Day six - Lion lovers, Mokoro and spiderattack
Rise and shine, time for a full day in the delta! We started the morning tracking a lion we heard at night. As usual, our first sighting - Impala, you can always rely on them
We also saw a Steenbok, first for me as really funny. They are so cute with their small and pointy horns. I did not get a good picture from the front though.. Hanging around the waterhole we found a few zebras, they weren't very impressed of our visit and looked quite lazily at us, haha.
We the joined the other andBeyond vehicle from the permeant camp, they had found the lion! But we arrived 10 minutues late so we missed when he stole breakfast from the lioness, she of course had done all the work. He had chased her away and then finished the whole warthog with good appetite. When he was done he then trotted down to the water to drink, and then finished with eating some grass. Lovely to see the whole procedure, apparently, both the water and the grass improve the digestion. He the fell asleep in a bush in the shade. He was a really nice male with a next to golden coat.
Later in the distance we saw then a bunch of vultures circulate, it´s a given signs of a cadaver. Katembo was suggestion we would stay and wait if the lioness would appear. And it was not long before we saw her in a distance. Well, she must be hungry after her breakfast being stolen. Sadly, the Impala was pretty route and not completely in her taste.
She then turned and began circulating the area and and roared. She called on her cub who most likely had hid before she went hunting. It was heartbreaking to see how she called her cub but never received a reply .. Katembo, however, had a reassuring answer, the cubs follow the rest of the females who guards them when the mothers goes out hunting, and the will likely reunited later in the day <3 Let´s hope so!
She had a nasty cut in her chest, it looked clean so hopefully she would be alright.
We then took a fikapaus and watched the tracks in the sand and discovered that there were both large and smaller paw prints of lions. It must mean that the male heard the lioness called earlier and sought her up. Perhaps we now had a chance to see them together.
Look how nice they look together, a little difference in the waist size though;) The next time you can be a gentleman and share mister?
Back in camp, I could not help but shoot more of our spectacular tents and especially our view! I have never had a better view from the dinner table before.
The afternoon was scheduled for a different kind of activity, we were off on a Mokoro trip on the Delta. The departure was just before sunset, something that this giraffe also dressed very beautifully in. Traditionally, Mokoros, canoes are made of Ebony or Kigelia trees. Today, they are made of fiber glass to preserve the large and endangered trees. With mockor people traditionally traveled between villages in the delta. The water in the delta is very shallow, so you use a long pole and stakes out over the water. It is not entirely risk free as these canoes can easily tip over if you hit a hippo (help ?!)
Two and two with a captain we set out on the delta. I got to sit at the front because I am much shorter than Christian so I could get a good view, very cute, but ... in the Y shaped stick in the front is use to catch spiderweb. I'm not scared of spiders but I want to issue a warning for those who are - don't go in the front! Although the stick gathered up the webs, the spiders fell down into the mokoro, and it was not the smallest spiders. I had to struggle with not bothering because the smallest little movement rocked the canoe and I did not want to take a swim
It was an absolutely magical evening: We silently glided across the water in the sunset and the sound of the frogs finally shut out all thoughts of spiders crawling on my legs! We saw two small frogs - a bright green and one black/white spotted, so sweet and I got to know that they ate the spiders, thought it was the other way around because of the tiny size of the frogs! If you go to the delta you should definitely do a Mokoro ride but the most liberals to spider- should sit in the front
Goodnight Botswana, we will sleep good to the frogs singing even this night <3