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Okavango, Botswana: where the mokoro is king

12/7/2016

8 Comments

 
Mokoro, Okavango, Botswana
​By Roxanne Reid
Flying in to Xigera Camp in a small plane is a chance to get an aerial view of the wonder that is Botswana’s Okavango Delta, its mosaic of islands, water channels, floodplains, swamps and game tracks. You might even see herds of elephant or buffalo spread out like miniatures far below. But once you land, the mokoro is king.

That the Delta was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014 gives a hint of its special character. One of only a fistful of inland deltas in the world, it's filled by floods from the Angolan Highlands some 1000km to the north. Here in Botswana the land becomes as flat as a flounder and the clear waters fan out over some 15 000 square kilometres.
Elephants, Okavango, Botswana
Flying over the Okavango
On Paradise Island, among palm, fever-berry, leadwood, knobthorn and sausage trees, lies Xigera Camp. It’s so remote that in the early flood season our journey took us first by air, then by land and finally by boat, to find staff standing on the bridge next to the jetty to welcome us with song.
Xigera Camp, Okavango, Botswana
Xigera as you approach from the water
Xigera Camp, Okavango, Botswana
The fire deck
Xigera (pronounced kee-jera) was easy to fall in love with. The lounge-bar-dining area was large and open, with views of the water and trees from every angle. There was a pool deck and fire deck – a good place to warm up in the early morning. But I lost my heart to the star deck, which jutted out from the tree cover to give an unobstructed view of the night skies.
Xigera Camp, Okavango, Botswana
The pool deck
Xigera guides, Okavango, Botswana
Our Xigera guides Go Bateng (left) and Spongy Makgetho
We were at the bar one evening getting that safari cliché, a gin and tonic. But there was nothing clichéd about what happened next. Only ten metres away a leopard slunk along the boardwalk. He left his footprints in the sandpit built into the bridge so you can read the ‘newspaper’ of who has come by during the night. Then he padded silently across the bridge, blinked over his shoulder at us and disappeared into the bush on the other side. It was a reminder why you need to have a keen-eyed guide to escort you after dark.
Xigera Camp, Okavango, Botswana
Our luxurious tent; note the artwork on the bed to welcome us, made using beans
Xigera Camp, Okavango, Botswana
Elevated boardwalk to our tent
To get to our tent we walked along raised boardwalks where squirrels romped among the trees. Our deck overlooked a giant termite mound, a stand of mokolane (real fan) palms and some water where red lechwe came to drink.

At night we enjoyed the Okavango lullaby above the rustling of the trees – the lilting call of spotted hyena, the chinking of fruit bats punctuated by the prrt of the African scops-owl, and long reed frogs calling from the water. When we woke we watched the first light tiptoe into the sky and eavesdropped on African fish-eagles and hysterical redbilled spurfowl.
Xigera Camp, Okavango, Botswana
The view from the deck of our tent
We quickly settled into the rhythm of the wilderness, where our days were an odd combination of mad excitement and hushed serenity. Excitement when we saw more fish-eagles and African jacanas than we’d ever seen in one place before; serenity as our guides poled our mokoros through the water channels among a giant tapestry of water lilies, water shield plants and vlei ink flowers to find a jacana’s nest or a long reed frog perched on a reed waving in the breeze.
Water plants, Okavango, Botswana
Water shield plants (left) and a vlei ink flower (right)
Water lily, Okavango, Botswana
Water lily
Mokoro safari
Guide Spongy Makgetho told us the mokoro was traditionally made from the wood of a sausage tree, jackalberry or sycamore fig. ‘But the tree might take many years to reach the right size and then the mokoro only lasts about five years,’ he said. ‘Now with the growth of tourism there’s a worry about deforestation, so the government has decided they must be made from fibreglass.’

