Thursday, December 27, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Okavango Delta
A place like no other I've seen on earth. Its tranquillity, beauty, and abundance of flora and fauna can surely be matched by few other places. We had packed all of our provisions for 3 days into our two backpacks and headed into the delta on a motor boat. We traveled for about two hours with motor until the channels became too narrow. At this point we met our guide Benny who was going to show us the many wonders of the Delta over the next few days from a wooden dugout mekoro (canoe like boat). Benny was our poler which means he stood in the back of the mekoro with a ten foot pole to propel us forward at a relaxing pace.
As we traveled deeper and deeper into the Okavango Delta the only sounds were the mekoro slicing through the water and the tropical birds swooping overhead. After three hours, with the sun hot and high overhead, we glided through the reeds onto shore to set up camp for the night. We had a bight to eat, through up the hammock, and swung in the wind waiting for the intensity of the sun to abate. For the previous 6 weeks Caroline and I had done very little sitting. We were always on the move trying to balance seeing as much as we could while still being able to soak it in. The forced relaxation of the Delta was a nice change.
With 2 hours of sunlight remaining we headed out on foot for a walking safari to find animals and watch the sun set from the bush over the Delta. Benny seemed to know everything about the Delta. Every bush , tree, bird, animal, and noise we saw or heard he told us all about it origin and uses. We saw elephants, zebras, giraffes, and many other animals. More than once I was nervous by our proximity to these wild animals. Benny would spot packs of animals from a distance and we would thne stalk them using trees and bushes to mask our advance. When we would emerge from our cover to have a closer look the animals would be quit anxious. They would sometimes run to safety of the thick bush. Other times however they would advance towards us making warning noises. During one of these such times I looked around and realized that we were utterly defenseless. There was no place we could run, no place we could hide, and there sure was not anything with which we could fight off a heard of wild animals with. This provided just a glimpse into the life that people have been living on this continent for thousands of years. I could not help to make the comparison to how millions of people In Africa and throughout the world must feel living in a war zone (obviously the feelings of living in a war zone are drastically more intense). The whole incident with the animals provided a wonderful glimpse into the behavior of the animals.
On the morning of the third day we awoke early and watched the sun rise over the delta. We headed out on our last walking safari and we saw similiar things to the previous times with one exception. We came across a long track about 8 inches wide in the sand. It was the track of a 12-14 foot boa constrictor which had just passed by minutes before. We followed the track for a few minutes until we found the hole the snake had slithered in to. It was a peculiar feeling standing above the hole knowing that a few inches bellow my feet there was a massive snake which could feel the vibrations of our footsteps.
The snake never emerged which was just fine with me. My only other run in with a boa was a few years before. I was living in the jungles of Central America and I found a 6 foot boa behind my fridge. That run in was enough to last me a lifetime.
We had planned on spending the rest of the day swimming in the delta and relaxing at camp before we headed back to civilization. Instead of this however we asked Benny if we could leave early so he could show us his village. Benny lived just inside the Delta in a village of 500 people. the Village was there to provide polers for people desirering to go into the delta. We wanted to see how Benny lived and to meet some of the poeple with whom he lived. Benny was pleased we watned to see where he lived and around mid day we packed up camp, loaded the mekoro, and slowly made our way down the delta.
As we traveled deeper and deeper into the Okavango Delta the only sounds were the mekoro slicing through the water and the tropical birds swooping overhead. After three hours, with the sun hot and high overhead, we glided through the reeds onto shore to set up camp for the night. We had a bight to eat, through up the hammock, and swung in the wind waiting for the intensity of the sun to abate. For the previous 6 weeks Caroline and I had done very little sitting. We were always on the move trying to balance seeing as much as we could while still being able to soak it in. The forced relaxation of the Delta was a nice change.
With 2 hours of sunlight remaining we headed out on foot for a walking safari to find animals and watch the sun set from the bush over the Delta. Benny seemed to know everything about the Delta. Every bush , tree, bird, animal, and noise we saw or heard he told us all about it origin and uses. We saw elephants, zebras, giraffes, and many other animals. More than once I was nervous by our proximity to these wild animals. Benny would spot packs of animals from a distance and we would thne stalk them using trees and bushes to mask our advance. When we would emerge from our cover to have a closer look the animals would be quit anxious. They would sometimes run to safety of the thick bush. Other times however they would advance towards us making warning noises. During one of these such times I looked around and realized that we were utterly defenseless. There was no place we could run, no place we could hide, and there sure was not anything with which we could fight off a heard of wild animals with. This provided just a glimpse into the life that people have been living on this continent for thousands of years. I could not help to make the comparison to how millions of people In Africa and throughout the world must feel living in a war zone (obviously the feelings of living in a war zone are drastically more intense). The whole incident with the animals provided a wonderful glimpse into the behavior of the animals.
