Two days ago Kate and I headed west for our first time this year, and my first time ever, as the flood has now receded enough for us to cross the large floodplains between us and the islands that side. A few months ago now Posta and I sat on top of the vehicle looking over these floodplains- I wondered then if the water could really ever decrease enough for us to drive there. It being my first year in the Okavango Delta and as such I am only now experiencing the decline of the flood water. The flood was at its full peak when I arrived in April and the change is incredible, and I am told that still there is a lot of water around by usual standards.
So Kate and I headed in the direction of Tubu, a camp outside of our concession, where they have been experiencing elephant issues in camp. An unknown male has been pulling up the water pipes, and Kate was called in to advise on a strategy to keep him out. The way to get north is via the west, and so we set off. Going via the Old Airstrip was the first highlight- it quite simply looked like the plains of the Serengeti. There was a plethora of game: giraffe, zebra, impala, baboon, tssessbe,… Beautiful.
Giraffe on the Old Airstrip
Crossing the floodplain deemed no problem in the end. There were a handful of crossings where there was still a fair bit of water- but considering in April we could not drive any set route without getting wet feet, and on these crossings the inside of the cab stayed completely dry- that for me says there isn’t much water. Crossing one of these plains we came across a small dead crocodile. The young croc had obviously lost one of his feet some time ago, as this had healed over completely, and we couldn’t find any signs of what killed him. After some minutes of taking photos of the pour guy from allangles, we continued.
Hopefully it’s dead
Yep… dead
Then came an elephant- always a pleasure to see. Unfortunately this young bull wasn’t having any of it though, and walked quickly across the floodplain and into a thick island, enabling us to gather only the minimalist of data on him. Kate had spoken before about Whistling Lagoon, and when we arrived it truly lived up to expectation. It is a beautiful area, spreading far a fieldand dotted with palm trees. A worthy spot for a tea break. We got a small herd of elephants further on, a nice fresh set of aardvark tracks walking down the road following last night’s rain, our first baby impalas of the year and the most beautiful baby warthogs- I love baby time of year!!
And so we reached our destination- Tubu Lodge. A quick assessment by Dr Evans and a strategy was formed- the first step is to maintain the Accacia barrier they have in place, but it has a few holes in it, and Kate also came up with a number of other layers to the plan if this plan fails. With the rain clouds brewing we had questioned our wisdom at borrowing an open vehicle today, rather than taking our usual closed-cab, but we won and the only time it rained all day was for a few minutes whilst we were in Tubu.
Then came the stuckage… I have been quite proud of the fact that I am yet to get stuck in dry sand, well not anymore. Kate was most sympathetic, after her first response of‘… Miss Ellis!’ But then it was all systems go, and we only had to jack up one wheel in the end to get us out. Back on the road.
It was a slightly quicker journey back- no time for tea and medals unfortunately- but we did get a couple of herds of elephants en route. That area is so beautiful I look forward to my next expedition over there, maybe tomorrow…
Charlie
