Tim: And so on to our trip to the Okavango Delta. We had arranged it all a little last minute, which helped us get a good price – we’re including this because it give people a good cost comparison, mainly as the tour operators charge so much!
The price being (ignoring the flights from Gabs to Maun) 1500 pula per person, per night, plus 1700 each for the flight from Maun out to Gunns Camp.
It sounds a lot, but 1500 pula equates to 125 quid. So effectively we were forking out 250 quid for the two of us each day. This included breakfast, lunch and dinner (3 courses), a morning game activity (mokoro or tinny or game walk), an afternoon game activity and drinks. On the drinks front, that covered beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks.
So, when you itemise it out, it doesn’t look too bad, and given it’s quite an exclusive holiday destination, we thought we got a good deal. Anyway….
Transport being difficult to arrange in outer Gaborone at 6am on Sunday mornings, John (Aves) kindly picked us up early doors and deposited us at the airport. The flight left at 8am, and we were in Maun (the ‘au’ is pronounced as an ‘ou’ as in ‘outch’ rather than ‘or’); then we transferred to a little 6 seater flown by Moremi Air. There was the pilot, Caro and I and three staff of one of the camps out in the delta. The pilot offered us the co-pilot seat, and I kindly let Caro take it. We found out once we got to Gunns Camp that they don’t fly with more than 5 passengers into Gunns (could’ve taken 7 people) as the runway is too short!
The flight lasted about 20 minutes and took in some fantastic views of the Delta, albeit we managed to spot absolutely no animals. They do offer hour long scenic flights over the Delta, where you pay around 2000-3000 pula for the charter of the plane, not bad value if you get a group of you to go, equally no real need if you’re already taking a flight in.
We landed on the Gunns Camp airstrip at 10:25am on Sunday morning – we could think of far worse places to be. We were met by Jasmine (or Jassy) who was managing the camp with her partner Chris. Turned out that Jasmine is Austrian and Chris in English, both have been in Botswana for quite some time, and Chris owns a camp of his own in Shakawe with his brother. Jasmine and Chris choose not to work there because drawing down another two management salaries is a little hard for one camp to support, and a little pointless.
We were also met by Moeti (say it as you see it) who was to be our guide for the next three days. They allocate one guide to every two guests, one of the reasons being is that you can only get two people in a Mokoro, and the guides are the only folks who know how to use them. They learn from their fathers, and their fathers before them. The technique is a little like punting on the canals of Oxford and Cambridge – with the added challenge of knowing how to handle wild animals like hippos and crocodiles.
A couple of ladies were there to carry our bags to our room (balanced on our heads), and we were taken to the main lounge / bar area for a welcome drink. Now at quarter to eleven in the morning I was contemplating a coffee, but knowing the standard Nescafe that get’s rolled out, I opted for a Windhoek (really is the beer of choice in Botswana, ever since the brewery in Gabs lost the licence to brew Amstel – they still do a St Louis, which is drinkable, but at only 3.5%, lacks a bit of flavour and punch!).
After a couple of beverages and some chit chat we sat down to lunch at 12pm (designated time) – very nice freshly prepared food, no complaints except for the cheese board which lacked anything resembling a half decent cheese. Then off to our room to settle in – we were due back at 3:30pm for tea and cake before our afternoon Mokoro trip.
The room was excellent. Set on a raised deck, we had a large canvas tent, probably 12ft by 20ft with effectively an outdoor shower and bathroom build on at the back, so as soon as we walked in, Caro exclaimed “Don’t mess anything up, I want to take some photos!”
After a quick swim, coffee and biscuits, we hopped in our first ever mokoro with Moeti. Mokoro’s are traditional dug-out canoes, using wood from the Sausage tree, amongst others. However, due to the rise of tourism, and the fact that a well used mokoro only last 2-3 years, Gunns Camp operated fibre glass mokoro’s. Gunns is set just one of the major rivers running in the Delta, so after a short punt out to it, we were heading downstream.
The sheer tranquillity and peacefulness is something else (of course until a tinny whizzes along, slowing down to a mokoro pace to pass you!). But you are literally centimetres from the waters surface, gliding past reeds, papyrus and lilies. After around 20 mins, we took a stroll on Chiefs’ Island, one of the major islands in the Delta and set in the Moremi National park. Within Botswana’s national parks weapons cannot be carried and activity can only take place in daylight hours.
We took a very casual slow paced walk, which had Moeti reeling out a lot of information about the plants and wildlife. I think after about an hour, we were both a little weary of it – both of us fancied a bit more of an active walk to see what was around – nonetheless it was still a good education. We mokoroed our way back to the camp for about 6pm, watching a fantastic sunset on the way – every sunset seemed to be pretty darn good in Botswana .
Back at the camp we met an English family who were on their last night there. Turned out it was the father, mother and brother who had travelled up from Namibia to meet up with their daughter and partner, who had embarked on a self drive tour all the way through Africa, starting in the UK and heading south. The couple on the self drive tour are involved in the volunteer industry so we told them about our Frontier woes, which was interesting , but led to some no doubt valid but sadly impractical advice (if it’s not what you paid for, leave the project immediately and do something else, then get your money back…easier said than done in the real world!). After dinner and a few more drinks, it was off to bed to rest up for our 6am wake-up call the next day.