On the morning of the third day we awoke early and watched the sun rise over the delta. We headed out on our last walking safari and we saw similiar things to the previous times with one exception. We came across a long track about 8 inches wide in the sand. It was the track of a 12-14 foot boa constrictor which had just passed by minutes before. We followed the track for a few minutes until we found the hole the snake had slithered in to. It was a peculiar feeling standing above the hole knowing that a few inches bellow my feet there was a massive snake which could feel the vibrations of our footsteps.
The snake never emerged which was just fine with me. My only other run in with a boa was a few years before. I was living in the jungles of Central America and I found a 6 foot boa behind my fridge. That run in was enough to last me a lifetime.
We had planned on spending the rest of the day swimming in the delta and relaxing at camp before we headed back to civilization. Instead of this however we asked Benny if we could leave early so he could show us his village. Benny lived just inside the Delta in a village of 500 people. the Village was there to provide polers for people desirering to go into the delta. We wanted to see how Benny lived and to meet some of the poeple with whom he lived. Benny was pleased we watned to see where he lived and around mid day we packed up camp, loaded the mekoro, and slowly made our way down the delta.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Etosha day 3 and Botswana
The last two days (day 3 and 4) we continued to see amazing things. I would love to write about them all now but I leave for the morning on a makuro (small wooden boat) to go deep into the Okavango delta in Northern Botswana for 3 days. I still need to finish the food shoping and prepare our camping equipment. One of the highlights I can't keep out though was our last nigh. We set up camp about 8pm after the sun had already set. I started to make a fire but for the first time on this trip had trouble. It was not due to me neccesarily but an outside force. While I was starting the fire I kept having to throw the logs at jackals that were trying to come and steel our food. At night time we were awoken by lions roaring from what seemed like 50 feet away. IN the morning time we saw many wart hogs running around eating the grass close to our tent. it was very cool to be so close to all the animals but I was a little annoyed with the jackals.
The drive from Etosha to Maun in Botswana took two days to complete and our scenery has changed drasticaly. The first day we got to within 14 kilometers of the border. We stayed at a small place 4 kilometers down a dirt road right on the rver. We fell asleep to the sound of hippos splashing in the river below us. We awoke in the morning and headed south to the Okavango Delta. The largest inland delta in all of Africa. It is just north of the Kalahari desert in Norther Botswana. When we first entered the country we saw something that could have been taken directly from the movie "birds" by Alfred Hitchcock. For the first 20 miles we drove there were thousands upon thousands of eagels soaring in the sky. They went on for as far as the eye could see. There could have been over a quarter of a million of these birds. Most of them were flying low and many times I got scared they were going to fly into our car. It was bizarre to say the least. We got a good video of it and when I get back to the US I will upload it.
That is it for now. As I mentioned I am heading deep into the delta in the morning. I am sure I will have plenty of stories once I reamerge. Until then...
The drive from Etosha to Maun in Botswana took two days to complete and our scenery has changed drasticaly. The first day we got to within 14 kilometers of the border. We stayed at a small place 4 kilometers down a dirt road right on the rver. We fell asleep to the sound of hippos splashing in the river below us. We awoke in the morning and headed south to the Okavango Delta. The largest inland delta in all of Africa. It is just north of the Kalahari desert in Norther Botswana. When we first entered the country we saw something that could have been taken directly from the movie "birds" by Alfred Hitchcock. For the first 20 miles we drove there were thousands upon thousands of eagels soaring in the sky. They went on for as far as the eye could see. There could have been over a quarter of a million of these birds. Most of them were flying low and many times I got scared they were going to fly into our car. It was bizarre to say the least. We got a good video of it and when I get back to the US I will upload it.
That is it for now. As I mentioned I am heading deep into the delta in the morning. I am sure I will have plenty of stories once I reamerge. Until then...
Etosh day 2
We woke up at sunrise to head to a watering hole named Salvadora. We had heard there had been a lot of lion sightings there early in the morning. The lions often go to the water holes in thmorning to drink after their hunt in the night. We stayed there fo two hours and saw lots of zebras but no lions.
We decided to move on and went to a water hole named rietfontein. Here we saw 80 impala or so and we saw 7 giraffes. We stayed here for about 45 minues and watched a very interesting interaction among two giraffe. They were evidently two mals showing each other who was more masculine. They were leaning against each other very hard and taking turns swinging their necks and wacking the other one. We were about 50 feet away and we could hear the sound when they would hit. It was truly amazing. We got tired of watching however after 45 minutes and drove around in search of anything else we could find. Everywhere you go there are animals of different sizes and shapes. If I were to talk about everything I would be writing for days.
