Getting to the Delta

The next couple of days were just mainly driving to get to our base to go to the Okavango Delta. On the morning we left to go the Delta we got picked up by a random truck thing and piled on all our gear (we just wore the same clothes for 3 days so not much... but we had to take our own food and most importantly drink) and tents. The drive was funny then we got to the edge of the delta where there were lots of people standing around the mokoros (a dug out canoe) it was crazy. These people turned out to be the polars (the men and women who use big sticks to push the mokoros along) and we all began loading our gear into the mokoros. You arrange your sleeping bag behind you and your roll mat underneath you so it's well comfy, then you just lay back with your drink and enjoy the ride! The delta is really beautiful there's lots and lots of reeds and flowers, unfortunately theres hippos and crocs in certain areas too!

Welcome to Your New Home and here is your Toilet

We were on the mokoro for about 90 minutes then we all jumped out and made camp with the polars in the bushes, one of the polars even dug us our own toilet- a big hole in the ground which after using you throw some dirt down to keep away the flys. It was very civilised as we had a little gate made from a washing line and when the communal loo roll was missing it meant the toilet was in use, very clever eh? It took me ages to use it and when I finally did I got a round of applause! In truck life your business is everyones business. John on the other hand loved the experience and wants one in our garden- when we get one! That day we just sat and drank tea while we played cards and chatted then on the evening we went for a bush walk. Casey, one of the polars took us for a walk, his safety talk was if you get charged by any game just get up a tree and if you cant... well... and didn't give an alternative- lucky for us we are good tree climbers! The walk was nice but very hot and there were lots of flies. Then it was my cooking groups night to make pasta over the fire. During the night you could hear hippos and hyenas.

Early the following day we went for another bush walk with Jimmy, you used the mokoro to get to another point of the Delta. At one point we went past some hippos- I was absolutely terrified as the mokoros aren't overly sturdy ad they have been known to charge the mokoros! This walk was a killer as it was soo hot and we were walking for 3 hours. As one of the boats went back to the camp me and John had to seperate to spread out the weight in the mokoros. John went with Roy and Dave and I went in with Jo, Sam and Mark. Lucky me got stuck in the front in the first boat- did I not freak out when we saw the hippos again. Me and Sam were absolutely terrified Jo was between us trying to console us while Mark, Jimmy, Roy, Dave, Casey and John were just happy to sit and watch them. Eventually we moved on and made it back to camp in one piece! Later that night we were going for a sunset cruise to the same place with the hippos- so Sam and I decided to give that one a miss and stayed at the camp and jewellery shopped and drank pink square. The women polars had been making bracelets so we had fun bracelet shopping! We could hear hippos so we both went and hid in the tent much to the amusement of the women polars. When John and the others arrived back at camp we were pretty relieved we had given the cruise the wide berth as it was more of a hippo watching session, they just sat and watched the same hippos for 30 minutes- even when Jenny asked to move they just laughed... John is one tough cookie!

Oh Hokey Cokey Cokey

That evening was my favourite yet in Africa as all of the polars played games and danced with us. The games were hilarious- John nearly won one. The singing and dancing was so nice to watch and sounded amazing. They wanted us to sing for them, the only song everyone knew all of the words to was Bohemian Rhapsody- it sounded absolutely ridiculous but was really funny. Then we all (truckers and polars) did the hokey cokey which was even funnier, we shouted it dead loud and did all the actions. Everyone (even the polars) was on the floor laughing afterwards- it was an amazing night and just a little bit random!

The next morning we packed up camp and headed back to our campsite via the mokoro. The journey back wasn't as relaxing as we were having mokoro races back. Despite cheering our polar on and using our hands as paddles me and john got ell and truly beaten! When we got to the truck they had free drinks for our journey back- woo hoo!

A Plane Ride and Steak for Tea

Later that day we went into town to do a little shopping then we headed to the airport to go on a 50 minute plane ride! Our plane was a 6 seater, it was tiny and our pilot was lovely, except him and Mark kept teasing saying that we were going to do the loop da loop- I believed them, but then again I asked at the end of the ride what the difference was between a helicopter and a plane and didn't know what I had just been in- I still think that could be a common mistake- apparently not! The plane ride was so much fun, the pilot would fly at tree height in the Delta then go shooting up dead fast and high and then back down! We could see game from the sky- elephants, giraffes and impalas. The others were in a bigger plane and they were flying alongside us for a little while- it was wicked! We waited outside the airport for Dale for a while and me and Jo went to play with these mini donkeys nearby- they were so cute!

That night we all had a good drink as it was Marks and London Jenny's last night. We had a beautiful steak, chips and corn on the cob that John's cooking group prepared. Stupidly John and I didn't get under our mozzy net and were bitten alive! Everyone on the truck had been bitten all over and the next few days most of the truck spent slapping each other shouting not to scratch at our bites whilst passing the communal bite cream around!This was the end of the Botswana saga... off we headed to Namibia!