Safari by Mokoro Boat
As it was September, I had left the singing cicadas back home and expected some sort of noise on the water but it was quiet – so, so quiet with a nice breeze.
I could hear the water as we glided though. Being on the water has always brought a sense of calm to me – a great way to clear my mind and try to process all of the newness of the experience. As we were navigating through the tall grasses (or reeds? I haven’t a clue as to the correct terminology), one disadvantage to being alone in the boat is that I was having to push some of the grasses aside or risk getting whacked in the face with them. Usually the first person in the boat has the task to move them so I needed to multitask as I had my camera ready for photos and also wanted to just visually explore the surroundings and process it all. So risking damage to all the good that Pilates has done for me and my posture, I took a rounded back position with my arms in a triangle/praying stance with my camera sticking out so that I could move the grass with my arms, avoid getting hit in the face and take photos at the same time.
I saw a moving tree which turned out to be a giraffe in the distance. Using my new camera with lens, I was able to snap this:
Walking Safari in Botswana – Okavango Delta
Once we landed the boat in the muddy shore, we started the walking safari in the Moremi Game Reserve of the Okavango Delta. Each group landed at different parts of the island and I wouldn’t see anyone until later. For the next two to three hours, my guide would show me how to track the animals through their poop, footprints and sadly their kills. He was unarmed and we were walking in the dry, open landscape. Again, it could be anywhere in the world, but it was Botswana.
We first came upon the Impala, which remind me of deer and just like deer, they are everywhere. The Impala travel in groups – there is one male that fights the other males to lead the female group (now, while a harem sound great in theory, in practice not so easy). The males stay in their own group until a power struggle occurs or nature requires a replacement to lead the girls.
The impala are across the field when we see them. The baboons just run from the tree on our left and don’t even notice us walking, nor does the warthog. Everyone just goes about their business as if they don’t see us. It’s weird because I think I’m supposed to be a bit scared or frightened but I am not, its all very safe in my opinion or at least feels that way. My guide explains how he grew up in the village and has been tracking his whole life – he has worked for the camp for over nine years – he has never left the village –
We walk some more and my guide explains different trees, flowers and lots of poop. Thankfully we don’t smell the poop which means there aren’t any animals in the nearby area. After our walk, we head back to the mokoro to make our way back to camp.
Final Thoughts – First Day Walking Safari
We all had a good first day on our walking safari, I didn’t see any big 5 today (others had) – we would compare notes and photos once back at camp to watch the sun set. It sets pretty quickly but the colors are stunning. One of my struggles on the trip will be when to savor the experience with camera down vs. capture the moment for memory. I quickly took this and then with my glass of wine, sat still with the group to admire the sunset and breathe in Botswana.
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Landing in Maun, Botswana, the airport was awash in small bush planes and one building for passengers to transit. You exit the plane and walk to the terminal -something that became commonplace in Africa -walking to/from your plane which I liked. I had been traveling for four days to get here and had one more flight to go – the small bush flight into Oddballs Camp. There would be five of us on the plane – a British couple living in the US, a Canadian couple and me. We chatted during our wait for the flight and I was lucky that they were all so nice especially as we would be together the next couple of days. We met the pilot and he stuffed the duffels in the storage area and we kept our backpacks on our laps. He eyed us up & down (no time to lie about your weight or suck your stomach in) to figure out how to load us properly and then thankfully using yoga moves we all contorted this way and that way and fit into our seats, buckled up and prepared for the flight. I had gone from a flat bed business class seat with amenities, to a coach seat with a meal to this seat with a seatbelt as the only amenity. Up until this point, I could have been anywhere in the world -everything seemed familiar -airports, hotels, planes, etc. – not until I got on the small plane did it hit me – I’m going on safari!!!!
