Entering the 'Gates of Eden' - Okavango Delta Wetlands, Botswana

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Entering the 'Gates of Eden' - Okavango Delta Wetlands, Botswana

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By David Young

It’s late August, seven o’clock in the morning. I am standing on the bank of the Thamalakane River, 10 kilometres upstream from Maun, waiting for my captain to pick me up in a ten foot punt. A Blacksmith Plover is making a fair racquet and half hopping and half flying around. At night watch dogs use them as an early warning system for strangers approaching. They make a pinging kind of sound like a blacksmith working. I  hear the putt-putt of our 20hp engine slowly approaching and ready myself for departure.

Heading toward the Hippo Pool we wave at a mother and daughter fishing from the shore. We have seen these fishers before, out for much of the day, catching fish for their family. Entering the Hippo Pool we slow down and prepare to go through the main pipe. Heads bowed, we go under the ‘Old Bridge’ – the first bridge ever built in these parts.

Making our way upstream, we are treated to herons, cranes and ducks, busy with their morning activities. Soon we pass Crocodile Camp and Okavango River Lodge, who have breakfast guests of their own. Another kilometer on and we swing to port and start up the Boro River, towards Moremi Game Reserve.

Moremi Game Reserve is huge wildlife management area that was formed in 1963. It covers over 4,800sq.kms.or 20 percent of the Okavango Delta. You enter an unspoiled combination of mopane woodlands, acacia forests, floodplains, rivers and lagoons. Moremi is possibly one of the most beautiful wildlife reserves in all of Africa. If you plan to visit, come during the dry season from June to November.

The Buffalo Fence marks the entry into Moremi and the end of domesticated animals. We travel the 10 kilometers to the fence without incident. The annual flood waters from Angola are still causing the river to rise, in places overflowing its banks. On route we pass kitchen gardens, cows, goats and horses that are grazing and drinking at the rivers edge.

Slowing down, we pass through the Buffalo Fence. A group of tourists are embarking on an overnight mokoro trip. These mekoros are shaped out of plastic, not from the Mukwa trees that they were made from traditionally. The trips are called Mokoro Trails. It is an eco-tourism activity organized to benefit the village and individual polers and guides. A number of local hotels and lodges supply the customers. It is a beautiful, silent way to travel – ideal for photographers looking for close-up pictures of nature and wildlife.

The polers and guides are Bayei, the traditional tribe of the river who arrived in the area during the 1850’s. A mekoro outing offers plenty of time to reflect, ask your guide about the plants and animals you see and enquire about aspects of the local culture. Many of the guides are great storytellers and are use to fielding a wide range of questions.

Waving goodbye or ‘sala sentle’ to the travelers we continue on our trip. Although we are traveling in a narrow channel, the water spreads out over a wide area. The river grasses are swaying gently in the morning breezes. The distant plains, palms and mopani trees leave me staring in awe. I can feel my spirit fill and lift. I am now as close to the ‘Gates of Eden’ as I expect to get to in my life.

Later in the morning I am giving the captain a rest and navigating through a narrow channel. Unknown to us, we have disturbed a hippo that had made it’s way out of the water and was grazing behind some bushes alone the shore. Fortunately our boat has just passed the hippo before it charges.

It is a young bull, charging just about the speed we are motoring. The hippo is above us, running downhill into the narrow stream, 3 or 4 metres away. My last vision is a large swell preceding the surging mass of the hippo as it runs after us, into the river. We hold on tight and after a pregnant pause and no further commotion, breath a collective sigh of relief. We have just come very close to knocking on heaven’s door.

Soon we find a good looking piece of shoreline, with mopane trees for shade, and put sore. After starting a fire for our marinated ribs, it is time to stretch our legs and have a look around. We inspect some damaged trees. Much of the lower bark is gone. Elephants have recently been here for their lunch. When we return to camp the fire is ready for our grate full of ribs. We eat, take a short rest from the midday heat, clean-up and continue our search for Naraka Lagoon.

With the floodwater so high, the lagoon is almost 400 metres across. Motoring into the lagoon we are met by three hippos surfacing, snorting aggressively, and submerging. Circling the lagoon more hippos rise to greet us. After our narrow morning escape, we are in no moos to push our luck. Fishing can wait for another day. Sightseeing becomes our major priority.

The return trip is more leisurely than expected. We adapt to the rhythm and meandering of one of nature’s largest and most beautiful inland deltas in the world. The highlight of the trip home is a herd of over twenty elephants coming down for an afternoon drink and bath.

Elephants can travel long, dusty distances with a doggedly determination. Their skills at smelling water from far away are legendary. If you want to see elephants in a state of pure joy, watch them entering a river. We have turned of the engine and are just floating downstream. The closer they get to the river the faster they move. The elephants start raising and lowering their head, tusks and nose in a sense of excitement. They do not test the water before plunging in. The babies are the last to enter the water because some of them stumble, not experienced enough to know how their noses should work when their heads bob up and down.

Thirty minutes later the elephants are returning back the way they came and we proceed on our way home. Ducks, cormorants and geese entertain us in the late afternoon, flying beside and in front of our punt. It appears as if they are testing their speed and maneuverability against the 20hp engine. We make one last short stop and watch some Jacana – the African lily runner move over lily pads and through dense river grasses. With the softening light of the setting sun, they provide one last inspirational sighting for our trip into paradise.

So much to see, so little time. Now we are motoring along in darkness. The captain makes haste slowly, particularly passing under the two bridges that lead us home. Finally we tie-up, unpack, make our way up the riverbank and prepare supper. After dinner we sit back and reflect on just how exceptional a day we have had inside the ‘Gates of Eden.’