Day 11 safari adventure
Today we were up at 6.30 and after checking for any unwelcome visitors I jumped into the outside power shower to wake up and refresh... And refresh I did as it was cold as the water hadn't had any chance to warm up by the sun!!! I put the kettle on as Sarah awoke and we prepared our small pack packs for the adventure in the delta bush. We were to spend the night out in a tent in the wilds!!! We had breakfast at 7 and jumped on the 4x4 open truck to take us 2 hours away from the lodge, after an hour and a half of straight road through Maun and towards the delta we turned left off road, over sandy tracks and dodgy bridges over the water plains we stopped at a rivers edge. We waited about 10 minutes and our Polers arrived, canoe type boats with a person stood polling along the shallow river, much like punting along the canals in Cambridge!!! We got in 2 to a canoe and were 'poled' slowly back up stream for about 30 minutes. So peaceful... Sun beginning to blaze down and the noise of birds, frogs and reeds blowing the wind is all we could hear. We saw water Lillie's and Phil our poler told us about them, then eagle eyes Phil spotted the tiniest frog on a reed and told us about them. When approaching our camp Phil spotted a monkey sat in a tree in the distance... How he saw it I never know and at this time Sarah said she was going to call him superman on account of his super vision!!! We arrived on the camp and Phill sat us around and briefed us about our stay, we were then shown to our tents... This is more like glamping than camping!!! Inside the tent big enough for 8 people were two proper beds with duvets and a table with water and kettle. There was an exit to the back which led to the toilet and shower!!! The toilet was a long drop but had a plastic bin and toilet seat on to give it the height and effect of a real toilet, the shower had a large bucket attached to the top that was filled and warmed by the sun to give the ultimate power shower!! After settling in we lounged around in the hammocks with a beer waiting for Sidney to prepare our lunch. A feast of pasta, tomato and onion sauce, cheese, chicken slices and Greek salad was the order of the day.... Delicious. A nap in the hammock to let it settle, bliss! At 2pm we decided to take one of the canoes out for a paddle on the water and a lovely dip in the refreshing water, until the guide who took us out was diving below the water to check for snakes then I suddenly got put off staying in any longer!! Today has to be one of the hottest we've had!! So when we got back to camp we chilled in the relative cool of the shade of the tent before the 4.30 bush walk. The bush walk entailed us walking single file tip toeing through the bush ensuring we didn't bump into any wild animals!!! The guide pointed out tracks and told us some facts about the wildlife. On returning back to camp we embarked on the camp style shower... Actually was lovely, hot water and refreshing to clean the dust and sweat from us. We then sprayed mosquito spray on us and dressed accordingly (full body armour!!!). We had a lovely dinner cooked by Sidney, one of my top 10 favorites... Bangers, mash, carrots and onion gravy! Sat around the camp fire we sipped red wine, toasted marshmallows and was treated to some traditional songs and dances from the camp residents / guides. Also the stars were immense!!! On returning to the tent we settled down to sleep to the bull frog chorus.