Moving south into Botswana, the weariness of being on the road for months caught up to us in the form of about 30 hours’ worth of overland travel in our attempts to reach Maun, a jumping off point for visiting the famous Okavango Delta in the north of Botswana. The buses we’d hoped for either weren’t running due to the holiday, didn’t run any longer due to who knows what, or still ran, but left at times that weren’t exactly convenient. The consistent 100+ degree weather didn’t help, either. As we found ourselves on a night bus in almost the exact opposite direction we wanted to end up, we at least found some respite in the cool temperatures brought on by darkness. Hoping to fall asleep on the crammed (but not as crammed as East Africa) bus, I spotted hippos and elephants caught in the headlights around residential neighborhoods, reacting as though they’d been trying to sneak a bite to eat…who were they fooling? The cool breeze we so desperately needed was abruptly cut off by a rogue hand shutting our window. Apparently, Botswanans get cold easily, as we spent the next 20 hours having our windows randomly shut when we weren’t looking.
We arrived to our backpackers in Maun and checked out the surrounds. The water levels were very low, as evidenced by a bridge that no longer went over any water. There was, however, a small pond remaining just down the hill, which happened to contain a hippo and at least 4 giant crocodiles, one of which added some kind of livestock to the party the following day. Making our way out to the delta required a lengthy drive, which doubled as a sort of mini safari. Having seen more or less every major African animal by this point, it’s quite enjoyable to soak in and study them, while newbies search for their cameras in fascination. The mannerisms of the zebra, the speed of springbok, the goofiness of the giraffe. I will never tire of seeing so many different species of wild animals so casually going about their business.
The proper way to experience the Okavango Delta, whether staying in a luxury lodge or catching a tour from a backpackers, is to take a mokoro (dugout canoe) ride through the calm, lily and reed-filled waters. The serenity of the delta, interrupted only by birds and the occasional paddle from the poler, can bring you anywhere you’d like your mind to take you. For a while, as we passed big papyrus bushes, I imagined we’d stumble upon Moses, floating slowly in the shallow waters. Coming around a corner upon some giraffes nibbling at the top of a tree, I imagined we were the first to discover the species, and thought of how I might describe its features to the world. As we made landfall for a little walking safari, we stumbled upon a large herd of buffalo, startled by our scent from afar. We followed after, while they’d turn and trot off. At one point, they all turned and faced our group, a line of at least 30 buffalo all staring directly at us through the dust, from a couple hundred feet away. Concerning.
Back in the mokoro, the peaceful float back erased the toil of the 30-hour journey it took to get to this place in the middle of nowhere, where lilies grow next to buffalo, where baboons cackle at our arrival, where canoes silently saunter through a maze of water and reeds without disturbing the peace, and where the mind provides all the navigation needed.