Okavango Delta: Exploring Botswana on a mokoro

Okavango Delta: Expedition into the Unknown

Steve

Five explorers take on the Okavango Delta in two dugout canoes, through a wilderness which may take away more than just your breath. Many before them have disappeared in this immense watery labyrinth of false streams, hippo channels and dense reeds, never to be seen again. Their route was untested. No one had attempted the journey before from the west.

depths of the Delta, camp on islands which had probably not been seen humans before, and to try out the products we were carrying, which included Swarovski, Rufiji™, Barmah, and much more.

Throughout the trip, we poled ourselves across flooded grassland and glided across mirrored waters. We kept to the grasslands to avoid, as far as possible, the deep - the fast-flowing channel which meanders down the middle of the Delta. Deep water in Africa equals hippos and crocodiles - and hippos and crocodiles do not mix well with roughly-hewn dugout canoes in small, confined sections of perfectly clear water. There is usually no place to hide. For the first six days, we battled through thick reed beds, pulled our heavily-laden mekoros over areas too shallow for these traditional craft to float, and camped 'rough' on the small islands which are formed by the architects of the Delta, the termites.

It was on the seventh day that we had to join the main channel to get to the end of the trip or we would have ended up in the middle of nowhere, without a clue as to where to go. The Okavango Delta is vast. To begin with, the going was really good. We caught the annual flood and were swept downstream by these waters which had journeyed all the way from the Angolan highlands. It was pure bliss. You can drink the waters of the Delta and so will never die of thirst - and better tasting water I have not drunk before or since.

There are, of course, other things which could kill you and our state of bliss was quickly shattered. Rounding a bend, the way ahead looked clear, but the reeds to the south of the channel were shaking violently. True to their calling, a pod of hippos emerged and ran straight into the deep water in front of us. To a hippo, deep water is a safe haven - what a castle is to a knight. Once in the water, they carried on behaving as hippo should and in a way which only hippo seem to manage. They made it look as if the current wasn't flowing away from us →

Expedition Tested™

We sweat so that you don't have to. Expedition-testing products is central to everything we do. We expedition-test our products rather than hide behind large marketing campaigns which claim too much and deliver too little. This is the core reason for embarking on this expedition through the Okavango Delta. The testing and re-testing and re-sampling is ongoing at The Safari Store. It is a part of our DNA. Where products do not meet the high standards we set for your safari clothing and gear, we either design, re-make, and re-test the products until we get them right - or we scrap them all together.

Listed below are the products which passed this expedition test in the Okavango Delta and now form an integral part of our range. #expeditiontested

This rather motley looking crew were assembled to take on this expedition due in part to a shared sense of adventure, but primarily to expedition-test our technical fabrics. Developed by The Safari Store, we were keen to test the key technologies built into the fabric before taking it to market. This included the wear and comfort of the fabric, wicking & quick-dry, sun protection and ripstop. Having passed the rigorous test over 200+ km of sweat and toil with flying colours, we proceeded to roll out the fabric across our men's, women's, and boys' & girls' safari clothing range. This represented our first move into using man-made fabrics as the superior choice for safaris and outdoor activities. The expeditiontested™ crew from left to right are Malcolm Bowling, Justin Rous, and Steven Adams.
The MaraTech fabric we tested on this expedition was the foundation fabric that has evolved into our BUGTech™ anti-insect outdoor and safari clothing range. We tested the design and capabilities these garments under circumstances which far exceed the garment requirements of most of our clients - with features that make a difference to safari and outdoor experiences.
The days were long and hot, which provided the ideal test environment for our safari shirts. We would have quickly picked up on whether or not the shirts were responding well to the repetitive motion of poling mekoros. Also, if the fabric had not wicked moisture away from our skin and not provided the strength and sun protection we required, it would have been highlighted immediately. We did remove our shirts at times, however - simply as it felt good to be shirtless under the sun on an expedition (and to get a little bit of a tan too). When the sharp-edged reeds became thick and the sun too hot, we quickly put our shirts back on again.
Losing one's balance was all too easy at times as we negotiated the inner sanctum of the Okavango Delta. An unplanned dip in the water was nearly always the result. On one afternoon, however, we willingly went swimming to break up the heat and sweaty work of poling the dugouts. This provided a great way for us to test to see just how quickly the fabric dried after the swim. It dried very quickly even when worn, which indicated that the wicking and quick-drying effect of the fabric was to a very high standard. Wicking is key to keeping you cool when you sweat as it is the measure of how quickly perspiration is moved away from the skin and into the environment. Seen in this image too is the Rufiji™ Safari Explorer Satchel which, along with the Rufiji™ Safari Explorer carried most of our clothing and camera gear and were a big success in their first true expedition test.
We initially took the zip-off trousers along to test for a rather unexpected reason. Steve had done a recce for the expedition the year before wearing shorts and found that the sedges and reeds were incredibly sharp and cut into his legs as he poled through them. However, we found that the trousers were also a great way to respond to the changes in temperature between night and day (Botswana is landlocked and the Okavango Delta lies at over 1 000 meters above sea level) and to avoid any sunburn on our legs from the sun's rays reflected off the water. The design of the shorts section is so good for active safaris and expeditions that, to this day, we still select them for our expeditions.
In the chill of the nights and early mornings, we were thankful that we had opted to test our new Rufiji™ Safari Fleeces on this expedition in both long-sleeve and gilet versions. They were swiftly added to our range and fleeces in general were added to our packing list as an essential to pack for any safari.
We also took along and tested a number of key safari accessories on this expedition. Long days with bright, often reflected light called for only the best in sunglass lenses: The Serengeti range of sunglasses passed this expedition test with flying colours.
Even in winter, the Botswana sun burns hot, especially as we were poling the mekoros from sun-up to sunset: As a result, our range of wide-brimmed hats was really put to the test. They often doubled as a scoop to collect drinking water directly from the Delta.
We knew that having good binoculars would be essential for our safety to spot potential dangers in the water and on the islands ahead on expedition: We decided to test the smaller Swarovski CL 10x25 Binoculars. Optically, they were superb and also allowed us to spot species such as Pel's Fishing Owl and Red Lechwe in the distance. A note: while this was not possible at the time of the expedition, you are now able to take images through the CL binoculars using the Swarovski adaptor for iPhone.

