OKAVANGO DELTA MEKORO EXPEDITION

The Okavango Delta is located in north central Botswana. It is the largest inland delta in all of Africa. The area has an amazing ecosystem featuring a unique flow of sand and water. The Delta is famous for its game-viewing which makes it quiet a popular destination for international travelers coming from all over the world for this fantastic game-viewing.

95% of all travelers coming to see the Delta, start their trip in the town of Maun. There are two styles of travel in the Delta, one, via small planes flying in and out of the lodges and tented camps, the second is via an overland Safari, traveling the area by 4WD vehicle. While both of these ways of seeing the Delta are fine, my team of fellow explorers and I set off to see the Delta a third way traveling in the traditional canoe called a Mekoro. We drove all the way up to the northern end of the Delta where we met our professional team of polers. The Mekoro is very different from a traditional canoe. As a passenger all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the magnificent scenery as the poler takes charge of the boat. We sit and he stands in the back of the boat in a very small area. He has a long pole, which is used for all of the maneuvering the boat requires. It is quite a skill to balance, operate the pole and steer the boat all at the same time.

We loaded the boats with all of our gear and food, our supplies needed to last us the entire 15 days as there was no place for us to re-supply along this remote route.

As we shoved off the shore I started to sense that this could be one of the most exciting, yet relaxing Expeditions of whichI had ever been a part . Most Expeditions require very rugged travel with not much time to relax.

We spent the first few days navigating and traveling on the edge of wide channels and waterways, as the northern region of the Delta is more vast and open than the southern area. Our most serious challenge was to be aware of and to do whatever it took to avoid areas where Hippo’s could be. They are very dangerous and traveling on the water in such a small boat offers almost no protection against the large Hippo. So far so good, we had only seen a few of them from a distance. One of my favorite aspects of this Delta Expedition was the location of our campsite each night. Here is how it worked, at about 5:00pm each day you could see our head guide, Sokora, start to look for an island that seemed safe enough for us to camp on for the night.

You must keep in mind that there are thousands of islands throughout the Delta and a good portion of the larger ones are inhabited by Big Game, so one has to be aware of the position of the camp. So for fifteen nights we stayed on fifteen different islands, what a thrill! One night in particular, we had about 30 Elephant eating and knocking trees down right behind our camp.
As I would enter my Mekoro each morning I felt a level of peacefulness I had not often experienced.

For several hours each day I would stare down into the crystal clear water. I saw many different things starring into the clearest water I had ever seen, lily pads, small fish, and greenery. I had no idea how much enjoyment one could experience by doing nothing!

As we made our way down south, we had to become more aware and watchful as the waterways became much more narrow, the Hippo risk became much higher. Also we were now starting to get into areas that had higher populations of Big Game, such as Lion, Elephant, and maybe we would even see a leopard! Then it happened, our worst nightmare. We had stopped and pulled the boats slightly on the shore of a small island. We set off on foot a short distance to witness two Lions that had recently made a kill. They were busy eating, so we could actually get quite close and they had no problem with us, they were more concerned with filling their large bellies. As we started to move towards the boats and push them back into the water a Hippo that had been grazing in the distance suddenly came charging at one of our boats which at the time had one member of our group in the boat. Luckily, for our fellow traveler, the Hippo changed directions and went off into the water. That was a very close call!

Moving further south, we began to see more and more game. Because of the fact that we were on the water, we could actually get real close to some Antelope and Zebra.

We made it as far as we could navigate the waters and finished our journey just a short distance from the town of Maun. That night we had a bed, a proper shower and a very cold beer. This was our first taste of any sorts of luxury in fifteen nights. Given these facts, I could have stayed out there for another fifteen nights!