Botswana - Camp Okavango   (9/8-10/10)

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Camp Okavango is located on an island in idyllic setting of large trees. The central dinning and lounge area are surrounded by well furnished tent cabins. The cabins were luxurious with comfortable beds and large rooms and plush showers. Weaver birds had their nests in the trees and small ???? owls roosted in the branches. The meals were marvelous and the young staff were energetic and gave us excellent service. One night we were even entertained by native singing and dancing put on by the lodge staff. On our first afternoon after we settled in, we went out on canoes through the reed marshes that surround the island. Our guides pointed out the vegetation, birds and the small reed frogs that populated the marshes. We did a lazy circle of the marshes and returned to the island for a beautiful sunset and sundowner refreshments.

The next day we got an early start after a great breakfast and headed out into the papyrus channels on two motorized skiffs. As we cruised the maze of channels, water birds such as Pied Kingfishers, Cormorants, and Herons escorted us for short stretches offering great photo opportunities. Our first destination was one of the large islands in the delta. These islands are inhabited by all sorts of wildlife with only the occasional visit by a tour group. After landing on the island, we had our first opportunity to walk in the bush with our guides carrying rifles just in case. We hiked through the Mopane trees and dry grass and clicked away at a herd of impala, a lone wildebeest, and a troop of baboons that resided on the island. We also spent some time at a large Baobob tree and saw the bright crimson flowers of Sausage Trees that grow all over the island. Shortly after we left the island we cam across a good sized crocodile resting on the bank of a channel and when we slowed down to get some pics, it made a mad dash for the water with lots of splashing water in it's wake. We made another stop for lunch on another island and then cruised slowly back to Camp Okavango where we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the grounds and catching up on charging batteries and downloading files. The day finished with another great dinner and conversation around the dinner table.

We headed back out of the deep delta the next day on the skiffs.  We followed one of the large channels of the Okavango River back toward the drier part of the delta area. This leg of the trip was a birders delight. We passed through a number of large lagoons that were the home to many aquatic birds. In one lagoon we spent time observing and shooting a mixed rookery of Malibu Storks, Yellow-billed Storks and Sacred Ibis. Birds were not the only wildlife we saw. The great thing about cruising the narrow papyrus channels was coming around a bend and surprising wildlife on the banks. The best time this happened was when we surprised a big bull elephant that was just starting to cross the channel in front of us as we came aroung a sharp bend. This big boy was not happy with our presence and did a lot of trumpeting and splashing at us. It was a very thrilling incident. At another bend we just glimpsed a large croc diving in the channel. After lunching at a clearing on an island in one of the lagoons, we were treated to one of the several very informative talks given by our leader Adam on the geography and history of the area. Finally, in the afternoon we arrived at Xakanaxa Lagoon where we rejoined our mobile safari vehicles which had made a circuitous trek on dry roads. We finished the day with a game drive to our camp in the Xakanaxa reserve area.