On Saturday we left UB at 6 am for the airport. It was brutally early for us, and when our 7.30 flight was delayed, it did not make for a very auspicious start to the trip. When we landed in Maun the cloudy and cool weather in Gabs was replaced by real African weather, which is hot and suffocating. Luckily the flight had been only about an hour and they served us a nice breakfast croissant sandwhich for breakfast. Our safari company, called Naga Safaris, was waiting to pick us up in three large, open-sided vehicles. We stopped for supplies and then got on the road for several hours. At one point we passed the Veterinary Fence, which is a huge fence separating wildlife from domestic livestock (don't get me started on this damn fence business). Our guide, Dennis, informed us that now we were in wild animal territory and to keep our eyes peeled. Sure enough we saw zebras, guinea fowl, and "the McDonald's of the bush", impala. We finally arrived at the Moremi Game Reserve, which is large tract of land situated in the heart of the Delta. We had a picnic lunch and then continued into the park. The drive to the campsite, which took several hours, was also a game drive. Certain places in the bush were home to what must have been millions of cicadas, because the noise they made was defeaning. We passed through Mopane forests, open grassland, elephant-decimated woodlands, and swampy streams and ponds. There were the usual suspects: wildebeest, zebras, impala, guinea fowl, impala, guinea fowl, imapa (haha, etc). No big game spotted yet...no elephants yet :( However, we did past into a narrow stretch of the road (which was just dirt and sand) and spot three adult lionesses just relaxing in the shade a few feet away. The guides stopped the trucks so we could all lean over and take pictures. Batsi and his two kids lamented the fact that they had forgotten to bring a camera. When the first truck tried to start up again it stalled and failed. The guide had to get out of the truck to take a look, which disturbingly made one of the lionesses very interested. A little too interested. It was a poor place to have a breakdown.
We did not get eaten, so when the truck started again we continued on to camp. In Moremi you are not allowed to drive off the roads/trails and you can't drive after dark. To do so risks losing your license. Guides are put through a lot of rigorous tests in order to become certified (such as facing charging elephants, rhinos, and lions among others). We made it to camp around sunset and were greeted by about fifteen cheerful green tents, each equipped with a back "room" which containted a shower and a makeshift toilet. These were attached to each tent so that no one would need to wander around the campsite at night. There are wild animals like leopards and hyenas wandering around, after all. There were two people to each tent, and both people were fitted out with a cot, a mattress, and sheets/bedding/pillow/towel. In camp there was also a large mess tent and a "kitchen" of sorts. All our food and water had to be brought with us because we were so far from anywhere. It was a good feeling. It turns out that our cook was exceptionally talented and we had gourmet meals the whole trip! However, we spent so much time waiting for each meal that we were so starved by the time it was served that we would have been happy with crusts of bread. After dinner we sat around the campfire for a little while and then wandered off to bed. Wake up time was scheduled for 5 am.
Breakfast was a lavish affair consisting of scrambled eggs, granola and yogurt, cereal, creamy milk, coffee, tea, and toast. For some reason I became completely obsessed with toast during the trip. I might still be when I get home- who knows? The sun was already up when we left for the morning game drive, but the air was lovely and cool. Batsi informed us that we were headed to one of the many tributaries of the delta for a speed boat ride. When we arrived at the dock there were two small speed boats waiting, so we divided our group in half and crammed ourselves onboard. The guides admitted that we were way over capacity. TIA! We sped off through the narrow channels and into big open pond areas. We saw a couple of elephants grazing near the water, and some big old hippos peering at us from the water. Our guide said that most of the deaths that occur in the Delta are due to hippos. It's not that hippos go around eating people, but it's that they knock boats over and people drown. With this delightful knowledge in mind we motored along passed the now menacing hippos. Our guides gave us lessons on water chestnuts, lillies, and papyrus. It was oh-so-educational. It was also extremely beautiful to see the blue water and the rich green color of the water plants after being in dusty old Gabs for so long. When we got back to the docks were told that twelve of us at a time could go for a ride in a little dugout canoe, which was poled through the water by a guide. I was in the first wave of people and I shared the canoe with Meara and Elijah. With the hippo information in our minds, the rickety canoe was a little nervewracking at first, but we stuck to the small, shallow, reedy channels. We went to slowly and smoothly through the water, and the world was so quiet except for the sounds of the bush; it was tempting to fall asleep. Yeah, fall asleep and then fall into a channel crawling with crocodiles, snakes, hippos, and who knows what else.
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