Okavango Delta

From Chobe to Maun was a longish and not very interesting drive. We camped near Maun - a cold night - before setting off by dugout canoe into the Okavango Delta. Here the Okavango river disperses five and a bit parts and hundreds of narrow channels. Little, if any, of the water flows on from here.

We were poled along in our canoes by local guides, following narrow channels between tall reeds. We set up camp near a small pool, and happily whiled away a couple of days. We went on a short walk on the first evening and a longer one the following morning. There were hippos and elephants, a couple of zebra and some antelope. I spotted a small snake which turned out to be a baby puff adder. It was an idyllic bushcamp, with nothing to do except sit around the fire, swim in the very refreshing water, or take a canoe for a punt. As the sun set a huge full moon rose on the opposite horizon.

I love the bushcamping. The simplicity of life. Using river water to wash and wash up. Having to strain water for tea through a shirt because it's so full of ash and bits of firewood...

Went for an exploratory canoe trip with Nick. Enjoyed punting us along, but enjoyed even more lying back in the canoe while he poled us back. Standing bare-chested in the stern, outlined by a perfect blue sky, he was quite the vision of youthful loveliness. Aah... Even better was his charming company. And don't worry - I'm not lusting after the dear young boy. Everytime it got too hot in the sun, we jumped into the water for a bracing cool-off. Back at camp, an elephant mooched about by our toilet hole.

The second evening, our guides took us for a "sunset cruise", which turned out to be a brief ride to a nice sunset viewing spot. Predictably, and prettily, the sun set. For the first time since arriving in Africa, mosquitoes came out to feed on me - so finally I hope to have got some use from my hundred pounds' worth of psychosis-inducing drugs.

Chobe National Park, Botswana

Went on an excellent morning game drive here as soon as we arrived. The park was full of dead trees, reaching up eerily above the bushy smaller trees and scrub. Botswana has a non-culling policy, so the growing elephant population has done great damage. But as our guide said, "nature will take care of it."

Not surprisingly, we saw lots of elephants. Also kudu and a sable and a baby crocodile. There were marshall eagles and fish eagles and lots of pretty little birds I can't name. The Chobe river is still in flood, so there was plenty of water to add variety to the scenic wonders of the park. It was hard to tell which was the river and what was just flood-plain, but in amongst it all were some distant crocs and hippos.

In the afternoon we returned to the park for a game cruise. Again there was lots to see and oodles of lush scenery to soak up. Most of all there were elephants. Hundreds of them. All along the bank we saw groups coming down to drink from the river. Adults tried to shield babies. Babies suddenly shot off in a wobbly galloping toddle. And gradually the golden tones of sunset gave everything a wonderful warm glow.

A fabulous day. (Yes, another one!) A beautiful park, with so much to see. Only limits of time stop me waxing on...

Back at the campsite, I spent a very pleasant evening with a dashing (well, rather appealing) Afrikaaner called Willie :) Do all these Afrikaaners look as if they're warming up on the touchline and about to spring into action, or is it just the ones I've been meeting?