To the Delta!

Perhaps my fascination with the Okavango Delta stems from all the PBS nature specials I watched as a child.  After visiting it, and seeing it “live”, I can now see what all the fuss is about!  Although the one drawback is that its a hard place to visit on a budget.

Our staging point was an overpriced but comfortable Bush Camp on the edge of the Eastern Delta which arranged our transport in and for the services of our Mokoro (or dug out canoe) poler and guide, named coincidentally, Water.

The Bush Camp charged extra for food and equipment so we decided to self-cater instead.  Luckily we were only camping in the Delta for one night – because we seriously went out there with the bare minimum.

This included:

Tents

Water (the liquid)

Bread for breakfast

Bread and peanut butter and canned beans for lunch

A very unappetizing bucket of spaghetti and cans of beans for dinner.

Being aware that we were required to bring food for Water (the guide) we brought some extra along.  However, further scrutinty of Lonely Planet revealed that we did not bring along the typical amounts of food and several specific items (i.e. tea and sugar) that guides usually receive.

Although we felt really bad about this, Water didn’t seem too upset after seeing what it was we were eating, and managed to find plenty of other food for himself from other guides camping with groups in the area.  I think he ate more than we did on the trip, actually.

In addition to poling us to and from the campsite through the tall Delta reeds and other vegetation, Water also took on several exciting Bush walks were we saw elephants, hippos and giraffes.

Camping in The Delta was definitely a cool experience – though not one for the faint of heart – we heard lions and hippos in the distance at night from our campsite!  Mokoros are also vulnerable to hippo attack in the water, although this is rare. 

For more money, many people choose to fly into the inner delta on small charter planes and while out in the wilderness we heard the little planes buzzing overhead regularly.

Emily Shovels her Yard

Emily is friend who is currently serving as a PCV in Palapye, Botswana.  After spending a night in the Botswana capital city, Gaborone, her place was our next stop.

Emily is working for the local office of the District AIDS Coordinator and has a secondary project teaching people affected by HIV/AIDS how to make beads and jewelry out of magazine pages as an income-generating activity.  The beads are lacqured and end up being pretty cool looking.

Apparently the Botswanan government has more money than it knows what to do with and gave Emily her own house.  The house also comes with a carport and small front yard which Em must shovel regularly.  Otherwise any accumulated debris is likely to attract snakes.  I find the mental picture of small, chain-smoking Emily clearing away snakes with a big-ass shovel very amusing. 🙂

We were also introduced to Emily’s friend Colin, an Afrikaans man who owns the nearby Bush Camp and bar (read: Emily’s favorite watering hole).  We had alot of fun hanging out there and Colin was a great host, giving us lifts back and forth from Em’s place.

At the bar we met numerous people; one of which was a guy who looked almost exactly like He-man Master of the Universe – except for the Afrikaner booty shorts he was wearing the night we met him. 

This particular night also happened to be Meghan’s birthday and He-man generously bought her a very big, very frothy, very pink drink in honor of the occaision.

Hello Africa!

On October 6th I set out from Johannesburg for my much anticipated trip North through Africa with fellow travel companions and South African RPCVs Meghan, Mayerlin and Nora.

The original plan was to end in Kenya – but there may be some additions to the itinerary including possibly Ethiopia and/or Madagascar – although this is still uncertain.  In any case the trip so far has been action packed!

I’ve recently acquired a journal to write in so that I can still post on my blog…writing beforehand helps since internet access thus far has been spotty and sometimes expensive.  There’s so much that I want to write down before I forget!

Goodbye South Africa!

Well it looks like my time in Peace Corps South Africa has finally come to an end – about one month ago to be exact (or approximate…) It was an interesting and eventful experience as regular blog readers and friends already know!

Moving away from Durban was physically pretty easy (not including a few more trips to my favorite place – the post office) . I managed not to amass too much crap, and there were plenty of takers for all of the things I gave away. Which was nice. I hate throwing away stuff if there’s someone somewhere who can use it.

Emotionally moving wasn’t quite as easy.  I guess I really realized how well I’d gotten to know people and how close some relationships became when it got down to the point of saying goodbye for who knows how long?

I do hope to return to South Africa one day, although at this point I don’t know when.  What I do know is that I’ll miss my friends.