Sanctuary for the Senses – Botswana

Why settle for a five-star hotel…

…when you can sleep under a thousand-star sky?

Loesje

Pair of baobabs at sunset – Okavango Delta

Seldom mentioned as a place of tourism, Botswana is the ‘safari purist’s paradise’.  Government guidelines of ‘high quality – low impact’ or ‘low volume – high value’, allow for a wonderful and authentic wild experience to anyone visiting.  They are one of the staunchest supporters of environmental policies in the world.   

Forty percent of the country is dedicated to parks.  Many safari lodges use solar, recycling, electric boats or vehicles, and must dispose of gray water and trash in a sound ecological way.  Many lodges must be built in a way that would leave NO trace should they need to be taken down, the fluid Delta changing so often.   

Botswana has never been colonized because it was known as mostly impenetrable with the dangerous Kalahari Desert (70% of country) on one side and the hard to navigate Okavango Delta on the other.  It was also ignored because it is landlocked and thought not to contain any valuable resources.  Not until 1967 did the Kalahari finally reveal its immense cache of diamonds to prospectors who had been looking for years.  Diamond mining is not forever however and emphasis on good tourism is important to the future of the country.

Elephants everywhere and from all ages

Saw a baby desperately trying to go over a log to keep up with everyone

Mom had to help it with her trunk – heartwarming to see

We begin in Chobe National Park where we meet the largest group of elephants in the world.  Estimates go from 60,000 to 135,000 (difference in numbers accounts for seasonal migrations).  Somewhat a place of refuge for the elephants who up until now hadn’t been heavily poached here.  Unfortunately, that is changing with nearly 100 elephants killed in September 2018. 

One of the reasons proposed for the lack of poaching is the inferior quality of the ivory.  Lacking calcium in the local diet, Chobe elephants produce ivory that is very brittle and breakable.  I was not able to confirm this in any of the research I pursued but am able to say many of the elephants we saw had missing, cracked, chipped, broken, or short tusks.  

Rub-fest between two younger elephants

The other reason is that it is illegal to do commercial hunting in this country and elephants seem to know where safe places are.  They will travel rapidly during the night when they know they are in dangerous territory, while they move more slowly in the daytime when they know they are in safe territory.  They can even detect differences in languages, some dialects used by poachers alert them to move swiftly out of the way.

Unfortunately, Chobe’s elephant numbers are getting too high to be supported by the plants that grow there.  These large hungry creatures are decimating the park, leaving much less for other species as well.  Elephants know where they are safe and congregate here in larger and larger numbers.  It is unsustainable.

Waterbuck, pretty but smelly – their meat least favored by most carnivores

Indeed, we see elephants everywhere but wonder how long this can last.  No matter where we visit a sense of equilibrium is missing.  Too many animals, not enough plants.  Too many animals, not enough water.  Not enough animals, too many insects.  Not enough carnivores, a lot of old and sickly animals… 

Out of the water with two little ones

But quickly back into the water on this hot sunny day

Chacma baboon learning to drink water?  Mom watching…

Our driver/guide tells us the Chobe River runs in both directions, but research shows that this is not the case.  It just appears to do so.  The water merely backs up for a considerable distance when high, giving the impression of a change in current.  Don’t be fooled by good sounding stories, there are many of them out there.

Although I could watch these magnificent animals for days, we are moving to the Okavango Delta, my first adventure on the waters of an inland delta, the largest in the world, an experience with a much different pace and feel than the safaris we have been on so far.  The Delta became the 1,000^th UNESCO World Heritage site in 2014.  I feel extremely lucky to see so many of these amazing world gems yet had not realized there were so many (1,092 as of this writing).

Can you spot the small mokoro in the intricate web of channels and plants?

Beautiful patchwork of vegetation and water

There is less than six and a half feet (2m) of elevation difference across the whole 2,500 – 5,500 square mile Okavango Delta.  It is made up of 150,000 islands formed when vegetation takes root on termite mounds over time.  The lack of tall hills allows for a 360° panoramic view of this lush garden from just about anywhere.  Called a ‘pulsing wetland’ because its alluvial fan overflows annually and contains areas that are either permanently, seasonally, or occasionally flooded.  Its watercourses change from year to year, also helped by hippos creating new conduits as they dig for food, or elephants opening trails that turn into new channels. 

The water comes from mountains in Angola and takes nine months to make it here.  It is a striking oasis in a severely dry region of Africa, its waters disappearing deep into the Kalahari sands, never to reach any ocean.  Delayed by that exceptionally long journey, the waters of the delta are highest during the dry season.  Important to know when planning a visit.

A few mokoro dugouts waiting for the next journey

No longer made of wood as it would deforest the area of large trees

Made of fiberglass and approximately same shape as when made of wood

We are led to one of the larger islands from the small mainland village of Maun (200-300 people) via mokoro dugouts pushed by poles (ngashi).  In shallow waters lined with reeds, papyrus and grasses, it is an efficient and super-quiet way of traveling.  It lets us fully experience the sounds and sights of nature.  We are so quiet; the risk of scaring animals is minimized.  

Water lilies near, reeds in the distance

Not even a splash is heard when pole is placed in the water

Wall of grasses, narrow channel

Poler pushing the mokoro with 10-12-foot flexible pole

In the taller grasses, all you see in the distance are a line of poles moving rhythmically

Imagine silently gliding through deep burgundy-brown water that perfectly mirrors the water lilies and blue skies above while you brush past walls of reeds dotted with miniature frogs, dragonflies, butterflies and birds.  The water lilies gently parting ways when the mokoro floats through them and quickly reuniting once passed, leaving no trace of our passage.  The slight smells of warming grasses and salty air refreshing our senses.

