Early in the morning, two Saturdays back, we were met by a large bus in front of Shoprite that took us to the airport in Cape Town, the starting point of our spring break trip. Despite my lack of sleep, I was filled with excitement as we were finally getting the show on the road with this much-anticipated trip. Of course the first day or two were not filled with the exhilaration that we had al been waiting for. This was due to the fact that we had to endure what seemed like endless hours in our overland bus in order to actually reach the first set of destinations. When we finally arrived at Camp Itumela in Palapye, Botswana, it was pitch black outside, the only light coming in the form of our head torches. Thank god we bought those. Now it was simple, we just had to pitch our tents, eat dinner, and make sure that we were prepared to jet off in the early morning. Simple? I don’t think so. It soon became a game of “how many American girls does it take to pitch a tent in the dark?” as we struggled to figure out which poles went where and how it would all come together.
Once all was figured out, we were able to sit back and relax at the campsite restaurant and bar. This night was an experience that up until right now I had actually forgotten about. As we went to get dinner at the campsite buffet, we followed the distant lights and the rumbling of American classic rock songs. Much to our surprise we were greeted by a huge group of bikers who were dressed in black leather and wearing bandanas! The rest of our night consisted of us watching them all drunkenly dance with each other while one man sang your typical biker songs as he chugged a beer and smoked a cigarette. On several occasions they would bring a motorcycle into the middle of the bar and rev the engine over and over again as they cheered with joy. So much for escaping American culture by going into the depths of Africa, huh?
On the following day, we traveled through Botswana to the Okavango Delta. The Okavango is the largest inland delta in the entire world, and is home to many wild animals and beautiful scenery. Once we reached the edge of the delta we were dropped off by our buses and left to pack all of our belongings and campsite materials into these small, canoe-like boats called makoros. We then entered the makoros, two by two, and were led to our campsite deep within the delta by about a dozen locals. This ride, alone, was quite an experience. As the polers (that’s what the “drivers” of the makoros are called because of the way they stick a large pole into the water to push the boat forward) calmly propelled us through the water, we were about to sit back, relax, and enjoy all that surrounded us. We passed through large lagoons filled with beautiful lilies and lily pads. We enjoyed the sight of all sorts of different birds, most especially the open-billed stork. But the thing that I found most incredible about the delta, making it one of my favourite things from the entire trip, was its peacefulness. We rode through miles of silence, the only slight noise coming from the splashes of the storks dipping into the water or the sound of insects buzzing through the air. It was unbelievable to me that such an area could still exist, what with all of the demolishing of nature through construction and building that I have seen in the States.
Once we got to our campsite and set up our tents, we were given a brief overview of what we would be doing for the next couple days in the delta and how we were to respect our environment. When I say brief, I really mean it because there was not much to what we would be doing for the next 72+ hours. There were no amenities, no electricity, and whatever fun was to be had would be a result of our own imaginations. After a short tour of our “bathroom,” which consisted of a hole in the ground accompanied by a roll of toilet paper and a shovel, I quickly realized what I was getting myself into.
For the next two days we went of several nature walks, getting to see the beautifully natural sights of the delta. We saw many zebras (which the locals called “donkeys in pajamas”), several types of birds, and the droppings of just about every animal you could think of. It’s funny because we knew about the animals that lived in the delta (lions, zebras, elephants, buffalo, hippos, etc.), but in our time there we only got to see a few. While we were disappointed by the fact that we knew they were around, based on our knowledge of their poop (never thought I would know so much about #2), this fact made our experience all the more authentic. Unlike game reserves that we had visited in the past, we were not given any guarantees and animals would come and go, whether we saw them or not. Despite our inability to spot anything too dangerous, it was still thrilling and a bit exhilarating knowing that even when we slept, anything could be lurking in the bushes.
At night, we had the pleasure of watching the beautiful sunsets from the water in our makoros, and then got to gaze at the incredible display of stars plastered across the sky from our campsite. Because the air is so clear and so open, we were able to spot many different constellations and even got to see about 6 shooting stars! On our final night in the delta, after dinner, we had a cultural night where the locals put on a song and dance and then we returned the favour. After their wonderful performance that really served as an eye-opener to a completely different type of movement, it was quite embarrassing to put on our rendition of famous American pop and classic rock songs. I think it goes without saying that my talents do not lie in the music and arts department, but nonetheless I helped lead the group through a couple of different songs and dances. I mean, I’m in Africa so if I can’t make a fool out of myself here, when can I? After a long couple of days, we were finally returned by our polers (who we managed to become quite close to) to reality. We then mounted back onto the bus and moved forward to our next destination.
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