Three days in the Delta

Safari - The Delta Day 1

Another very early morning, packing up the tent and taking our condensed packs with 3 days of supplies including all the water we could carry. We would be staying at a bush camp run by the indigeneous people of the Delta. They were having minor draught conditions as they didn’t get enough rain from the Angola Highlands this year so the water levels were really low. We ended up having to drive to a 3^rd launching station 90 minutes away to meet the canoes. Each 2 people had a personal guide. My guide was named Popeo. He spoke 5 languages fluently and could name nearly all the plants and animals in all 5 plus a good many in German and Dutch. The guy knew his stuff. Popeo poled our canoe for over an hour through the Delta until we reached the campsite. We passed at least two hippos (which we gave a lot of space) and quite a few birds along the way. Once we got to camp we needed to unload all the canoes and set up our tents. There was a great deal of hippo poop all over the site and much of it had to be relocated so we could get the tents up. Once we had our camp settled, we had down time for the afternoon. Made me regret not brining more stuff but I listened to some books and napped. Even in the winter, its hot during midday in the Delta. Around 5pm we all went on guided hikes with our guide. Popeo hiked us around 90 minutes and we found elephants and giraffes and zebras and a number of misc happy meals. We were able to ask a billion questions and get great shots of the sunset.

Safari - The Delta continued...Day 2

Second day in the Delta started with a 7am hike. Have I mentioned how much I hate getting up before sunrise? But we were up at 6:30, with our good walking shoes on and our cameras ready. We went as a larger single group with this hike. More of the same: zebras, elephants, giraffes and happy meals. Something they don’t really prepare you for with your packing list is that you need shoes without venting. The sand in Africa is super fine and will easily fit in the holes of the mesh in your shoes. Halfway through this hike I had so much sand in my shoes that I was running out of space for my toes. So we took a short break on a huge abandond terminte mound and I was able to empty out the contents of my shoes. I still got a few blisters from the sand but luckily we stopped before it got too bad. The fast walkers with good knees and no heart conditions left us in the dust when we started hiking again and Popeo stayed back with me and one other member of our party. We asked lots of questions and he pointed out all the birds we passed. There was a bright blue bird I’d been seeing during the two days of driving that I’d been trying to get (but bird photography from a moving truck is hard). Popeo was able to point out one of these birds across the field just in time for me to get a great photo. I know the elephants are more impressive, but bird photos are way more challenging and I am really proud of that photo.

After another afternoon of sweating and listening to books, we ended our second day with a scenic canoe ride around the Delta and a sunset over the water. There were half a dozen hippos in the river where we were setting up for our sunset viewing. We staying on the opposite side of the river but the hippos aggressively made their prescence known. They stayed in their corner but they lined up like a whale and kept splashing their heads down into the water to make a loud noise and water spray. I was concerned our prescence was causing undo stress on the hippos, but apparently they bring tourist to this spot every night for the sunset and the hippos are pretty used to it. They are going through the proper motions of establishing territory but they are aware there isn’t a real threat.

After dinner our guides put on a song and dance number for us fireside. The songs are mostly traditional and in their native language but its often accompanied by a dance that would give you a little idea of what it was. All the guides were very good singers and I wondered if they were given the job based on their singing abililty more than their poling ability. After the show there was a audience particiation dance which I wasn’t thrilled about but I participated. No pictures.

 

Safari - The Delta continued...Day 3

Day three in the Delta was an optional hike at 7am and break down camp and head back to civilization around 9am. We broke down camp and made breakfast in record time. When the people that went for the hike arrived back we were able to eat breakfast and clean up and get the canoes loaded with all our equipment. Another hour of being poled back to where we started. Lots of hippos along the way and a bunch of elephants near the beach when we landed. Load up everything in the transfer trucks and back to the campground we stayed on our first night in town. We got back early enough to shower and laundry and relax. We also had time to enjoy the resort..plenty of wifi, bar, restaurant, pool etc. The lodging had camping in the back but a full resort in the front and we had access to all the fun parts. I wasn’t that hungry but I knew I probably needed a small snack before dinner. And a diet coke. So I want to the restaraunt and asked if they served small snacks or just full meals. They pulled out a seperate menu called lite fare/snacks. The first page had lasagna.....I asked how large the lasagna was and they said it was a very small portion. The pizzas were all ght me a traditinoal red sauce lasagna with chicken instead of beef and it was a full dinner portion complete with bread and salad. Needless to say, I ate less than half and I had lunch for the following day.