Bush Camping in the Okavango Delta, Botswana and Nata with Nomad Tours – Days 15, 16, & 17

From Maun to the Okavango Delta – Day 15

For me, this experience was the highlight of our tour.  Two days of camping in the bush – no electricity, no running water, and wild country.

We load our tents, packs and water into a huge 4 x 4 vehicle and drive through Maun, passing waving schoolchildren, donkeys and cows for an hour before arriving at the Delta where we drive through deep streams and mud pits for another hour.  Amazing Pterodactyl-sized birds can be seen on the way.  Thorn bushes slap the sides of the open truck causing me to scream in fear of a painful swipe.  It’s a bouncy ride.

Riding in a Mokoro: Okavango Delta

We arrive at our destination and a community of people greets us.  They live here in a village of 500 people with no electricity or plumbing.  They have no school although they have been appealing to the government for one, instead of sending their children to boarding school in distant Maun.

In short time, the locals are loading our tents into mokoros (small canoes) while we frantically put on sunscreen.  We are told not to make any sudden moves in the canoe or we will capsize.  Ok!  The bigger danger is unseen hippos, rising out of the waters and attacking.

Eline and I share a canoe while Alice does the hard work of moving the mokoro through narrow reed-lined waterways.  The sun is blazing.  The beauty is spectacular.  Water lilies are everywhere.

After an hour, we arrive at camp and ten locals stay with us, also setting up camp.  We are told never to walk anywhere alone.  Always get a guide.  The risk of wild animals is too great.

Wako is the lead guide and he gives us a rundown on what to do when confronted by a hippo: “They can cut you in half in one bite.  Don’t scream. You might have to run. You might have to stay still.”  A lion: “Don’t run. Don’t move. Follow guides carefully.”  We are told that rogue water buffaloes are the most dangerous but I don’t recall what we were supposed to do if we saw one.  This is no joke.  Nothing was said about snakes, scorpions, or any of the other animals lurking.  The talk ends with a disclaimer about there being no guarantees about our safety.  Perfect.

Okavango Delta

We are shown the toilet:  a pit in the ground about ten meters from camp.  I vow to develop kidney failure and constipation and not visit the bathroom for the next three days.

We split into three small groups and I begin a walking tour with Phillip, a local man with a wiry frame and milky eyes.  At the back of our group, another guide carrying a stick: tall and lanky with one blind eye.

We see zebras,  birds and a giraffe as well as a termite mound.  The locals eat termites, which after a complex extraction and drying process they say taste just like peanut butter.

We cross paths with the other group and they seem shaken.  It seems that the guide and two other people somehow stepped over a black cobra on the path while the fourth person in line saw it.  Had it bitten, that person would have died within five minutes.  This is not Disneyland.

After the walk, the locals offer to take us to the swimming hole.  There was a warning: bloodsuckers.  I pass.  Several people go and a friendly leech is discovered between one woman’s toes after the swim.  Eeeeee.

Back at camp, the local women sit with women and men sit with men.  The women prepare the food and the men collect firewood and guard the camp.

I feel very lucky to be here.

Bush Camping in the Okavango Delta – Day 16

Everyone in the group set out for a planned four-hour nature walk this morning.  I stayed behind in camp because I needed sleep and silence.  I’m not interested enough in wild animals to risk stepping on a cobra.

Mxolisi tells me he didn’t sleep much last night because he was on hippo watch and heard them in the area.

After the return of a hungry bunch we had tons of leisure time which I loved.  I’m quite content to sit and stare into space for hours at a time.

After the rain.

Around 4 pm, the locals look at the sky and start scrambling to tie rain covers down securely.  What was happening?  Ten minutes later, a thunderstorm hits, pouring massive amounts of rain.  Nicole and I hide in our tent with another woman seeking refuge.  We wait for it to pass.  And wait.  And wait.  We fall asleep waiting.

Around 6 pm we hear the locals and I peek out to see them making a fire.  How?!  Wisdom and experience.

Unable to acquire a raincoat in Maun I resorted to garbage bags and wore a matching set to the campfire party.  Apparently, this really hits the German funny bone.

At night we sit around the fire and the locals perform a show of singing and dancing.  The singing was awesome (video below) and the dancing was actually hilarious with a lot of comedy infused into the dances by the men.

I love nothing more than a campfire and this night was really special.  I think I could stay here for a long time.

Okavango Delta to Nata, Botswana – Day 17

We pack up our muddy tents and collect every speck of garbage to be disposed of back in Maun.

I enjoy the mokoro ride back to the truck.  These local women are so strong.  Hard labor day in and day out.

Water lilies

This time the drive back to Maun was even more treacherous.  The rains had made the streams into rivers.  The truck drove right on through.  I bounced around like a superball.

We then drove 300 kilometers through flat, flat Botswana.  You could roll a marble across Botswana with one push!

We arrive in Nata late in the afternoon to a campground littered with Amarula fruit.  I taste it.  Sour!  How can this make such a delicious drink?

Everyone runs to the shower while I help Mxolisi with dinner.  Early to bed and early to rise.

Lots of pictures below.

Disclaimer: Nomad Tours offered me a discount in exchange for documentation of the experience.  I have complete freedom to share my thoughts.  All opinions are my own.

Official Itinerary from Nomad Tours:

Day 15/16 Maun – Okavango Delta