The sky was clear when we woke but mist rolled in from the delta onto our bacon sandwiches. Cool damp drive to Buffalo Gate with our canoe polers and poles in the back with us. Bumped and churned our way through sand and trees to a landing point where our canoes were beached. We saw cooking pots and fires but not any huts. Waving a fond farewell to Kelvin back on the shore. Geoff, Markus, Myrta and I set off onto the misty Okavango Delta
It was damp but beautiful, quiet and relaxing being punted through the water lilies, reeds and grasses, so relaxing I almost fell asleep. The water was so clear it mirrored the pinks, whites and yellow lilies on their long red stalks. Pushing our way along a corridor through tall reeds our heavy canoe bottomed and Myrta and I climbed into the water to push us - Geoff and Markus remained manly sitting – and once clear Myrta took up the poling while our poler pushed us to the rest of the way into deeper water.
Just before turning back the sun broke through and cleared the sky – and we were hot at last.
Being the last of four boats on the way out, the only birdlife we saw was them flying away. But we were in front for the fantastic return trip, skimming through water painted with reflections of lilies, sky and clouds, creating lines and patterns like a Japanese painting.
What a journey: we saw majestic fish eagles, the black and white raptors perched in the trees and squawking at each other; the bizarre Africa jacana in flight, its huge “lily trotter” feet trailing behind as if the undercarriage was faulty; another bird with rich chestnut plumage walking in the water; hundreds of jewel-like little bee-eaters perched on fine stalks of grass, olive green plumage highlighted by their bright yellow faces and chests; hundreds of plovers; ugly, lumpy marabou storks; herons and pink-backed pelicans, African spoonbills, sacred ibis, great white egret. Pied kingfishers hovered above the water in a blur of wings and then dived into the water. We also saw magnificent giant saddle-billed storks, 1.1m high birds with black and white plumage and black legs, red knees and huge cherry red bills, standing in the water and riding the thermals overhead, some so high they were just specks, the sun brightening their spread wings to glistening white or glossy black. The larger birds in the water lifted off as we approached, their wings making the same sound as a boomerang in flight.
Returned to Stanley happy but a bit bum-numb from the canoe. Delicious cheese sandwiches and granny smiths for lunch.
Back at camp we discovered that monkeys had opened Karen and Bob’s tent and stolen their lunch. They then peed on the tent from the trees when we threw stones to chase them away. Wrote all afternoon.
Gary & Linda floored us with the news that they had booked a private plane flight to Joburg tomorrow and were leaving us. We swapped addresses and left them packing to go to the movies: Force 10 from Navarone in the camp amphitheatre, sitting on soggy backed plastic chairs and eating too oily popcorn. It was an old, scratched film, with two changes of reel, and the shoot 'em up was very old fashioned but the goodies won, as they should. What a contrast with Star Wars to see a young Harrison Ford in a battered propeller plane fighting the German planes.
Photo by Colin Watts on Unsplash
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