Back to the Bridge
The rushed, packed feeling of this trip changed when my friend rachaelbrennan and I made it to the Back to the Bridge Backpackers. We had a nice two-bed rigid tent by the river, and the place featured a good bar, very friendly and helpful staff, and plenty of chill seating where you can talk to interesting strangers over the sound of frogs, bats and birds.
The most memorable part of the whole trip was the mokoro ride. It was supposed to be an overnight trip, but due to the airline stuffup earlier in the week, we could only do a one-day ride. Even that was fantastic, though. We took a fast speed boat ride up the river (but even river traffic needs to stop for crossing cattle and a foot and mouth check), ducking for one very low bridge, and then we got to a place where there were potential guides waiting with their little wooden vessels. Well, most of them were wooden; ours was plastic. But this is a good thing, since they last much longer, and the trees that they carve makoro take hundreds of years to mature and have become endangered.
We spent the next five or six hours either being floated around gondola-style or walking around wild, dry African savana. We saw a lot of wildlife: giraffes, springboks, wildebeest, lots of zebra and a few other animals I hadn't heard of. I needed my binoculars to see most of them but it was still very special; I strongly felt I was on their land, in their environment. And in the case of crocodiles and the biggest danger of all, hippos, I wasn't too worried about keeping somewhat of a distance. Check out how big the bugger's foot print is compared to mine! And I've got big feet!
It was mostly the three of us: rachaelbrennan, our guide (who had a really weird name, C-Merchant or something) and me, but when we got back to the swimming hole, there were a lot of other people. They were in one group: a Canadian yogi couple, a few Germans and one very loud obnoxious Aussie. On the one hand I thought of the term 'ugly Australian', but he certainly was entertaining: splashing around like a kid, crash-tackling their guide, swimming away quickly as the guide used his bush skills to turn a lilly flower into an effective whip. He said to me privately 'so this one German is as deaf as a post, and I think his girlfriend is responsible-she never shuts up'. Pot kettle black, mate.
The most memorable moment was on the way back. We came within metres of elephants! At first they didn't notice us, but then our guide coughed and we were sprung! I felt a bit tense; the look we were getting from these huge animals wasn't very welcoming. But I snuck a few camera shots anyhow.
My companions weren't worried. Apparently you can tell elephants are pissed off when they flap their ears, and these guys' ears were still. I guess they were just curious. Still, I enjoyed the adrenaline rush, and the entire experience. It's one I won't forget any time soon.