Off the Grid!

If you are wondering why you haven’t read anything new for three days, it is because we were off the grid! (We are at the Maun airport now with wifi, so I will get pictures and the blog caught up as fast as possible)

On our last morning at the Chobe Safari Lodge, we got to sleep in and relax, which we were all ready to do.

At noon we left the hotel and got transferred to the Kasane airport, only about 10 minutes away.  We were flying with a charter company, Mack Air, on small planes, so the check in procedure was a bit different but the security was just as strict as anywhere.

We departed at 1:00 pm on three separate, 12 seater planes.  We flew at 10 000 feet and our pilot did a great job of steering us around the forming thunderclouds, so it was a pretty smooth flight.  It was amazing to view the Okavango Delta from the air.  Normally the delta is totally flooded at this time of the year.  It is a very remote area with lodges scattered throughout, each with their own airstrip.  Our flight was 70 minutes.  We were in the front plane.  When we came in for the landing there were three antelope on the runway so we swooped down to scare them off and then had to go back up and around to do a second landing.  At this airstrip we had to switch to small 4 seater planes, as the runway at our camp was too small for the bigger planes.  There were supposed to be six planes to pick us up but one had to turn back due to mechanical problems.  So, our tour director stayed behind with Sheila, Bernie, Jane and Phyllis, to wait for another plane.  The rest of us squeezed into our tiny planes and off we went on a ten minute flight to our camp.  We flew much lower so we were actually able to distinguish the elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, wart hogs and antelope that we saw.  Very cool!!!

Our camp is situated in the middle of nowhere in the Okavango Delta, with no roads.  Unfortunately, due to the prolonged drought in the area, the Delta is dry.  There is a small river running behind our camp.  It is a very rustic but beautiful camp with tented rooms.  We can see all kinds of animals from our decks, including giraffes, elephants, hippos and crocodiles.  At night we can hear the lions and hyenas and all kinds of bird and animal sounds.  It is amazing!

When we arrived at the camp we were greeting with a song from the staff.  We had a welcome drink, waiting for the last five people to arrive.  When we got word that they wouldn’t arrive until 5:00, we had lunch (at 4:00).  We were hungry!

We quickly got settled into our tents and got ready to leave on a game drive.  In the meantime, I was feeling so bad that the other 5 had to wait so long at the airstrip for another plane.  I was so relieved to find out later that they had a jeep parked in the shade to sit in and the staff from a nearby camp brought them drinks and sandwiches.

We left at 5:00 for our game drive and the last group arrived shortly after.  A Jeep stayed behind to take them out as soon as they were ready.

Normally we would do our safaris in a boat but since the Delta is dry we went by jeep.  So, there aren’t really roads.  The good news is that the guides can then drive anywhere they want, the bad news is that it is a bit rough!  What an adventure!  We went in search of lions but didn’t have any luck finding them.  However, we did see lots of wildlife, including two new antelope, red lechwe and tssesebe.  We had quite the adventure “off reading”.  At one point we were driving right through the trees, keeping our heads ducked down to avoid getting hit with branches.  What fun!

We stopped for a “sundowner” beside a pond filled with hippos. The hippos put on quite a show for us!  They even provided beer and wine for us to enjoy as we watched the sun go down.

That meant that we had to drive back to the camp in the dark!  At one point we had to stop because there were hippos on the trail (they come out of the water at night to feed). Our guide shone a spotlight so that we could take a picture of them in front of the jeep.  A bit unnerving! 

When we got back to camp we went straight to dinner.  Then we had to be walked back to our tents by our guides so that we didn’t get eaten by something.

Back at our tents we quickly learned to only use the lights inside sparingly as the bugs seemed to appear from everywhere once there is a light on. As we laid in bed it was amazing to listen to the variety of sounds.

Around midnight a major thunderstorm rolled in.  The wind was rocking our tents and the lightening was lighting up the sky.  Once a loud clap of thunder sounded like it was right beside us.  It poured rain for quite awhile.