We went back to our camp in mid afternoon, relaxed, read, and got ready for the sunset animal viewing. The sun sets around 7 so at 5 we headed back to Salvadora in hopes of seeing some lions up close and in the light. When we arrived there were about 40 springbuck and over 200 zebras. Some so close I oculd reach out and touch them. It is amazing how they just pay no attention to you. All of the animals were much more sketish than usual. It was very clear they were quite nervous. After about 45 mintues of watching them all the Zebras ran about 20 feet away and were watching the woodline infront of them. At this point we knew a predator was comingbut neither of us wanted to say anything. I think I held my breath in anticipation for 5 minutes. All of a sudden about 25 feet from us a full grown male lion came sauntering from behind a small hill full of confidence. It was the most amazing thing I have seen in my life. He was absolutely gorgeous. He strutted up to the water hole with not a care in the world. As he did so all the other animals ran for cover. The lion bent down ten feet from us and started to drink, I could almost count the whiskers on his face. With out a doubt he was the most beautiful animal I have ever seen.
He drank for a while and then headed to the other side of the watering hole to rest up for the night. No other animals came within sight of us for the next hour that we stayed there. We shared an amazing African sky sunset with the king of the jungle.
We decided to move on and went to a water hole named rietfontein. Here we saw 80 impala or so and we saw 7 giraffes. We stayed here for about 45 minues and watched a very interesting interaction among two giraffe. They were evidently two mals showing each other who was more masculine. They were leaning against each other very hard and taking turns swinging their necks and wacking the other one. We were about 50 feet away and we could hear the sound when they would hit. It was truly amazing. We got tired of watching however after 45 minutes and drove around in search of anything else we could find. Everywhere you go there are animals of different sizes and shapes. If I were to talk about everything I would be writing for days.
We went back to our camp in mid afternoon, relaxed, read, and got ready for the sunset animal viewing. The sun sets around 7 so at 5 we headed back to Salvadora in hopes of seeing some lions up close and in the light. When we arrived there were about 40 springbuck and over 200 zebras. Some so close I oculd reach out and touch them. It is amazing how they just pay no attention to you. All of the animals were much more sketish than usual. It was very clear they were quite nervous. After about 45 mintues of watching them all the Zebras ran about 20 feet away and were watching the woodline infront of them. At this point we knew a predator was comingbut neither of us wanted to say anything. I think I held my breath in anticipation for 5 minutes. All of a sudden about 25 feet from us a full grown male lion came sauntering from behind a small hill full of confidence. It was the most amazing thing I have seen in my life. He was absolutely gorgeous. He strutted up to the water hole with not a care in the world. As he did so all the other animals ran for cover. The lion bent down ten feet from us and started to drink, I could almost count the whiskers on his face. With out a doubt he was the most beautiful animal I have ever seen.
He drank for a while and then headed to the other side of the watering hole to rest up for the night. No other animals came within sight of us for the next hour that we stayed there. We shared an amazing African sky sunset with the king of the jungle.
Etosha national park
My entire life my number one dream for a place to see has been an African Safari. Since we have been in Africa we have gone on a few safaris but this most recent one has topped them all. It was everything I have ever hoped and dreamed of. I will attempt to put it into words in this entry but I know I will not be able to encompass the true amazement, beauty, and magnifecence of Etosha National park. Nevertheless I will attempt.
Etosha Natioanal Park is in Northern Namibia. It is 22,000 kilometers square (cut down from its original size of 88,000). The park is in the desert and the temperatures during the late afternoon reach of 115 degrees farenheit. Unlike Kruger national park in South Africa which has rivers running through it Etosha is very dry. There are watering holes through out the park where the animals congegate. In the following few paragraphs I will talk about my experiences at the different wateringholes. December is the very end of the dry season which means there are fewer waterholes. This results in the animals being more concentrated around teh few waterholes that are left. There are three camps within Etosha where people can camp and they are all 75 kilometers from eachother. Each camp is set up at a watering hole that is lit by a floodlight at night. All the roads are dirt roads which you cannot drive more than 30 MPH on due to their conditions.
On the night of the 27th we slept just outside of the park. We had a BBQ, or as they call it a brie in south African. After we ate and the fire died down we looked up and the sky seemed to glow from all of the stars. We we amazed at the absolute beauty of it. I had heard Namibia had amazing stars but nothing could have prepared me for what we saw. A few shooting stars flew through the sky for what seemed like minutes at a time. We eventually tore ourselves from star gazing because we ha d abig day ahead of us. We were going into Etosha, one of the best places in all of Africa to see what I have always dreamt of, LIONS!!!
