Week 56 May 1-8 Part IV: Camp Okavango, Botswana

Our final stop in Botswana was Camp Okavango in the middle of the delta.  This was the founding camp of what has now become the eight camp conglomerate of today.  Because the camp was established in the early 80's, it was time for a renovation.  We were fortunate to be some of the first guests to stay at the newly renovated camp.  The lodges were amazing.  Desert and Delta spared no expense to make the site luxurious and eco-friendly.  Built entirely on elevated boardwalks and run completely on solar power, the lodge attempts to make as little impact on the environment as possible.  And the accommodations themselves were spacious and comfortable.  You often felt guilty of being too dirty from the day's adventures to enter your own room.

In terms of activities, Okavango was different yet again from our previous experiences.  There were three options to pick from: a "mocorro" canoe tour, a game walk, and a delta boat ride.  We were led on these adventures by our guides Moffat and Kops.  The canoe trip was peaceful, with Kops guiding us with only a long pole to propel and steer.  With the exception of beautiful frogs, we did not see much wildlife up close, but it was a relaxing ride.

A peaceful delta

Chris, Andy and Moffat

On the game walk, it was great to get to stretch our legs, but also a bit frightening to not be in a vehicle.  In the end, most animals stayed pretty far away from us, but it was fun to get a slower perspective on land (and get a little exercise).  The boat trip was very similar to the one we had experienced in Moremi, but with more papyrus lined canals than open water.  One of the most memorable experiences at Camp O was the star gazing.  As mentioned before, the night sky in Botswana is so clear with no light pollution present.  Stars, planets, and galaxies are easily visible with the naked eye.  We had already enjoyed the experience of looking up with wonder after dark at the other camps, but Okavango was unique.  With the new renovation, they added a boardwalk that went straight out into the grasslands.  Once you were out on it, there were no trees to block your view.  On our last night at camp, Moffat led us out to the end of the boardwalk, and we all turned off our flashlights.  It was the most open and unadulterated view of the night sky we had ever seen.  We stayed staring in awe until our necks were too sore to keep looking up.

Stretching our legs

But watching for lions!

Moffat made Tyler a necklace out of a water lily

Another amazing sunset

The final topic we haven't yet discussed throughout our safari adventure: our fellow travelers.  Each camp had a maximum of 24 visitors at a time, and we were 4 of those.  You interact with all of the other guests at each meal time, and we were paired with another 2-4 people for all activities.  Needless to say, you get to know a bit more about your fellow travelers than your average hotel stay.  We quickly learned that we were the youngest and least wealthy safari adventurers.  Most of the other guests were staying for multiple weeks in Botswana on a semi-retirement tour.  Most were not American (Australians and Germans seemed to dominate and sometimes conflict).  And all of them had interesting life stories that they were willing to share.  The degrees of wealth and fame got us a bit too excited about who we might possibly rub shoulders with at the dinner table.  When checking out at Moremi, Chris happened to see that one of the next guests arriving was only noted by one name: Adele.  After long breathless moments of waiting to see the diva descend the bush plane steps, it turns out this Adele was not the one we'd hoped.  In the end, we met some very interesting and enjoyable people from all over the world, and interacting with them was a bit of an unexpected highlight of the trip.

And just like that, our safari adventure was over.  We packed up at Camp Okavango, and we started the very long journey back to real life.  We never expected to travel to Africa at any point soon in our lives.  And when Chris and Andy pitched the idea to us, we had come up with a lot of reasons not to go.  Looking back, we can't believe that we ever doubted the idea for a second.  It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we will never forget.  It was made even more unforgettable by getting to have that experience with our best friends.  Getting to talk and laugh with those guys anywhere in the world would have been enjoyable, but we were fortunate enough to get to do so in one of the world's few remaining preserved natural environments.  In the running for "Best Trip Ever," this one is going to be hard to top.        

