I spent my spring break with Tamara and her parents, who were gracious enough to invite me along on their family vacation. We left from Windhoek on Sunday morning, after a day and a half of free time in Windhoek. It was really nice to have a day to hang out, check my email, do laundry, and wander around downtown Windhoek (my new favorite activity. Seriously. Every Saturday I walk around for a couple hours, along with more random wanderings during the week. I find so many random cool stores and restaurants that way! It’s especially nice to buy gelato and leisurely walk around). We drove into Botswana on Sunday and spent a night in Ghanzi, at a lodge on a private game reserve. We went on a game drive that night, and then were treated to a show of traditional Bushman dancing. It was a lovely start to the trip, and the first of many new stamps in my passport!
On Monday we drove into Maun on our way to the Okavango Delta. We walked around a little bit and looked at little shops that sell souvenirs (during which I learned that Tricia, Tamara’s mom, really likes to shop). We ate lunch at a little diner just outside the airport, and it was delicious. Then we headed to the airport to catch our flight into the Okavango Delta! The Okavango Delta is the only inland delta in the world, draining the Okavango River after it receives its annual floods from Angola (the same floodwater that causes northern Namibia to flood every year). The lodge where we stayed in the Okavango is about a 25 minute flight from Maun on a tiny little plan. Including the pilot there were six seats in the plane, but the sixth person would have been a little squished. We were handed cold bottles of water before getting on the plane to serve as our refreshment for the flight. The safety lecture was pretty short, too: buckle your seat belt, make sure the door is locked, first aid kit by your feet, more first aid stuff on the seat by Tamara. Then the pilot shut the windows and we took off!
our plane into the delta!
The flight was really exciting because we were low enough above the ground (only about 1000 feet) that we were able to get a really good view of the Delta. Every direction you looked was a continuation of the Delta, and I saw several elephants during the flight, and an ostrich on the flight back! It was really loud, but it was a fun experience. We were met at the airstrip by a jeep that took us on the 20 minute drive through the bush to camp.
The Okavango Delta from the air
We spent two nights in the Okavango Delta, filled with early mornings, delicious food, and lots of game drives. Every morning breakfast was unfortunately at 6 am in order to try to see animals before it go too hot out. We came back from the morning activity for lunch at 11:30, then a break in the afternoon to take a nap, then tea time with delicious snacks at 3:30 before heading out for the afternoon activity. Dinner was at 8 before heading to bed. We spent a lot of time eating and just relaxing on the porch overlooking the delta. Another plus was that there was always dessert after dinner! This was very exciting because I have felt deprived of my normal desserts all semester, so I was happy. One night the dessert was Amarula crème brulee, and the second night dessert was banafee pie (pie with bananas, toffee, and cream – so amazing!). All of the food was always delicious. One day at lunch we had a version of a burrito, which was a welcome addition because I haven’t had anything even resembling Mexican food since January!
Me and Tamara on a game drive
We started the first afternoon with a game drive through the bush. We saw lots of impalas, a few giraffes, warthogs, vervet monkeys, other antelope, and lots of magnificent trees, many of which had the bark stripped off of them by elephants. The water level was pretty high, especially for so early in the season, and one of their bridges was out, so we had to drive through a river on the game drives. The water literally covered the hood of the jeep, and started pouring into the floor under our feet. The first time through was a little intense, and we were worried we were going to get stuck. But we made it, and then it just felt like a ride at Disneyland! Bumpy ride in a jeep (kind of like the Indiana Jones ride), fording a deep river, seeing animals, what could be better?
The next morning we wanted to do a game walk, but it was raining so we opted for another game drive instead. However, about 2 hours later the rain stopped and it started to warm up a little bit, so we did get out and walk around for a while. We saw an elephant skeleton (like a mini elephant graveyard), lots of termite mounds, numerous species of birds, and some hippos in the water!
In the afternoon we went on a boat ride through the Okavango Delta. It was so beautiful! The boat went through papyrus and reeds, and we saw so many different birds: owls, storks, lilacbreasted rollers. It was a nice change from the game drive, and we got to stay on the water until sunset, which was picturesque.
The stars that night were also amazing. There were about two hours between the time it got dark and moonrise, and because we were in the middle of the Delta there was no other light pollution. I have never seen so many stars! The Milky Way was so bright that it was almost difficult to pick out Orion, because there were so many other stars that stood out more than they normally do.
After dinner we went on a night game drive, hoping to find some bushbabies. Sadly, we did not see a bushbaby, but we did see several hippos walking around feeding, and we finally saw an elephant, which was exciting. It was a fun game drive, but at that point we were all tired and just wanted to go to sleep.
The next morning was our last morning in the Delta, and we got to go on a Makoro ride. Makoros are traditional dugout canoes that are used in the Delta. We took the boat out to Makoro Island, where the Makoros are stored. Then we got to ride in them for a couple hours. There were two to a canoe, so Tamara and I shared one while our guide poled us around from the back. It was so peaceful, gliding through lilypads and reeds in the canoe. We saw some tiny little frogs, beautiful flowers, more birds, some baboons, and we got to try some dates from the date palm. I really enjoyed getting to experience nature without the noise or inconvenience of a motor boat or a jeep.
After a quick lunch, we rode back out to the airstrip with our pilot. When we got to the airstrip, our pilot pointed out the windsock and said some other tourists a few weeks ago had asked if that was how they fed the giraffes. Anyways, we had a pretty uneventful flight back to Maun to start the next leg of our trip!
So wonderful to see these pictures, Kristen! Indeed, it was an epic spring break!
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