Ngepi Camp

Today we’re leaving Botswana for a brief visit to Namibia.

To get there, we have to get back on the ferry to cross the Okavango delta again. We are expecting a much shorter queue than before, and our hubris is punished by a huge queue, and a ferry that breaks down after a couple of crossings. The main ferry is replaced by a tiny boat, which can only carry two cars at a time. The crossings take over 40 minutes, and there at least 30 cars in the queue, so this will take a while. When we realise that this will make us miss our only proper day in Namibia, we decide to cross the ferry on foot, and have our amazingly patient driver wait in the queue and follow us later.

After crossing the delta (passing a solitary hippo), we grab taxis to the border, where a 4x4 picks us up to take us to Ngepi Camp. This is an incredible place, sprawled out along the river. We are staying in little treehouses, built directly on the banks of the river. They have no walls, and everything is completely open plan- the only thing separating us from the hippos and crocs is a mosquito net, and there is nothing to separate them from the toilet...

The camp has an amazing swimming pool, which is just a cage built into the croc- and hippo-infested river. Whilst we are swimming, we spot hippos a couple of hundred metres upstream. I can’t think of anywhere else in the world like it.

After a few beers (and a terrible shot) in the lively bar, we head back in the pitch dark to our treehouse. As we approach, we hear a large rustling in the bush directly next to us- almost certainly a hippo- and, hearts in mouths, we scramble into bed. After an nervous (but in a fun way!) night’s sleep, we awake early to the sound of a crocodile splashing it’s way into the river a few feet away from us. Being in bed, it’s a comfortable way to experience heart-pounding terror.Read more