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THE OKAVANGO DELTA

life in a different time zone

By Stories She Saw

May 15^th, 2018

Escaping life is rare. There is always some reminder - some impossible to ignore breadcrumb - that has you turning around before you have even departed just to sap a little more energy.

So it was with great joy and surprise that I managed to go 'off grid' for over two weeks recently when I travelled around Southern Africa. I worked until 11.30pm the night before, with a 4.30am departure planned the following day. I charged my iphone, charged my battery packs, prepared to respond to only 'urgent' emails, and scheduled my out-of-office.

18 days later, I arrived back to reality and an untouched inbox, having evaded the constant news cycle and the ping of new emails without even missing them; the lack of internet and wifi across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana preventing any urge to check in.

One of the places that I travelled, without internet, reception, electricity or permanent structures was the Okavango Delta in Botswana.

the delta

The Okavango Delta is an inland swamp, with the January and February rainfall from Angola feeding into the dry northern Kalahari Desert, which transforms into the Delta for 10 months of the year. No water reaches the ocean, but rather it all evaporates or feeds the vegetation and animals.

From the both the ground and the sky the Delta spreads out flat and far, rising only 2m in height at any one place, and during the height of the floods in June - August, it reaches around 15,000km squared.

water

Water is the lifeblood of the Delta. It provides animals with hydration, homes and breeding areas and it provides the locals with an income, food source and drinking water. The water is still and clear, but teeming with life. Travel across the Delta is done by poling, or punting, in mokoros, which are similar to dugout canoes. According to Holy, one of the head polers:

life without poling is nothing.

The lilies and reeds of the flooded Delta

A makoro is similar to a canoe and 'poled' or punted along the still waters of the Delta

land

While in the Delta, we went for morning and evening game walks. Keeping in small groups and wearing khaki clothing, we walked for hours through the long reeds on the not-yet-flooded plains. We were rewarded with being only hundreds of metres away from wild animals, with nothing between us for protection. The 15km walks felt like far-too-short strolls and watching the sun dip behind the horizon in stillness and silence was a moment of peace like no other.

Hiking in the still-dry areas of the Delta in the late evening

Hiking in the still-dry areas of the Delta in the early evening

A male blue wilderbeast marking his scent

A lone male elephant at dawn - nothing between him and us

Wandering off to find more food and maybe a mate

A dazzle (that's the collective noun!) of zebras grazing

A tower of giraffes with a dazzle of zebras

We turned the corner and there was a tower of 12 or so giraffes, grazing with some zebra

Air

I took a too-short light plane flight across the Delta, and the views from the sky were magical; rivers twisting into swamps, elephants and hippos grazing in the shallows, green grass and reeds extending far into the horizon. The aerial perspective showed the true extent of the Delta, with life teeming in all directions. I was too preoccupied with the view to focus on photographing the plentiful animals below.

The Delta winds through the landscape - not yet flooding it all

The paths through the reeds are from animals and makoros

The Delta stretches as far as the eye can see

love

Our time in the Delta was spent with some brilliant and beautiful locals who warmly shared their homes, food, knowledge and smiles. From the Bayeyi and Basarwa tribes, the 12 polers steered us along the Delta in their makoras, showing us the area and teaching us their language. The nights came alive with stories and songs around the campfire. Although the wildlife and endless plains of the Okavango Delta are exceptional, it is the people whom left an indelible mark on me, and it is the people whom I long to return to.

Holy - one of the head polers and all round good guy

Derick from the campground and head company in Maun helping out with the food preparation

Rejuvenate - she made me beautiful bracelets out of reeds

Leko Leko - never smoked and never drank (ha!)

Lebza - Holy and Rejuvenate's mum and the BEST singer and dancer. This photo was taken by Spicy.

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