Let's go Buffalo

We were all up early the next morning & chatted for a while in the cold as all the normal people drank their coffees or teas & I drank some cold water. Yes, I'm strange, I know.

Poor Yaz had "quite a large headache" but was absolutely certain it had nothing to do with the 4 Savannahs from the night before ...!

After munching on a muffin, we all went out to catch a glimpse of the herd of buffalo that had been spotted, just across the river earlier that morning.

Let's go chase after the really dangerous animals!

The guides were all very careful however & it's evident they have a lot of respect for these animals.

MD watched which way they were going & then tried to position us on top of a termite mound that would provide a good view once the herd came out of the trees. It worked well & we got to see quite a few of the herd passing by.

We went back to camp, had some breakfast, then MD & I headed off on our big trek.

Up the creek without a canoe

What was supposed to happen was that we'd be in a canoe, paddling around the waterways of the Okavango Delta & camping in a variety of different spots. Because the rains hadn't come yet however, we couldn't do this so we walked where the water would normally be instead & would have to be satisfied with just one campsite.

Having no water meant we'd do a lot more walking than usual (Fitbit work-week challenge accepted!) plus there were no mosquitoes, which almost entirely offsets the disadvantages!

Walking around there, I again tried to imagine so much water filling up such a vast area. I asked MD if he could send me a photo in a few weeks' time when it's full so I can do a before & after comparison. Apparently, when the water is here, all the animals congregate on the islands rather than spreading themselves out all over the place. Next time ...

Home sweet home for the next 4 nights

We walked for a couple of hours & eventually reached our new campsite, that had been setup with a sleeping tent for me, a separate sleeping tent for MD & Lucky (a somewhat concerning name for our cook), a toilet tent (a seat over a hole, but with luxurious toilet paper), plus a shower tent (tip some warm water in the top, then turn the valve). As I discovered the next morning, I even get heated water to wash my face in each day ... you appreciate life's little luxuries even more out here!

I secretly wished Lucky spoke more English as there was easily 5 days' worth of jokes to be had about getting lucky, feeling lucky (punk!) & hoping that our luck didn't run out. Alas, his English was only marginally better than my Botswanan!

I soon realised that I'd just accidentally swapped all the amenities & friendly conversation of the main camp for a private one with no one but MD to talk to & far fewer amenities ... plus I was probably paying more for the privilege! Not quite what I had in mind. "Let's wait until tomorrow then ask if they can organise for me to go back to the main camp," I said to myself.

After settling into the campsite, we had lunch & then everyone had a little siesta & I began reading a Bill Bryson book I'd borrowed from the main campsite, all about when he & another unprepared friend decided to hike the 3,000km Appalachian Trail in the US ... not that he actually hikes the entire trail of course!

Around 4pm, MD & I went out for our afternoon game walk, then came back for dinner, that Lucky had cooked for us. It was a beautiful meal of roast chicken with veggies roasted in coals from the fire that he'd placed in the "oven", a hole in the ground that he'd dug out.

We chatted around the fire, then went to bed early as it had been quite a big day plus we have an early start in the morning.

There isn't too much to do anyway so when it gets dark, you go to sleep & when it gets light, you get up.