Unfurling the Cape (Town): Part 1: Beautiful BOOTswana

So I headed off on this amazing trip with 3 other friends, but we were in a group of about 20 SSA students. The aforementioned vac (what South Africans call break) began around 4:45 on Friday the 25^th. I was feeling completely refreshed and ready to go after getting about an hour of sleep. No, I wasn’t up late because I had to do laundry, pack, and finish a paper.

Good thing Friday was strictly a travel day, so I could rest up. We flew from Cape Town to Joburg, then hopped in our overland truck that would pretty much double as our home for the next 10 days. We had a little snafu Friday when a guinea fowl flew into the windshield and cracked it (Note: our driver later tried to get the windshield fixed, they didn’t have one that would fit, so we were stuck with it for the whole trip. It got progressively bigger and started to cave in. TIA).

Thanks Mr. Guinea Fowl!

After a bit of driving, we walked over the bridge to Botswana, where a monkey went flying over my head: my first introduction to the many more animals I would be seeing. We got to camp when it was dark and Stephanie and I successfully pitched the tent we would share for the rest of the trip. Mad love to Buffalo 2!

Steph and our home, Buffalo 2

We had a tasty dinner that did, in fact, include trying a Mopani worm. It was a bit dry.

Nom, nom, nom

Saturday was more traveling until we reached the Okavango Delta…my favorite part of the trip. That night we camped outside of the delta in Maun and went on a scenic flight over the delta. It was absolutely beautiful from above. We were able to see the whole expanse of it and got our first glimpse at all the animals we would see again…and much closer!

Me and our six-seater!

A view from above

The next morning we packed up everything we needed for the next three days and hopped in the back of a truck. It took us as close as it could to our campsite, which included driving straight through water to a very small village (fun fact: Botswana has a very small population of 2 million). Then there was a change of transportation to mokoros, which are similar to canoes. Two of us, our bags and mats, and one poler where in each. We were in these for about and hour and a half until we reached our campsite with no electricity or water, now we were really roughin’ it.

Steph, me and our poler, Kenny

That night we set out on our first game walk, rocking our neutral-colored clothes! Thanks to Tsaba, our guide’s, tracking skills (yeah I’m talkin’ tracking animal poo) we were able to see an elephant, which isn’t as common to see in the delta. We were able to get close, perhaps too close this time because it spotted us and we had to quickly move away from it as it followed. It lost us for a while, then spotted us again, this time raising its trunk to us. It was exciting, but a little scary, especially since Tembo, the second guide with us, kept saying “Let’s go! Let’s go!” No worries, we made it safely to the hippo pond to watch a couple hippos hang out.

Who's ready for their first game walk?

Monday was another early morning, but completely worth it to go on an amazing 12K game walk! It started out with one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen, then we tracked a giraffe early on. Later we saw a heard of zebra. The best part was when we found a herd of zebra and herd of giraffes together. We walked a short bit further, where we saw a ostrich running! Not only can they run extremely fast, but they look really silly doing it. After that we started our hour and a half walk back, where we saw baboons, bonobos, and a wildebeast (which they pronounce as wild beast).

The sun rolling high, through the sapphire sky

Giraffes and zebras and giraffes...oh my!

Afternoons were chill time in the delta because it gets so hot. That meant time to nap and go to the swimming hole, where we could get the closest thing to a shower. That day the women polers and guides who were camping with us were weaving bowls, bracelets and other goods, which was neat to see (and buy!). In the evening we got back in the mokoros for a sunset ride, which could only be complete with a metal mug of wine. Tembo poled the mokoro Rachel and I were in, and he made us flower necklaces and lily pad hats. Needless to say, I was lookin’ good.

Some good lookin' goods

Getting ready for sunset from the mokoro

Thanks for the hat, Tembo!

Our final dinner with out polers was a lot of fun, as it was a bit of a cultural exchange. The group of guides/polers performed quite a few songs for us. Then it was our turn! We performed all things American: the Macarena, Don’t Stop Believin’, and Steph showed off her impressive Eminem skills, which was a big hit.

We went on our final game walk to a different hippo pond in the morning. There were a lot of hippos in this pond. Did you know they can be really, really loud?! Shortly after, we packed up, got back in the mokoros, and went back to civilization. We went back to Maun to shower, then we were off to Planet Baobab for the night, which was full of (you guessed it) massive baobab trees!

Ultimate tree hugger

We spent a few hours in the truck heading to Chobe, and it definitely proved to be an eventful drive full of elephants periodically along the side of the road. That afternoon we set out on a sunset cruise. The boat left a few hours before the sunset. It putted down the river and stayed close to the bank so we could see about a million and two animals. The highlights include a large school of hippos, elephants, buffalo, kudu, and crocodiles.

Mr. Ellie

Becca, me, Rachel, and glowing Steph - the lovely ladies I traveled with

Do you kudu?

The last of my safari-ing was Thursday morning, we went on a morning game drive in a stereotypical safari truck. It could not believe how many elephants, impala, and buffalo we saw. It was also awesome that we saw wild dogs. They’re much more rare to see and part of the Significant Seven (an extension of the Big Five). We also saw giraffes, warthogs, and my personal favorite, a baby elephant, which was about 2-3 weeks old. Adorable.