Black crakes cheeped in the reeds when we stopped to watch elephants ripping up papyrus stalks. ‘They love the white part at the bottom but discard the green part, which is very fibrous. People use that part to make mats,’ said Spongy. He gave us a piece to taste – as refreshing as cucumber but spongier in texture.
Elephant, Okavango, Botswana
Elephant chomping on papyrus
Yet another fish-eagle called from a dead tree. A cisticola chirped from the reeds. No other sound but the rhythmic splash as the guides poled the mokoros forward. Spongy was in the lead and we followed with guide Go Bateng. He poled smoothly, the only hiccup coming when we tried to cross a current and the mokoro rocked from side to side.

The guides said it takes about a week of falling into the water to master the art of standing up and poling without taking a swim, so it’s not an easy skill to learn. I thought Go did very well despite passengers who wriggled around like worms on hot ashes to look at every passing coppery-tailed coucal or squacco heron.
Mokoro, Okavango, Botswana
Guide Spongy Makgetho poles his mokoro
After a morning of mokoro magic, we landed at a clearing under a jackalberry tree where the staff had set up an Out of Africa bush brunch at a long 20-seater table. Checked blankets hung over the backs of safari chairs and there was a feast of yummy food. Such unexpected treats made every day in the Okavango an adventure.
Xigera Camp, Okavango, Botswana
Table ready for a bush brunch near Xigera Camp
Xigera Camp, Okavango, Botswana
Xigera staff jumping for joy at the bush brunch site - just because they can
Foreign object on the airstrip
In what seemed the blink of an eye, our two days were over and we were on our way back to the airstrip, squeezing in sightings of saddle-billed storks and a small herd of Burchell’s zebra along the way. We waited in the shade for a few minutes, watching for the plane and checking that no animals wandered on to the airstrip.
Wilderness Air lands at Xigera Camp, Okavango
Light aircraft safely landed on Xigera's airstrip
Just as the plane was coming in to land, a pair of duelling impala galloped on to the scene. One chased the other on to the landing strip so the pilot had to abort at the last minute, regain height and circle around for another attempt. It was rutting season and the rams were so pumped up with testosterone that they couldn’t think about anything but dominance, putting themselves in danger from both planes and predators.

Spongy went running after the impala, shouting and waving to chase it off the airstrip so our plane could land. And that’s not something that happens at Heathrow or JFK, is it?

No, this is the Okavango, one of the most exciting and sought-after wilderness destinations in the world.

Like it? Pin this image!
Mokoro safari, Okavango Delta, Botswana #Botswana #Okavango #mokoro
ro safari, Okavango Delta, Botswana #Botswana #Okavango #mokoro
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Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
8 Comments
Wendy
12/7/2016 03:31:29 pm

Xigera look devine.

Reply
Roxanne
13/7/2016 11:51:04 am

Thanks Wendy, glad you enjoyed the photos.

Reply
Chris
13/7/2016 10:56:03 am

That's were I need to be right now. Looks like being in another world. What fantastic staff.

Reply
Roxanne
13/7/2016 11:50:19 am

I'd love to be back there too, Chris. It's a very special place and you see so many wonders in a short space of time that you get punch drunk!

Reply
Henri Steenkamp link
21/7/2016 10:34:59 pm

Excellent post and photos, Roxanne! I'd love to feature this piece on my South Africa blog (http://henristeenkamp.org) with plenty of backlinks leading my viewers back to your site & social media pages. Let me know if you're interested.

Kindest regards

Reply
Roxanne
31/7/2016 12:20:46 pm

Thanks for the compliment, Henri. I've sent you an email.

Reply
Sakkie
6/8/2016 07:20:00 am

Okavango is one of the few last refuges for the big game. May it stay like this forever. Wonder if my favourite oddballs camp still exist, maybe not any more. I am ready to live in a place like this. Will keep on dreaming.

Reply
Roxanne
6/8/2016 09:28:57 am

May it stay the same, indeed. I Googled Oddballs, Sakkie, and it appears still to exist so carry dreaming!

Reply

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    I'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel.
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