Links for the future safari adventurers of the group!
1. Conservation Safari Company - We booked our safari with Jamie Thom and Conservation Safari Company.  He was awesome and designed the perfect trip for us!
2. Desert and Delta Safaris - Other than Victoria Falls, all of the safari camps that we visited were owned  by Desert and Delta.  We loved the staff, the facilities and of course the animals!  We enjoyed living in the lap of luxury in the middle of the bush.
3. Victoria Falls Hotel - Great hotel within walking distance of the falls.

Week 56 May 1-8 Part III: Camp Moremi, Botswana

After two days in Savute, it was time to move to our next camp.  Another short bush plane ride took us from landing strip to landing strip.  As expected, the view was amazing, but in a different way.  Our destination, Camp Moremi, sits on the edge of the Okavango River Delta.  This massive waterway is the largest inland delta in the world.  It is formed from the rain water falling in Angola and running downhill into Botswana.  Over the course of a year, the delta grows and shrinks with the rainy and dry seasons.  As we flew, the desert terrain suddenly shifted to blue ponds and green grass.  It was amazing to see how the presence of water drastically changed the appearance and feel of the land despite not having traveled much distance.

We were picked up at the "airport" by our next guide, KT.  This young gun was an enthusiastic tracker who really seemed to enjoy the chase of hunting the next animal sighting.  Due to the already mentioned changes in terrain, the ride was often a bit bumpier in Moremi, but this didn't slow KT down.  If he thought he could get us close to some wildlife, he didn't hesitate to put the pedal down and cut some corners.  Just like the terrain, the types of animals also changed now that we were closer to the water.  Baboons, monkeys, waterbucks, lions, water buffaloes, wild dogs, crocodiles, hippos and eagles all showed up during our time in Moremi.  The highlights included a pair of rogue lion brothers hunting water buffalo and a very close encounter with some annoyed hippos (Us: "That hippo seems kind of irritated.  Are they aggressive?"  KT: "Yes, very" accompanied by full reverse throttle).  Our KT led activities were primarily game drives (3 in total), but included one boat ride on the delta.  This nice change of pace didn't offer as many up-close views of wildlife, but it was certainly relaxing to have a smooth ride on the water after being thrown around in the back of a jeep for a couple days straight.  And if it was possible, the sunset was even more amazing.

A baboon with her baby

Saddle-billed stork

A croc

Velvet monkeys

A small breakfast

As we wrote about in previous posts, the safari life at these camps is one of luxury.  Every meal and snack (6 in total per day) was served with care and style.  The staff to guest ratio felt like 100 to 1.  Every time you cleaned your plate, it was cleared away before you even had time to set your fork down.  And you never saw the bottom of your wine glass, as they were always quick to top you off.  Not only were there plenty of staff members, but they were all extremely friendly, courteous, and helpful.  They even provided entertainment by performing traditional song and dance displays before dinner.  In no camp did we feel more spoiled than in Moremi.  Due to a bit of lucky timing, for one night only, the four us were the only guests on the property.  Not only did we receive the already high level of service, but they set a candle-lit table for us under the stars.  We were pretty sure this was a test run for filming an episode of the "Bachelor."      

mongoose

A waterbuck

There were less-than-glamorous times as well.  Despite being a naturally beautiful place, Africa has some well known diseases still making problems.  Before leaving Belgium, we had to get a whole battery of shots to preserve our health.  However, from some medical reason, malaria does not have a shot option for prevention.  The only option is to take a pill daily while in the malaria-risk area and 7 days after leaving.  Taking a daily pill is much preferable to a shot, but the malaria pills cause some intense heartburn and can cause strange, lucid dreams.  Then of course as any traveler knows, whenever you go far from home, you are most likely going to experience some intestinal discomfort.  We all suffered from some fairly uncomfortable symptoms for a couple days.  In the end, all of us skipped 1-2 activities along the way to curl up in the fetal position and try to re-hydrate.

I think we would all say that the level of discomfort was certainly worth trading for the amazing experience we had.  We would gladly do it again!