Botswana

Getting through the Namibia and Botswana border crossings was insane…like nothing I’ve ever seen! All 10 of us were through both borders, which were about two minutes apart from each other, in less than 20 minutes. We were the only people going out and coming in. I’ve never gone through customs anywhere that quickly!

Once we were about 10km from Guma Camp, we had to switch vehicles. Since it was a deep sand road into the camp, we needed to transfer into a huge 4-wheel drive truck that was open air. It was really neat, but very bumpy. We all agreed we were happy we had been in our beloved, if smashed up, van the whole time. We had each bought treats at the local markets for the village kids we saw along the way. Matt felt certain that the best gift for all the kids was sweets, so he and I were continually handing out lollipops, which were a big hit. On the way into camp, though, three young boys came over to our truck. Ristele gave them each a ballpoint pen. The look on the third boy’s face brought tears to my eyes. You would’ve thought she had given him the most exciting toy known to man; he was so ecstatic over his new treasure. Again, it puts everything in perspective.

We arrived at camp in the early afternoon and set up our tents in the heat of the day. I’m not sure what I expected from Botswana. I remember Aunt MaryAnn was so excited that we were going to Botswana, and she was right to be. It was so amazingly beautiful there, very serene and peaceful. We spent the first few hours just relaxing on the deck, overlooking the Okavango Delta, drinking some Windhoek Draught. Almost immediately we saw some crocs in the delta. (Thanks for the binoculars, Dad! They are really coming in handy!) The breeze off the water was perfect, so we hung out there until dinner time (about six hours…and many beers), just writing our Namibia blog and talking with Chad and Bev. We actually ate dinner at a table…with lights! It made for a real family atmosphere with our fellow travelers and, as usual, Martin and Franc cooked up a storm.

The next morning, Martin surprised us with pancakes! We were so excited! Then we got on a motorboat and took it about half an hour out to Mokoro Island, where Matt and I climbed into a Mokoro with our poler, Sparks. A Mokoro is a dug-out canoe, traditionally wooden. Our modern version was made of fiberglass, so we were a bit disappointed at first…until we saw some of the authentic ones. They didn’t look exactly intact or entirely safe, so we happily got into the fiberglass version.

We really enjoyed seeing the delta from this perspective, gliding through channels of trees, papyrus and lily pads, and viewing birds and the environment at eye level. We didn’t see any hippo or crocs up close, which was probably a good thing with us in the tiny boats. We heard a lot of hippo, though, so we knew they were close. Often it sounded like they were just on the other side of the papyrus. We stopped for a game walk, but unfortunately didn’t see any animals. It was still great knowing they are all around, seeing their tracks and observing the fire burning to preserve the ecosystem. We got back in our mokoro and went to a different island to enjoy the sandwiches we made that morning. At that point our guides informed us that they were taking us to a spot on the delta where we could safely swim. I was a little skeptical, but Matt did a backflip right in; no fear of any wildlife for him…or any of our traveling partners! After lunch, our polers took us back to the motorboat, where we enjoyed a quicker ride through the channels, seeing eagles and other exotic birds, as well as evidence that a croc had just left.

Another deck session ensued back at Guma. We were so happy to be spending two nights here and, most importantly, not having to take down and set up our tents for a day! Guma Camp was truly a beautiful and relaxing time. We had another great dinner, followed by hours of great conversation and many cocktails with Chad, Bev, Nomi and Hans. We had a lot of laughs and felt really grateful again that we were paired with such a fantastic group. Each of us is so different, which makes the discussions very interesting! Tomorrow we are back to Namibia for the final night of our safari. We’ll be sad to say goodbye.