We awoke at sunrise, packed the tent, and headed into the park. Within minutes of being in the park we saw thousands of animals migrating to and from someplace in the distance. We assumed it was a watering hole and so we drove as close as we could. This watering hole was at the first camp and so we coul dget out of the car and get within 25 feet of it. There was one elephant, hundreds of zebra, springbuck, oryx and a myriad of other buck. New animals were in a constant line coming and going to drink their full.
We stayed here for an hour or so and then headed out to explore the park. We soon learned that from about 12-5 in the afternoon there is not much to see. It is just too hot for the animals to move around. We took this opportunity in the height of the heat to go to the camp to read and relax (I just finished Nelson Mandela's autobigraphy... probably the best book I have ever read).
That night we went to the watering hole at our camp around 9:30 and it was like a play. In the first act we saw 3 elephants drinking and spraying themselves with water. the elephant left and shortly thereafter a rhino came to drink. After about 15 minutes the Rhino left. The watering hole was abandoned for 30 minutes or so and then we saw movement. I instantly recognized the animal as the animal I have dreamt about seeing for so long. Six female lions stroled confidently out of the shadows to have a drink. We were so close that we could hear their tongues lapping up the water. After they drank their full they lied down to rest up before the night time hunt. The lighting was not great but nonetheless it was amazing to see the lions.
As a young boy I used to think I was a lion in my previous life. I slept with a picture of a lion over my bed and we used to exchange roars. Byt the age of 6 I had perfected my lions roar and in my mind it was as life like as it could be.
The next day we awoke at sunrise to head out and see as much as we could. we spent a total of 4 days in the park and each day seemed to get better than the previous.
I will hopefully be able to write about the next three days later today but I need to get going for the time being. I am in Botswana which borders Namibia but seems like a different world.
Etosha Natioanal Park is in Northern Namibia. It is 22,000 kilometers square (cut down from its original size of 88,000). The park is in the desert and the temperatures during the late afternoon reach of 115 degrees farenheit. Unlike Kruger national park in South Africa which has rivers running through it Etosha is very dry. There are watering holes through out the park where the animals congegate. In the following few paragraphs I will talk about my experiences at the different wateringholes. December is the very end of the dry season which means there are fewer waterholes. This results in the animals being more concentrated around teh few waterholes that are left. There are three camps within Etosha where people can camp and they are all 75 kilometers from eachother. Each camp is set up at a watering hole that is lit by a floodlight at night. All the roads are dirt roads which you cannot drive more than 30 MPH on due to their conditions.
On the night of the 27th we slept just outside of the park. We had a BBQ, or as they call it a brie in south African. After we ate and the fire died down we looked up and the sky seemed to glow from all of the stars. We we amazed at the absolute beauty of it. I had heard Namibia had amazing stars but nothing could have prepared me for what we saw. A few shooting stars flew through the sky for what seemed like minutes at a time. We eventually tore ourselves from star gazing because we ha d abig day ahead of us. We were going into Etosha, one of the best places in all of Africa to see what I have always dreamt of, LIONS!!!
We awoke at sunrise, packed the tent, and headed into the park. Within minutes of being in the park we saw thousands of animals migrating to and from someplace in the distance. We assumed it was a watering hole and so we drove as close as we could. This watering hole was at the first camp and so we coul dget out of the car and get within 25 feet of it. There was one elephant, hundreds of zebra, springbuck, oryx and a myriad of other buck. New animals were in a constant line coming and going to drink their full.
We stayed here for an hour or so and then headed out to explore the park. We soon learned that from about 12-5 in the afternoon there is not much to see. It is just too hot for the animals to move around. We took this opportunity in the height of the heat to go to the camp to read and relax (I just finished Nelson Mandela's autobigraphy... probably the best book I have ever read).
That night we went to the watering hole at our camp around 9:30 and it was like a play. In the first act we saw 3 elephants drinking and spraying themselves with water. the elephant left and shortly thereafter a rhino came to drink. After about 15 minutes the Rhino left. The watering hole was abandoned for 30 minutes or so and then we saw movement. I instantly recognized the animal as the animal I have dreamt about seeing for so long. Six female lions stroled confidently out of the shadows to have a drink. We were so close that we could hear their tongues lapping up the water. After they drank their full they lied down to rest up before the night time hunt. The lighting was not great but nonetheless it was amazing to see the lions.
As a young boy I used to think I was a lion in my previous life. I slept with a picture of a lion over my bed and we used to exchange roars. Byt the age of 6 I had perfected my lions roar and in my mind it was as life like as it could be.
The next day we awoke at sunrise to head out and see as much as we could. we spent a total of 4 days in the park and each day seemed to get better than the previous.
I will hopefully be able to write about the next three days later today but I need to get going for the time being. I am in Botswana which borders Namibia but seems like a different world.
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