Gaborone

Today we were picked up at 8am, and after a 75 minute drive in an open safari vehicle, we arrived at the water of the Okavango Delta. We went out in pairs in a Mokoro, a traditional wooden canoe type of boat that has little freeboard, and is able to navigate the shallow waterways of the delta. Our ‘poler’ was a woman who had 5 children, and no husband, a shy woman who didn’t seem to have much confidence which showed as her lack of eye contact, and looking down at the ground and few smiles. The poler stands at the back of the mokoro and uses a pole to push us through the shallow channels of the thick reeds. We saw elephants, giraffes and hippos and we enjoyed watching them from the mokora and also when we were on the two kilometre walk we did. It was so HOT though, probably mid-90s. We sat in the trees in the shade and ate a lunch that they provided which was HUGE. We were able to share it with our polers, who appreciated it. Sharon bought a woven basket from the selection of woven crafts that were shown to us. Although she paid much more than the bowl was worth, it was wonderful to see the smile on our poler’s face as she had apparently made the bowl. On our drive back we witnessed a violent fight between some muscular, angry young men and got back to our Lodge by 3:30 where we enjoyed some wine and dip in the pool.Read more