Popa

Tuesday 17th April – On the Okavango

I am writing this seated at a table overlooking the Okavango River. Around me several others of our group are also updating their journals and enjoying a couple of hours of serenity in these incredible surroundings. The river is still flowing rapidly although it is fallen slightly since yesterday. When I checked on the condition of our bus, I was relieved to find that two of its wheels are now out of the water.

The weather this morning is delightful – warm and clear with a lovely cool breeze over the river. At the current time I could not possibly think of any other place that I would rather be.

After lunch Rick suggested that we could hire some bikes and ride to a place called Popa Falls. “It should not be a very hard ride”, he assured us. The camp managed to scrounge out 10 bikes from somewhere, as well as 10 helmets.

Unfortunately, the helmets were all size small and not much use to someone like me with a man sized head. There was just no way I could fit my head into such a small helmet, I might just as well try to poke it through a keyhole. For once in my life I had to forsake my principle and ride without a helmet.

The bikes were loaded onto a flat-bottomed boat and transported a short distance downstream to where we would start the ride. We climbed aboard a huge 4 wheel drive Land Cruiser and proceeded to drive back across the Okavango to meet up with the bikes. About 15 minutes later, bikes and riders were reunited and we wobbled off into the unknown.

We had not gone far before we realised that the ride would not be an “easy” one or even a “moderate” one for that matter. The path consisted of thick sand for several kilometres and the combination of loose sand, crappy bikes and the now baking sun, soon began to take its toll. Each metre of progress could only be achieved with a huge expenditure of both concentration and energy. Soon we were all sweating freely and complaining bitterly about the &$@*% sand.

The other problem we faced was lack of water. Most of us only had 1 water bottle and I started to worry about the dangers of becoming dehydrated in these conditions. For some of our team it quickly became the hardest ride they had ever done.

We finally reached a sealed road and were relieved to be able to cover some distance. Unfortunately no one knew just how far away these famous Popa Falls were. The only thing keeping us going were the friendly waves and smiles from passing locals, although they may have just been laughing at our stupidity.

Just when I was beginning to think we should turn back, we noticed the large sign to Popa Falls Resort. Even more welcome was the discovery that the resort had a small kiosk, stocked with ice cold drinks. This gave us a chance to replace some body fluids before viewing the falls.

Eager to see the falls we had worked so hard to witness, we walked down the path to the river and then waded across the thigh high water. Unfortunately it was all in vain as we still could not see a damn thing. I think we were all a little disappointed to find that the only way you can really see the falls is from an airplane.

We did have one interesting encounter at the resort when we met a middle aged couple from Denmark who had spent the last 4 years travelling the world in their 4 wheel drive camping behemoth. He told me that it had been specially built for them at a cost of over 500,000 Euros. When we told him that we were from Australia, he replied that “They knew a girl from Tasmania”. Of course he was referring to Princess Mary.

Our ride was only half over as we still had to fight our through the sand and heat all the way back to Ngepi. We did not get back until about 5 pm with all agreeing that it had been a worthwhile but tough challenge. At least we could say that we had ridden a bike in Namibia. It was only later that evening that we were told that no other group had managed to ride all the way to Popa and back again. Apparently, the last group only made it halfway and had to be rescued !

The time is now 6.30 pm and I am back sitting at a table by the river. A few minutes ago, a hippopotamus came out of the river for a walk around the campsite and was quickly chased back into the water which he entered with a huge splash and a big cheer from the chasers. Life in Africa sure is different.Read more