6am wake-up, 6:30am breakfast, 7am out on the mokoro trail. We headed a little further that morning to a different spot on Chiefs Island, and embarked on 3 hour walking safari – now this was more like it. We took in elephants and numerous bird and plant life. About half way through Moeti quietly exclaimed that there were lion tracks and they had a cub with them. After looking around a little Moeti figured out which way they had gone, and asked if we wanted to track them. OF COURSE WE DID!!
It wasn’t too long before we lost the trail when we came out of the forest and onto a grassy plain, it seemed that the lions knew we were about, we heard birds and baboons go crazy as the lions ran ahead of us. But tracking back on our steps we picked up a fresh trail. Then, all of a sudden, this straw coloured head appeared out of the grass 20 metres ahead of us, and started running away. It seemed at this point that Caro (behind me) and Moeti (in front) had not seen it. Rather than shout “Lion! There’s a lion” I whistled quietly and pointed. Moeti immediately picked up on this, and saw what I had seen (it turned out that after this, whenever I whistled, Moeti thought I had seen something interesting, when in fact it was mostly not the case!) – at about this time, another straw coloured head appeared and made off in the same direction the first one did. 5 seconds, and it was all over! Caro, for some reason – either slowness or being at the back, didn’t see either of them. Despite being fleeting, it was pretty exhilarating – just tracking them, and knowing what you’re tracking is something else.
Back at Gunns we lunched and rested up. That afternoon, instead of taking the mokoro, we took a tinny (4-stroke engine). Now, I think some purists say that mokoro is the only way to see the place, but unless you’re camping out over night, we elected not to do, you really don’t get very far. And also, in a mokoro you are pretty vulnerable to hippo, which can be pretty dangerous critters despite their sweet looks. I think we both appreciated the safety of the quick getaway that the tinny offered. And the tinny was really quiet, so it didn’t spoil our chances of seeing game.
This evenings trip allowed us to travel far, and discover, amongst other things, a big pod of hippos and a hidden lake. We were the only guests in camp this evening, so dinner was just the two of us hosted by Chris and Jasmine, which felt very indulgent.
Day 23: (Tuesday)
Caro: Today we were taken out in the tinny for a full day excursion. We were joined by a second guide, Luckson – so we had no shortage of knowledge onboard! It was great to see some of the other camps as we made our way further into the delta. We stopped for a walk on an island where the guides have had good success viewing leopards in the past – but today was not going to be our day for seeing those spotted critters. All the looking up trees meant we were able to spot a monitor lizard (large, like a goanna) and we also saw our first Red Leche (a type of Antelope which spends a lot of its time in the water). Lunch was a relaxing hour stopped on the bank, drinking wine and nibbling cheese, meats and salads. The sun was shining so we were in heaven.
That evening we were joined by several members of the management team of the group who own Gunns Lodge – and the chap who is heading up the build of their new lodge. They were out to review progress on the new camp which is replacing their old camp, just down river. They were pretty focussed on their own issues / conversations – but when the majority of them had gone to bed we sat drinking with the stragglers and enjoyed the conversation about the business of running and building camps.
Day 24: (Wednesday)
Caro: A late flight had been arranged for the next morning, which meant there was time for one final trip down the river on the tinny, and a walk. We ate lunch and then wandered down to the airstrip to wait for the plane. The warthogs had to be chased off the runway as the plane approached, which was a fun twist! On the flight out we saw zebras, elephants and giraffes below us – a great end to the trip.
Back in Maun, Gunn’s kindly dropped us to the Old Bridge Backpackers. This place is an institution – local bar flies and travellers mix around an open, sand-floored bar alongside a huge tree, by the river. We spent the rest of the day reading oour books, people-watching and sinking beers and eating the good burgers that they make there. Helena and Dave run this place. We didn’t deal with Dave because he was busy taking camping trips into the Delta. But Helena was lovely, really helpful. The set-up these guys have here is great – whether you have your own tent/van – or whether you want to stay in one of their tents (they’re large, have wooden floors and electricity) we thoroughly recommend. These guys also arrange a load of activities so it is a great base for delta action.
Day 25: (Thursday)
Caro: Our flight back to Gabs wasn’t until 4pm, so we decided to see a little bit of Maun from horseback. Jen from African Animal Adventures came and collected us from the Bridge. She had chosen two great horses for us. Tim was riding a 6-year old grey horse, Tih – who despite being a stallion had a lovely temperament – even when we rode past another stallion and his mare and foal his ears pricked up but he didn‘t skip a beat. I was on Jen’s polocross pony, who gave me a lovely water canter through the river. We spent a lot of time swimming in the river which was great on such a hot day. After our ride we had a drink in the garden with Jen and her menagerie of dogs and cats then caught a lift with her towards town hailing a cab for the last leg..
We had fish and chips and ice-cream (fish and puddings haven’t featured in our diet at the EC) at a French café (Bon Arrive) across from the airport while we waited for our clothes to dry – and then it was on the plane and back to Gabs. Our indulgent days were over and we were back to work.
