The Okavango Delta Challenge

     Today we had a lovely lunch prepared by the ladies who have benefited from G Adventures support. They are a local cooperative who prepare traditional meals for tourists. While here another G Adventure group joined ours for lunch. They are just starting their tour and will do everything we did in the reverse. A woman from that group asked me about the camping experience in the Delta. She said she thought when she booked the tour it would be glamping. It is as farther from glamping as a Motel 6 is from the Hilton. All I could tell her is that it was an experience. She wanted more details but she was already worried. Should I tell her what we experienced? It may not be the same for her. I was worried about being able to get up during the night to go to the bathroom. That was a trifle, a silly little incidental compared to what the Okavango is like during a rainstorm.

    It began with an open truck ride to the meeting place in the Delta where we met our crew of polers. We came equipped with sleeping bags, day packs and 5 liters of water. As we got into the Mokoros, 2 people plus a poler we set off with a cool breeze into the canals of the delta, passing lily pads with flowers of pink, white, and purple. So tranquil.

    After bout an hour we arrived at our campsite where the crew began unloading and quickly setting up tents. As this was being done, Shaun our intrepid guide began preparing lunch with the 4 youngest women acting as sous chefs.

    After the camp was set up and we had lunch which was delicious we had free time to read, relax, learn how to pole, or puddle around the swimming hole which was about 2 feet deep. At 3:00 we were to set off for a bush walk, single file and silent. We were divided into 3 groups. Our group leader knew that I was having back issues and that Dennis and I did not want to do a 3 hour walk. So K-K (double K) would take us back when we were ready.

    Off we went. First in the mukoro across the water to the land where our trek would begin. Then we got into line and followed the leader. 

        Do these pics seem a little hazy? Like there might be rain? Yep, at about 4:00 the rain started. We thought (stupidly, naively?) that the rain would be like that in Florida, a spat of rain and then, done. Try midnight, think buckets. I thought I could continue to the next animal, St. Dennis knew better and after 2 hours, said we needed to go back. He was so right. K-K kept looking around, like for lions or some other predator. Dennis was sure it was because he wanted to be sure I was still trudging along behind. When we got to the mukoro I fell in, in front of Dennis and thought I killed him. I dropped in so hard I thought I had bashed him in the head. He said, no problem, just the chest. Across the water we went to the camp. Shortly everyone was back. The rain continued. There were no dry places to sit, the trees weren’t dense enough to offer protection. Shaun had prepared a delicious soup for dinner that was difficult to enjoy because it was continually diluted with rain. The tents were the only places where you might have a dry spot. So everyone headed into their tents. By now it was 7:00. 

    I brought a small flashlight, our phones were losing their charge. We sat in the dark and drank wine. We didn’t even finish it. Imagine, Cindy and Dennis leaving wine! The tents were leaking. Really leaking. We had nice pads topped with the sleeping bags. We used the sleeping bags to sop up the water that was leaking into the tent. We each had about a third of the pad to sleep on that wasn’t wet. Did I mention this was the night from hell? It certainly made our decision to never ever camp again! 

We slept on the pads, the dark spot in the center are puddles. The pink things are Travel Jane’s which we used by kneeling on the dry spots of the pads so that we didn’t have to go out into the rain which continued until after midnight. It was not light rain it was coming down in buckets. In between the thunder the hippos let us know this was a great time. The toilet paper looks a little ditzy because it’s damp as were we. Finally morning came. Finally. And breakfast and again Shaun and his crew did an amazingly delicious job. 

        And then we are again off in the mukoro to the pick-up spot to go back to the hotel and on to the next spot. Shaun was right, it was an unforgettable experience. It certainly helped us make a life decision about camping. The youngest members of the group gave us hope for all of our futures. They all pitched in whether it was cooking or carrying all the gear to the mukoros. We were very lucky to be with such upbeat young women.   

     St. Dennis deserves a break. So he will add his wisdom in upcoming segments.