Flying to Oddballs Safari Camp
The flight was about 30 minutes and we all had our faces pressed to the windows looking down – it was the end of winter, the rains hadn’t yet come for spring so the animals had few water sources. All around us was dusty brown landscapes -you could almost feel how dry it was just looking at it so seeing some water made me feel for the search that the animals do each day and how they are in danger just wanting a drink of water. I was tapped on the shoulder and told to look over there – I did as told since the noise doesn’t give you a chance to chat or hear anything. From the plane, I saw a group of elephants walking together – OMG! It hit me that I was in Botswana going to experience something amazing – I was not fast enough to get my camera together to snap the photo of the elephants but I would have many more opportunities to see elephants. When you travel solo, it is moments like this, feelings that are hard to properly explain when you first experience something, that make me sad others are not with me to share the experience.
We started our descent which always makes me in awe of pilots – I see nothing, nothing, nothing and all of a sudden, there is a small strip of sand/field that becomes our landing strip. Welcome to Oddballs’ Camp in the Moremi Game Reserve! My travel agent insisted that I stay here for a real, unique safari experience. This was a bit pricey to add – despite the look of the tent, it was expensive and required the separate flights in/out which add cost but to experience the Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta you need to fly in/out and spend a bit of money to do so. Luckily since I was able to save money using points elsewhere on the trip, this became a reality for me to add to my adventures. We were greeted by many staff and three guides – each couple would have their own guide and mokoro boat – as I was on my own, I was assigned my own guide and mokoro boat.
Arrival at Oddballs Camp in the Okavango Delta of Botswana
Our bags were taken to our tents, we were shown to the bar/common area to meet with the camp manager for introductions and to learn how the camp operated around our safari schedules. We were instructed on the camp and rules (i.e. – free to roam in the day but must be taken to/from tent/common area at night escorted, solar camp so electronics can be charged with the manager in the morning if needed) and then given time to unpack, come back for lunch and then we would go out on our afternoon trek.
My Safari Tent and En-Suite at Oddballs’ Camp
I was taken to my tent, the tent I worried about for months having never camped before (I’m a hotel girl and lack of turn down service or room service constitutes “roughing it”) – my tent was elevated with four stairs and attached to the outside en-suite (haha) bathroom.
While the photos on the website show the bucket shower, I was happy to learn it was a bit more fancy as the bucket gets filled, hoisted and tied to the pole which then directs the water to the attached showerhead. The décor reminded me of Gillian’s Island in a way but no coconut radios or hammocks.
The tent was a standard tent but without the sleeping bags – each tent had two beds with a storage flap next to the beds where I kept my flashlight and bottle of water.
So now all sorted in my tent and ready to go – let’s go on safari!
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In Search of Hippos
We set out on the mokoro and I could feel the difference in the boat when we entered the deeper part of the water and my stomach had that uneasy feeling I get when I try to kayak and think i’m going to get stuck or fall in. I could see the other boat ahead in the water. As for me, I was still taking in the various sights and sounds of the reserve enjoying the sun, the water, the light breeze. Suddenly, my guide steered the boat to the shallow part of the water and right into the tall reeds to hide! I was told to get down and be quiet. At this point, I was a bit freaked out not knowing what happened but did as I was told. My guide whispered that the boat ahead had heard hippos in front of them and were getting close unaware that hippos were approaching them from the side channel so they had to hide in the grass hoping the hippos would pass by and leave them alone. My guide had a look about him that did not provide me a sense of comfort. Hippos are herbivores so no eating people, right?
Well, sort of, here’s what everyone left out or I just neglected to research (a quick google search would have helped) – hippos are the most deadly, territorial animals in Africa and they kill the most people each year! They will attack you. Forget about lions – it is mosquito, hippo, buffalo, elephant and crocodile in the order of deadly animals in Africa. When I recounted this experience later in my trip, everyone seemed to know this nugget of information (except me)! Walking through the reserve and seeing all of the animals the past few days, gave me a false sense of safety especially as the guides are not armed, so the hippo encounter was scary. How would we get back to camp if hippos were in the channels? We couldn’t walk (run!) back. So we waited and waited and then after a very long thirty minutes looking at the grass, we started back for camp and my relaxing ride taking in the sights was replaced with a heightened sense of looking and listening for anything that signaled trouble.
Safely Back at Camp – Hippos in the Background
Happily back on land at camp, my heart beating normally, Yvonne and I climbed the rooftop observation area of camp to look out while her husband went back out on the water.
