The Delta

     Here's a surprise:  the Okavango River Lodge is located at the edge of the Okavango River Delta.  While it's possible that you have never heard of the Okavango River Delta, it is simply an astonishing place.  Here's an excerpt from the book Okavango:  Africa's Last Eden by Frans Lanting.  Our friend Rich generously gave me this book to prepare myself for the trip, and an incredible book of photographs it is.  Thanks again, Rich!

          "Spreading over 8,500 square miles, this vast wetland in the heart of the Kalahari supports an unparalleled diversity of wildlife.  From its origins in the highlands of Angola, the Okavango River descends to the near-desert of northern Botswana, where it fans out as the world's largest inland delta; an ecosystem of a size and complexity rivaling any on earth, a rare place where desert and swamp dwellers meet.  Hippos, crocodiles, zebra, impalas, buffalo, giraffe, lions, hyenas, and the continent's largest unharassed elephant population find refuge and replenishment in the seasonal ebb and flow of fresh water into the delta." 

The story I loved best about the Delta is that the locals call it the "river that doesn't go anywhere."  It never gets to the sea at all.  All this water pours into the Kalahari, where it stays until it dries up.  I was told that the difference between the dry season and the rainy season is mind-boggling--hardly looks like the same place.  I was there during not only the rainy season, but a very rainy rainy season, and the waters were much higher than normal, and the Delta was very very lush.

A particular tribe possesses the exclusive right to access certain parts of the Delta, and they offer escorted "mokoro" rides into the vast marshes.  A mokoro is a long, narrow, dugout skiff that is propelled by a person poling it along, very much similar to a wild rice picker at home.  The boat however is close to 20 feet long and much narrower than a canoe or rice boat.

G.B. (Gebby??}, from the Lodge, took us in a motor launch up to the village, and there we were met by our guides for the day.  And here is the start of our trip:

 

When we stopped for lunch, our guide jokingly asked me if I wanted to try steering the mokoro; I said "sure!"  He was shocked to see that I could do it quite well--he said "You've DONE this before??!!"  I tried to explain to him about picking rice, but I'm not sure he understood.

It was a magical day, and we all came back sunburned, dehydrated, and happy.