Our agile barefoot mokoro pilots give us complete peace of mind – all you have to do is enjoy, take pictures, let a hand lazily glide in the water, or contemplate.  There is no shade, the morning heat putting many to sleep. No more sound of lory motor, no more loud music, no more high wind in your hair.  Harmony with nature.

We pass over a few fishing nets, careful not to disturb them.  A woman poler coming the other way offers fish for sale.  The locals buy some for tonight’s dinner.  

Reed frog merely a foot above water but at eye level when traveling by mokoro

We are going against the current and it takes nearly two hours to get to the island where we will spend two nights, giving us time to appreciate going back in time.  No electricity, no running water, following animals by foot – there are no vehicles on the islands.  Only the sound of crickets and frogs under the stars.  

Easy to spot the milky way from here

On the ground, near the water, hundreds of fireflies shining

Tiny lights above, tiny lights below – magical

We are told not to venture without a local away from camp.  Too much unpredictable wildlife may be encountered.  We can go to the water to swim or stay near our tents. 

Walking for hours tracking the animals shows us just how easy we’ve had it up to this point.  Driving to the animals is too easy.  It doesn’t make you appreciate the distances and work needed to find the wildlife.  It also doesn’t make you appreciate the true size of these animals.

The elder of the village, our guide with the turtle I pointed out

We were told not to wear bright colors as not to scare away the animals?

Our first encounter is with a larger leopard turtle which I spot from a distance.  We examine it then veer off to hike to a pond where our guide thinks we’ll find hippos.  We trek in knee-deep boggy water (one of my worse fear but I carry on) for quite a while until we catch sight of massive hippos.  Quiet, we watch but suddenly I can feel the ground shaking below my feet as one of the hippos seem to want to protect its territory.  It’s amazing to feel this from such a long distance.  Our guide asks us to slowly back away but not run.  We do as suggested, and the hippo continues to approach.   It is hard not to run when you see a massive animal gain ground.  The hippo reaches the edge of the pond and stops.  

They look much bigger when you are on foot!

Don’t forget they are the number one killer of people in Africa!

Killing more than lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes, and rhinos combined

After that close encounter, we hike a little bit higher to see giraffes, buffaloes, elephants, zebras, wildebeests, crocodiles, porcupine tracks, hyenas, each where our guide said we would find them at that time of day.  

Rasaimon, our poler, has been poling since 1971.

Pole helps push the mokoro forward and is also used as rudder, steering

Strong as an ox he speaks little English so conversation is simple

That evening, we go for another mokoro ride to enjoy the sunset.  A storm is brewing but we are back in the safety of camp before it does.  We huddle around the fire as the winds build up.  A large tree branch falls near, and people are reminded that mother nature is unpredictable. 

When I ask our poler where he lives he replies in days of traveling by mokoro instead of distance.  As he points to the north, he says he lives five mokoro days from here.  He laughs when I asked if he ever fell in the water while poling.  ‘Many times’ he said.  He is very jovial, his high cheek bones making him appear like he is always smiling.  Being the elder of the village, he has known each of the poler who accompany our group since they were very little.

Unknown but beautiful flower sprouting directly out of the ground

It is interesting to see two cultures mingling for a couple of days.  What they cook and eat vs. what we cook and eat.  What they sing and play vs. what we do for entertainment aka mostly on our computers or reading.  They observe us, we observe them.  We share our leftovers and they seem very pleased.  At the end of the evening, we teach each other different card games, they sing for us and a few of the men play ball games. 

The next day, we go on another hike with a younger guide and see many animals on the way out, places our guide is familiar with.  On the way back however, we cannot go the way he had planned because of high water and from that point on, we don’t see animals.  It shows just how much tribal knowledge makes it look easy to find wildlife, intrinsically knowing the animals’ habits. 

We still enjoy that trek and two days of walking instead of being driven around makes for particularly good sound sleep.  Before we head to bed, one woman in our group is bitten by a scorpion, again, bringing our awareness back to what nature is all about.  She is fine but will feel pain and numbness for nearly two weeks. 

On our way back, we go with the current and many of the polers sit down rather than stand up since it is much easier to guide the mokoro along the channel.  We stop on another island long enough to take a group picture.  Someone in the group rudely asks the elder when he’ll get out of the way, so she can take a picture of the landscape without him.  It leaves a bad taste in my mouth that these amazing people are treated that way.  I don’t want to be associated with this type of behavior.  We talk about it with our poler who happens to be the elder in question and he laughs it off saying we (foreigners) talk too much, are loud, and eat too much.  I agree with his statement and we continue slowly back to the mainland.  

Termite mound, the seed that starts so many of these islands

As we leisurely glide back, the mokoro poler in front of us lose his pole and we retrieve it for him.  It got stuck so deep in the mud that he was unable to pull it back out in time and simply lost it.  Somehow, he managed to keep his balance and not fall in the water, a feat in itself. 

Though we have the current in our favor, the winds are picking up as the day is warming up and our poler must work a bit harder the closer we get to land.  We are the last mokoro to arrive, not in a rush to get back to society. 

Studies show that the Okavango Delta may not be here for much longer.  In Angola, its water source, higher population density, commerce, climate change, and water diversion all contribute to ever diminishing waters making it to the delta. 

Have I floated on waters that will soon be gone?  I hope not for the animals, the locals, the land.  I hope not for the world.  It would be sad to see this Sanctuary for the Sense disappear.  I am privileged.

After the storm…