Wilderness camping

Wilderness Camping

Last night we wilderness camped deep in the delta with two guides. We packed a small bag of things and loaded it all up into two Mokoros (canoes) with one of us in each and one of the guides in each. We were presented with a huge table full of different foods from which to choose our next lunches, dinner and breakfast.

On the way to our camp (which had been prepared for us), we stopped off on Chief’s island in the Moremi Game reserve and went for a walk. We immediately came upon a dead impala, ripped open, the stomach removed, but still uneaten. Rigor mortis had not yet set in so it must have been fresh, and the guides told us it must have been wild dogs which we could faintly hear calling in the distance. We had disturbed them, and forced them to leave a fresh kill. The rest of the walk we saw a few animals, but mostly observed smaller things like the tracks in the sand and interesting stuff about the grass. As we returned to the mokoros, the first vultures had found the carcass and began to feast.

Our camp was in sight on a nearby riverbank, and we were gliding through the thick reedbeds. Suddenly a heavy sound of something big flattening the reeds in its path as it rushed through them. Both guides raced our mokoros to the shore and pull out what looks like a knife. A hippo was woken and chased after us. I put my shoes on and stood up, but the guide tells me not to get out. The hippo crashed through the water in the lagoon beside us and made a big show, grunting. Eventually its safe enough to cross to the other side and to the camp. It turns out they didn’t have knives, only bangers to scare hippos off.

Our guides were called Mots and Vincent. Mots is experienced and wants to start his own camp one day, while Vincent is still young and training, but enthusiastic. We didn’t really want to be served so we made their lunches on the first day, but eventually they just took over, co-ordinating meals in Setswana so that we were left behind and standing in the way if we tried to help. Eventually we just sat back and let them do everything; that’s what they wanted and they seemed much better at it than we. We had a bucket shower, a hole in the ground toilet with a seat on top and two tents.

The midday is searing hot and we just sat around, dozing off. At 4 we went for another walk on Chief’s Island, Moremi, where we were camped. Afterwards, Vincent made dinner on the open fire. And in the dark we heard hyenas calling. A huge fire was made to keep animals out of the camp, and Mots admitted that he always wakes up 3 times a night – he would tend the fire at those times.

They didn’t seem as educated as some of the guides we had, so at times the conversation was a little difficult. In the end they seemed content to sit apart and chatter in Setswana.

This camping felt truly remote and wild. Not only did we have to fly in for 20 minutes to get to the main camp, but then we had to canoe for an hour through thick waterways to get here. We never saw another person (though we found an old backpack), and the only contact we had was a radio with the main camp. Especially once Mots had explained some of the tracks left near the camp; lions roamed freely and nearby.

In the morning we went for another walk. At one point we were figuring out a kudu in the distance when Vincent loudly whispered ‘Hyena, Hyena!’, and sure enough two hyenas were walking about 15 meters from us, as if we didn’t exist. At one point they reached the area downwind from us and caught our scent, causing them to bolt back in the direction they came. The female stopped to examine us before moving on.

An acacia branch got caught on my shoe, and I dragged it across my other ankle. It hurt, but not too badly. Only later when I was standing on a termite mound watching a group of giraffe, did Vincent point out that I was bleeding, and sure enough blood was dripping down my leg. After he cleaned it up (he was eager to impress Mots) it was obvious that it was just a shallow scratch, so we just continued.

Some of the cooler, smaller things we saw on the walks:

·         An ant lion hunting. This is a very rare sight. The ant lion is a small insect that digs itself into the sand, leaving behind a small pit. Once another insect walks in, the ant lion begins to ‘throw’ sand so that the insect cannot leave and slips to the bottom of the pit where it can be grabbed and eaten.

·         Buffalo weavers. Small birds that are very rare. They build big nests, on the west side of trees.

·         We tasted Jackalberries, which are small fruits. Elephants love them.

·         Mots described how some plants are used medicinally. One leaf was ground up and applied to the skin and bound. It would burn the skin, leaving a ‘tattoo’.

·         Some water snakes.

Then we took the mokoros back to camp and rested.

In the afternoon we went out again in a motorboat to visit a nearby heronry. It smelled like shit, but it looked amazing. Thousands of herons and egrets of all different species gathered in one clump of reed to breed and nest. On the way back we saw some elephants swimming in the channel.

Dinner was better this time. It was a little odd returning from the camping as all the guests in the camp were different. 4 italians who had lived abroad much like we had, including in japan – so dad had a lot to talk about.

This morning, there was a disturbance with an elephant in camp. He had again walked through the pool area, destroying a fence and stepping on the wooden walkway (leaving a big hole).  The manager told us he had gone to the airstrip. Unfortunately we were due to fly out after breakfast. When we got there to wait for the plane, only a warthog was running around but was chased off. The elephant did arrive later, but didn’t cause a problem.

Im very tired, and im sorry if this is written poorly. I just cant be bothered. :)