Don't Air Your Dirty Laundry...

We have spent the last few days discovering the amazingly beautiful Okavango Delta. After a long trek in (nine hours to go 100km) we took mokoros, flat-bottomed canoe-type boats driven by men with long wooden poles, to a rarely visited camp, called Umvuvu. Over 2.5 days we mokoro'd for hours around the Okavango, which was sprawling with white and purple-tinged water lilies everywhere. 

It was an incredibly unique ecosystem.  Tiny frogs (3/4" or less), brown & white frogs, neon green grashopper-type insects... one tiny frog came so far with us that I named him Max - Max & his Mokoro Adventure. LOL.  We went on a nature walk in the middle of the day; saw some elephants nearby, bird life, lion prints.  Then had two hours in the mokoro back to Umvuvu.  It was SO hot - Ken, our poler told us fisherman put lily pads on their heads to block the sun - I thought that was a fantastic idea, so Tyler pulled me one from the water and I wore it the rest of the way back to Umvuvu.

Tyler took mokoro lessons and was practically a natural! He was the only one of the group who got to do the whole "circuit."  Then we watched some traditional dacning - very entertaining, before a sunset mokoro cruise.

Our established tents, with single beds inside, were only meters from the water, so we had to be extra careful coming and going, especially at night, looking for crocodiles and hippos, which we could hear grunting all night long.  The only thing that wound up paying us a little visit was a monitor lizard.

Before supper our cook, Mash, had to "run" (mokoro) back to the truck to get some things that we forgot.  He saw some elephants crossing the river on his way.  Tyler & I were on cook group that night, and I told Mash that he should have let me go with him (I love elephants).  He said, "No, you cannot go. I can hide because I am black but you are white." I said, "Who you callin' white!" LOL

There were also these really unique tiny flowers, a quarter-size or less, mixed in with the thousands of water lilies. They were white with yellow centres, like the lilies, but their petals were like little feathers; some said they looked like snowflakes.

After entering back into Namibia (Okavango is in Botswana), we spent another night at Bagani, before heading to Rundu for a night. In Rundu the weather was so beautiful we did some laundry before everyone relaxed in and around the pool.  A massive thunderstorm came - one crack of thunder was SO loud and sudden it made us all jump.  So much for drying laundry.  After the rain I rehung our laundry, but another storm came over night, again with one loud crack - so loud that Tyler awoke startled and grabbed me.  Now with wet laundry, I guess we will be airing it to dry out the windows as we drive, and en route to the bushman tribe.  Nothing like airing your underwear everywhere you go!

Imani is currently at the repair shop in town (Rundu); hopefully will be done in another half an hour.  We are off to the bushman today, and then making our way toward Swakopmund, where we shall do some fishing, sandboarding, and if Tyler holds true to his promise, skydiving! :)

Much Love,
Krystle & Tyler