and Bogota/Jakarta.

For this safari I originally wanted to be In the heart of the Delta, on an island surrounded by water.  But I came to understand that in the heart most excursions are in a traditional African canoe, or mokoro. The Khwai Tent camp was a better location because it fulfilled our desire to get a different safari experience than South Africa, but not limited to one form of travel. The Khwai Tent Camp is not as up-scale, nor quite as “service” oriented, as Tanda Tula, but was quite nice and had a very different vibe.  Both have similar tent sleeping arrangements, but at Tanda Tula the common area is hard walled construction with a library, bar, and lounge area.  Here the common area was tented and most dinners and cocktails were on deck chairs around a fire pit open to the stars.  It felt more “IN” the bush.  By the end of the trip we liked it a lot.  

Our Tent!

View out - on our last night being guided back to our tent, the guide shined a light beyond our deck.
There were three LARGE hippos about 10' beyond the railing just munching away on the grass.
A little disconcerting.  

Dinner time.  Most nights the table was set up out of frame to the right.  

To the left of this photo is where the dining table above was set up for dinner most nights.

Our first outing after we arrived was in a mokoro - but out of fiberglass.  The river system we were on was too shallow for hippos, which we later found out was a benefit. But the birding was terrific.  I won't begin to remember all their names, nor do I want to look them up.

Being poled in a mokoro

Guide making a hat out of waterlilies 

Bill in very fashionable waterlily leaf hat made by mokoro guide.  

Waterlily

Sundowner with large guests at mokoro put-in

Julius and Robin for Sundowner

Sundowner with Unruly guests fighting

Our guide for the Land Cruiser outings was Albert.  Funny funny guy, but at 6:30 in the morning a little energetic.  We did five drives in two areas.  One was in the national park, where you need to stay on proscribed roads.  The other was in the Concession, land owned and managed by the community.  We preferred the viewing there.  More diverse ecosystems including grasslands and bush areas, wetlands and rivers.  The varied landscape is what was so different from Timbavati in South Africa.

Open grassland.  Never know what's lurking in there - and neither do the antelope.  

Male hippo not happy with our presence.  

When angry they back their butts up to the shore and swish their tale spraying their threat with mud.
That's the first warning.

Young elephant going for lunch

Stepping stones across the river

The next series is of a leopard they call "Blue Eyes" for obvious reasons.  Four months ago in a dispute over a carcass, a lion chewed off her left hind leg below the knee.  When they saw her attempt to stand she would fall over.  The guides all thought she was going to die.   They found her again only recently and said she seemed to have put on weight.  When we found her she had killed one python (fortunately for her they travel slow) and had seriously injured another.  When we arrived she walked 30' away.  After 15 minutes she was comfortable with us around and returned to her prey, which was writhing in agony with bloody puncture marks in it's neck.  In front of us she finally dispatched it with a loud cracking sound as she crushed its skull.  All in the vehicle groaned.  

Blue Eyes

Missing leg with still raw wound, but not infected as she's still around four month later.

The Coup de Gras to the neck

This is the likely food source for her as she probably cannot run down larger prey.

No swimming with crocodiles and hippos 

Antelope and Elephants not a threat to each other.

Our Swiss friends in the Land Cruiser called this the German Flag bird.

Second sundowner with Albert and friends from US.

If spraying you with mud from their tail doesn't work, this is what they do - He charged our land rover to within a few feet to prove his point!  Since we didn't move he settled back into the river.
He was so close that my telephoto couldn't get the whole animal. 

Hitching a ride - Symbiosis.   

Our third sundowner with Antelope in the stream

Majestic

Unfazed by our presence.

A pride of Lionesses strategizing for an attack.  One circled around behind us while fours other waited
for the herd to be driven to them.  Ultimately they didn't take one down as the heard spooked and took off.   

This was the only time we ever had more than three vehicles, as they are required to wait.
But no one was going to wait if there was a potential kill

The point lioness 

Honey Badger don't care!

They are not all black and white.  A youngin'

After the morning safari of the last day we flew out of the Okavango for our trip to Namibia

The Okavango we explored.  See Antelope in lower half left of center and upper right.

On our flight home we saw the National Geographic documentary called Okavango.  It's the story of a biologist's team that went to the source of the Okavango Delta, the Cuito river in the Angola Highlands, and followed it to where is dead-ends in the Kalahari Desert - it does not drain to the sea.  Well worth your watch.