Graptolite - Safari Day 7 to 8
Graptolite's Sailing Log
Martyn Pickup & Heike Richter
Fri 9 Apr 2010 18:39
Botswana
Wednesday 7th April
We were keen to ge into the heart of the delta but the only possible way
is by air so we chartered a small Cessna in Maun and flew the 60-odd
kilometres north to the airstrip at Pom-Pom Camp to stay overnight in a
very posh tent on the edge of a lagoon. Pom-Pom Camp is in a beautiful
spot. We had a hippo snorting at us from the water while we had tea.
In the evening we went on a safari truck drive through the bush. There
were just the usual suspects at first then the local guides spotted some
impala looking alarmed and we crashed through the trees in the direction
they were looking to find a leopard sat on a branch just next to us. It
was generally considered to be a rare event and even the leopard agreed.
Sundowners and sunset watching were partaken of next to a huge termite
mound.
The night chorus in the delta is unbelievably loud with a continuous
insect drone, a rhythm section of frogs and deeper vocals from any number
of other things. We had hippos pounding through the shallows just outside
the tent at one point.
Thursday 8th April
The morning was spent being punted around the reed swamp in mokoros.
Mokoros are the traditional dugout canoes of the area although they are
dug out from brown fibreglass these days for conservation reasons. After
lunch we were taken back to the airstrip. There was a bit of a cock-up
with the plane scheduling which nearly stranded us there but we were back
in Maun by early afternoon; provisioned and off eastwards across the
Kalahari once again.
M