Hello, I am back, healthy and happy. Too much happened to write it all in one go, so here are the first few days of my trip. I was lucky that the group consisted of only 6 people - not up to 16 as normally. There were 4 Americans and a woman from Kasachstan who lives in London now, all nice people. We started with a long drive on the Trans-Kalahari highway, through Bushmanland to Ghanzi in Botswana. There was not much exciting to see on the way except for a Secretary bird which is a bird of prey that catches snakes. In our camp was a little zoo with lions, wild dog with young ones and ardwolf. I do not really like them behind the fences, but otherwise you do not get to see them. Eland antelope, Kudu and Oryx were also walking around. A group of San people performed traditional dancing and singing for the paying guests of the lodge, but we from the camp heard them and also got a glimpse of the dance. It was as I imagined it, but still amazing to experience it live, to see and hear that it really happens like this. I have a lot of respect for these tough people surviving in this environment. Going on from this, people do live in mud huts, use donkey carts and ox waggons, sometimes made from parts of cars and one of the waggons still had FORD written at the back. Our guide cooked our evening meal on the open fire.
We approached the Okavango Delta, but the vegetation stayed brown and dry until the last few kilometers. The camp workers picked us up with their 4x4 because the road became just a deep sandy way. I did not feel too confident when I saw lots of fresh elephant dung and huge, half a meter footprints from the car. There was a symbolic wire fence around the camp and the gate open. However, we did not see any animals. The camp has a nice wooden terrace by the river, huts overlooking the papyrusgirdle, an open bar and kitchen. The bathrooms are just hides made from wooden planks, with no roof and with a barrier at the entrance to put down when engaged instead of a door. Simple, but sufficient. We went on a boat tour in traditional "one-tree-boats", pushed around by local people using a pole. We were searching for crocodiles and hippos, but only saw kingfishers and frogs. However, the trip was beautiful and I was not sure myself if I wished to meet a hippo with this delicate boat. We stopped on an island to look for elephants, but again only found their traces. I still felt the tension and excitement. On the way back it was very hot and at a place where the waterlilies gave way to see in the clear water to the ground I went swimming. It was so good and refreshing and I had missed it for the last 2 months. We marvelled at the sunset and even more the sunrise over the water next morning.
