Day 123: Mokoro Ride on the Okavango & BOTSWANA
Even though it got cold at night, we decided to sleep with the canvas tent door open so we could wake up to our beautiful river view! After breakfast, we headed down to the river for our first mokoro ride. A traditional mokoro is a wooden canoe made from digging out the inside of a tree trunk – very typical in the Okavango Delta. The pilot stands up as he or she drives the boat and steers with long pole – similar to Venetian gondolas. Since mokoros rides have become popular with tourists, the industry has moved toward fiberglass mokoros (mostly to prevent thousands of trees from being cut down!).
Our excursion starts with boat ride up river to the Popa “Falls”, where we disembark and explore the rapids a bit, before coasting downstream with the current back to the hotel. It was a nice hour and a half on the water – we did see some hippos, but sadly not as close as Igor wanted. (Of course, if Igor had his way, he’d get close enough to stick his thumb up the hippo’s ass.)
View of the Okavango River from our safari tent
We take a boat cruise upriver to the starting point, so we can just float downstream in the mokoro
A couple of boots heading down the Okavango River in a (fiberglass) mokoro
We pass a bull hippo and his harem on the river – he raises his head to make sure we known these are *his* bitches
The Popa Falls – not really a waterfall, more of a cascade…
Hopping over a few rapids to get a close-up view of the “falls”
With a little photographic trickery using the zoom lense and the GoPro, Igor makes the little cascade look like a towering waterfall!
The rushing water of Popa Falls!
A cormorant dries its wings in the sunshine, and a GORGEOUS Lilac-Breasted Roller perches atop a tree
We check-out of Nunda Lodge around mid-day, and head back into the Mahango Game Park, this time driving straight through to the Botswana border. We followed all of Russell’s instructions regarding taking the rental car out of the country, and passed through without any problems (although we did find out that the Botswana border no longer accepts Namibian dollars or Rand for the travel fees – probably due to the declining value of both currencies, so we had to use our credit card).
Once we were through, it was a short drive to Drotsky’s Cabins – another riverside lodge known for great fishing. Igor was game, but the manager warned us that he might not catch anything as it wasn’t fishing season yet. Grateful for the honesty, we spent a lazy afternoon wandering around the property, and indulging in some movies (a rare event – we actually had a TV in our room!) until late in the night.
Crossing into country #7 on our adventure: BOTSWANA
Kicking back at Drotsky’s Cabins in Botswana
A peaceful afternoon sitting by the river
A quiet riverbank view, near the edge of the Okavango Delta
Igor playing on an old tractor sitting by the side of the trail. If only there was a coin slot to make it move up and down! When we get back to the lodge, he makes a beeline for the Labrador.
Our first Botswanan sunset