Midterm break, pt. 1

This past week was the mid-semester break at UB, so ACM flew the herd of us up north to Maun for the week.  We gathered to leave at 5:30 AM and had a little bit of adventure leaving the University.  Friday was pay day for all the local students, so they were all flush with their monthly allowance.  The week we were gone was also the week of Inter-Varsity Games, a regular athletic event between Botswana, Swaziland, and Lesotho and this year it happened to be in Gabs.  Thus the perfect party storm was created and many of the local students had such a good time Friday night that they were still going strong Saturday morning when we were trying to leave.  Our whole group was accosted by many very intoxicated Batswana students, who were all too curious and far too friendly for that hour in the monring.  We managed to make it the airport eventually and were at the Maun International Airport (which handles six commercial flights every day!) within a few hours.  We spent Saturday hanging around our "base camp" in Maun before waking up Sunday morning to board a vehicle that looked like it was last used in Desert Storm for the drive into the Okavango Delta, where we would meet our guides who would take us on mokoros (dug out canoes) for the next two days.

Our drive into the delta required us to ford several bodies of water.

These are the mokoros that we took furhter into the delta. The water is so shallow that they can't paddle and have to use poles.

Hippos!

Once we made it to our campsite, we spent a few hours setting up tents and settling in.  Although we were technically camping, it was definitely the nicest camping experience I have ever had.  They haul in an immense amount of gear and supplies on those little canoes--folding chairs for every person, huge coolers, food for 30 people, folding tables, pots and pans.

There are lions and other predators in the delta, but they are very skittish and afraid of people due to their history of clashing with local farmers so it is perfectly safe to walk around some of the islands on foot. 

Zebras!

Giraffe!

Water Buffalo!

Water Buffalo running away from us.

Up in time for sunrise.

Zebras!  This time running away. 

Elephants!

Everyone has to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we got back from the evening game walk we participated in some traditional camping activities--eating and swatting mosquitoes.  Every night we were out in the bush the stars were incredible.  With no light pollution of any kind around and hardly any moon, it was incredible how many stars you could see.

Lots of Hippos

A relaxing canoe ride out of the delta.

The two days we spent in the delta were fantastic.  This was the first (and probably only) time we had been able to see the animals from the ground (as opposed to a car) and that really gives you a very different sense of how big and powerful some of them are.  We spent one night in Maun before heading out to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) for the next 4 days and 3 nights.  I will update about that later in the week.  Sneak preview: it stars lions.