Expert Advice™

Top tips for planning your Botswana safari.

1. As an introduction, if Botswana is not yet on your list of places to go on safari, it quite simply must be. Botswana has one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Africa, due in part to the dedication of the Botswana government to wildlife conservation. As a result, it has become a safe haven for wildlife which is able to roam free across the country and into neighbouring countries, allowing for the natural movement of wildlife. Unlike areas of Africa where game tends to exist in private, fenced off reserves where the exact numbers of wildlife is known to the owners of the reserve, in Botswana, the lack of fences (apart from the buffalo fence) means that you may come across species such as nomadic male lions who have been pushed out from their pride to fend for themselves, which your guide has never seen before. Now that is truly exciting!

2. Go remote: While areas such as the Chobe waterfront offer very good game-viewing, they also have higher numbers of tourists than the rest of Botswana. One of the strengths of Botswana is the remoteness of the majority of the camps. In fact, many camps are so remote that the only way for you to get to them is to fly into the camp using one of the scheduled charter services out of Maun. This remoteness is further guaranteed as Botswana is split up into large concessions which are

run by the lodge located on each concession. Exclusivity and intimate game-viewing experiences are therefore guaranteed as no one else is allowed on to that concession.Within a private concession, you will not experience the jostling for position of higher numbers of vehicles at wildlife sightings. It will very often just be you, your travelling companions, your guide, and the animals you have travelled so far to view. This is all as a result of Botswana's low volume, high yield approach: you may pay more for a safari in Botswana, but the experience has a true wilderness feel to it.

3. Botswana is a year-round destination and, as such, you can go on safari throughout the year, but there are still two main seasons to choose between and both have their own highlights. The green season falls over the summer months between November and the end of March when the rains fall. Due to the abundance of water away from the Okavango Delta, wildlife is more spread out and the herds of herbivores such as buffalo tend to be smaller. However, powerful storms create dramatic backdrops to game viewing, with incredible photographic opportunities in the golden light after a storm. The combination of golden light and brooding storm clouds in the background is quite simply beautiful. The drier winter months, as general rule, are more productive for game-viewing. While the surrounding bush in areas such as the Savute, Linyanti, and Chobe is dry and the waterholes are drying up, the Okavango Delta itself is in a very, very sedate flooding state which spreads gently into the surrounding grassland. Large herds of wildlife move into areas where the crystal clear water is readily available. The waters of the Delta also nourish plants and trees which provide food for many species of herbivores which, in turn, attracts predators and scavengers. It is during the winter months that buffalo, elephant, and other species of game tend to be found in larger herds and concentrations - simply due to the reliance on fewer sources of water.

4. Combine a 'dry' camp and a 'wet' camp to maximise the experienceor a camp which is on a concession with both 'wet' and 'dry' activities. A 'wet' camp would be one which is in the middle of the Okavango Delta and is surrounded by water. Activities offered at 'wet' camps include mekoro and boat safaris, while 'dry' camps offer walks and game drives. A handful of camps are able to offer both 'wet' and 'dry' experiences. These are usually very productive areas for wildlife, especially over the dry season as indicated in the point above.

5. The classic Okavango Delta itinerary would include two camps in two different areas and, as above, would combine a wet (or semi-wet) camp and a dry or semi-dry camp. We recommend approximately three nights at each camp to give your guide the time to get to know you, find our your interests, and show you the hidden gems within that concession.

7. To make the most of your safari, pack these bare essentials: a good quality pair of binoculars; comfortable, cool, safari-appropriate clothing; insect repellent that's been tested to really work in Africa; a wide-brimmed hat and sunscreen; and a safari fleece or jacket as it does get cold at night and on early morning game drives, especially over the winter months.