Botswana - Okavango Delta

Chased by elephants!!!!!!!! Shortly into our first mokoro trip we spotted a couple elephants feeding on some of the bushes on a small island. We shored our canoes, hopped out and climbed up on the island to get a closer look -- about 50 yards from the nearest elephant. I was amazed... how cool! And then JB started rounding us up to quickly jump in the canoe and paddle away from our landing spot... and only a minute later the two elephants came running right through where our canoes were parked and across the water to the other land mass across the waterway! Exhilarating!

"Hungry, Hungry Hippos!" Oh how they sound frightening -- not because of their grunting, but because of where they MAY be -- it is very difficult to get a grasp on where they are in relation to the mokoros (dug out canoes) we were traveling through the tall grass and calm water of the delta. A couple hippos came closer to check us out, as we watched them... that is what you see in the picture above -- the hippo popping his head out of the water to check on us... along with a couple of his friends, who you don't see in this given moment. Hippos are known to trample humans who make the mistake of taking a walk on one of their land trails and coincidentally block their path to the water... I was liking the mokoro!

After a night of pure bush camping -- no fences, no nothing -- just the sound of the surrounding wildlife and the hope that my dear tent mate would join me for any middle-of-the-night restroom runs! One of us would watch for the glow of eyes... and I kind of wonder if we would have really wanted to know if we were actually being approached!

We crossed the delta the following morning to go for a walk on the edge of the big island for about 1 1/2 hours. We managed to see a bunch of kudu, a spot where an elephant slept, and actually have a huge elephant cruise right by us (we did move out of the way, well beforehand, of course!) The biggest event of this journey was quickly learning how to escape lions, water buffalo, and other wildlife should they charge us! Basically, you better be faster than the others and be able to climb a tree like a monkey! There were no guns in hand or any other type of protection -- it was just us... out for a morning walk. ;)