The hippos had been ahead of us and were now just around the camp channels and there was still a couple yet to come back to camp. We could now hear the hippos and see them around the camp. Our guide had to guide the missing couple’s boat around with hand gestures and sounds. The boat moved forward and to the side in a bit of a chess game before arriving safely at camp.
From the perch above, I could now take photos, albeit dark, as the sun had set and the hippos were ready to provide our dinnertime music as they had the night before. I would see the hippo numerous times on my journey through Africa but will not be naïve again to actively set out to look for them or dismiss them as cute animated cartoon characters.
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The Safari Itinerary Planning With a Travel Agent
I printed my draft African safari itinerary on the color printer and carried it back and forth to work each day for over a month to research more about each place and see if the general feel was right for me. I was still a bit back and forth on the tent and the small bush plane flights. My 27 days trip to Africa would essentially be 5-6 trips – it was a big commitment and despite pricing out much less than a regular tour group would charge for a solo traveler, I was a bit hesitant to book it. I love the idea of travel, finding the award space and yet making it real gives me a bit of pause -not sure why really (ok, I have a few theories but let’s not go there now).
With my hotel savings using points, I inquired about upgrading my Kruger safari to the Sabi Sands private game reserve. It was initially outside of my budget but I thought I could now include it (I don’t ask the price per night because I knew it would be insane as I was a solo travel subject to this, that and the other fees). I had read in one travel guide that Sabi Sands was a SKIN trip (of course my mind wandered just like yours) but stood for Spend the Kids Inheritance Now for the one time incredible safari experience. The travel agent was able to add a Sabi Sands property and I was thrilled.
There was only one part of the safari itinerary left that gave me pause – it was at the end when I would join a third party tour operator for the Garden Tour from Capetown to Port Elizabeth – the hotels used were part of a local chain and neither were highly rated – one was rated last and I believe one comment said “I found a flea” so you could understand my concern despite the other good reviews. The tour was set, did not deviate and there was no other way for me to see the Garden Route with my dates so I decided that I could always change hotels at my expense if needed or sleep in the tour van (ok, not really but in my mind I needed a few options).
So with the safari itinerary set, my adventure was good to go, I emailed the OK to the travel agent and she sent me the invoice to pay. Since it was less than two months out, the entire amount was due in South African Rand and US dollars so I found my credit card without foreign exchange fees and booked it online. Funny what you can book online without getting called by your credit card – when I tried to buy something at Wal-Mart my credit card was flagged for fraud and shut down but spending x amount (over my tolerance) and out of the country online was OK- never can figure out the fraud alerts with credit cards.
The Ultimate Safari Itinerary
The final safari itinerary would be twenty seven days mixing luxury with points and cash.
Johannesburg (overnight at the airport) at the Intercontinental (using points & cash rate)
Botswana
- Okavango Delta – 3days/2 nights (4 safari walks)
- Chobe Safari Park – 3 days/2 nights (2 game drives, 1 boat drive)
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe – 3 days/2 nights
White River (overnight as too late to get to camp) – 1 night
Sabi Sands, Kruger Park – South Africa – 4 days/3 nights (6 game drives) at Inyati
Capetown, South Africa – 7 days/6 nights – Tours of City & Table Mountain, Robben Island, Cape Peninsula, Hermanus and Whale Route and the Winelands
Garden Route tour – 3 days/2 nights
Port Elizabeth – 2 days/1 night
Johannesburg (overnight at the airport) – city tour day of departure, flight at 8pm
Now that the planning is done, the itinerary set – the fun of preparing for the trip is next. Travel shots, medicines, drab color clothes, duffel bag?
The Safari Experience & Planning
To read about the safari expeience in each country as well as the planning do a search by category or drop down the destinations tab for Africa. There are still posts from Africa to share – the safari in Sabi Sands, Capetown and surrounding day tours, the Garden Route and one day in Johannesburg. As always, if you have any bespoke queries, just contact me and I’d be happy to help with questions or to plan your adventure. This trip inspired me in so many ways – to start the blog, to start my travel planning business and to live my life a bit differently. What will an African Safari Itinerary do for you?
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