Date of Entry: November 13th 2016
Date of Writing: March 27th 2017
I’m excited for today, friends have told me it’s one of the highlights of the whole trip, which after Etosha national park seems hard to fathom. I’m up before we even half to be, packing up my ten early and just waiting for our trip to delta.
Eventually we get on the road, only for about 25 minutes in Peter Tosh before we say goodbye to Honory and Blessing who deserve there next two day rests. Now here’s where the experience stops being perfect. Most trips I’ve heard about involve a few hours overland then a boat to the lodge so you’re deep into the delta. Here it’s a 20 minute 4 by 4 ride before we get off at a hotel by the edge of the delta. Turns out nomads has recently changed there hotel here for those on the camping trip, and while the place is comfortable and the staff is kind, theres just not enough excursions and you feel being at the edge of the delta a lot.
We arrive to the lodge around 11 am, and are quickly told the first activity is a sunset cruise. hmmm.. strange amount of downtown for an over landing trip that is normally so hectic, and it only becomes more frustrating when we finally do head out on our sunset trip and see just how beautiful this area of Botswana is. The intricate and vast maze of canals are surrounded by thick groves of papyrus plants (ancient Egyptian paper) dotted with so many birds it’s insane. Tonight we’re on small motor boats and heading in. Sadly I think the best way to see the delta is by helicopter, which the hotel does offer, but it’s just beyond my price range.
We continue out in the boat and as we go even further into the water where even more birds appear. I’m particularly enthralled by certain kingfishers who hover above the water amazingly before plunging straight down in their hunting ritual. The birdlife here is certainly beyond spectacular. And as the sun creeps slowly towards the horizon the colours of the sky aren’t bad either.
We keep going out into the canals as I stare at the papyrus, a plant I’ve always wanted to see close up since my Egyptian penpal sent me a drawing on paper of it when I was 8 or 9. Of course when we find a big crocodile head sticking out of the water my attention goes back to the animals.
As we continue, the group split into two groups, on two separate boats, the colours of the sky only grow more impressive. Flowers appear in the water and birds in the larger trees.
We keep on cruising along until we find a giant fish eagle perched in the trees above. It’s a truly beautiful bird and I’m glad I have my zoom all over again. We’re all trying to peek inside and find hippos and elephants which are prevalent here but none appear.
Just before heading back towards the lodge our friendly guide jake finds another crocodile up on the shore. Sadly the angle for pictures is non existent but it’s awesome to be so close to such a dinosaur like animal.
As we turn the boat around to head back towards the hotel we face the sunset and I figure out just how beautiful it’s going to be. The reflections in the calm waters of the maze of fresh water so close to the kalahari are also very impressive.
As we head back it doesn’t start to rain, but thunder and lightening caused by the significant heat of the day becomes a regular thing. Now as anyone knows it’s very hard to capture lightening in photos, especially when you’re just using you’re own hands. Below is the result of about 500 photos. Trust me the lightening is more impressive when you’re there. Still I’m proud of some of these.
As we reach the dock at the hotel the sky turns a whole new mix of colours and even some rain in the distance. It’s definitely on the list of most impressive sunrises I’ve ever seen. African sun events have been incredible so far, be it in Botswana or Namibia.
Our excursion was great, and those 3 hours we’re very much enjoyable, even though we didn’t catch sight of any of the giant animals. The problem is we had 3 hours of activities all day, and so much time just sitting around the hotel where we are in tents with cots and it’s painfully hot. The staff at the place was super friendly and the food was quite good, Nomads should really make sure we get more from our two days in the delta. This point is driven home when you learn the accommodated people running the same trip did a fly in to a 5 star resort that normally charges 500 usd a night per person. Yes they paid more, but it’s still quite frustrating. Oh well despite all this I had quite a nice day,hopefully tomorrow will hold more activities.
