Friday 26 October - Day trip Okavango delta - Part 2

Breakfast was at 6:30 AM and after that we departed on a safari boat into the delta. It was a beautiful morning and there was an abundance of bird activity happening. Our camera's didn't stop clicking away. It was so spectacular that words can't describe what we have seen and experienced. From feeding the fish eagles with our own catch that we just got and hearing the sounds from the thousands of birds out there. It was simply stunning. We went again for a sunset game drive and saw elephants, hippos, kudus, impala & lechwe. We got back in the camp at 9 PM. That's 14 hours of safari on both water & land. We were completely exhausted and crashed after dinner. Another early start planned for tomorrow. We are going for a walking tour around the camp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okavango_Delta

Into a smaller boat (Makoro) to explore the shallow parts

We had to pull the boat past a shallow sandbank. (Note that there are crocodiles inhabiting there waters)

Tiny reed frog

Up in the sky

'Hippo highway' - These waterways are actually made by the hippos that traverse the delta

Dinner has been caught

And a small fish for the fish eagles

Baby jumbo

Friday 26 October - Day trip Okavango delta - Part 1

We went on a small safari boat into the delta to see the spectacular wildlife. There are so many different species of birds flying around here. Here are some of the best shots we took (Thanks to Louis' lens). Part 2 will be updated later today.

Thursday 25 October - Sossusvlei -> WIndhoek -> Maun -> Kanana camp

We got up before sunrise and after breakfast we went to the airstrip that was only a few minutes away from the lodge. As we were loading the bags and doing the preflight we could see the sunrise and enjoyed the beautiful light show of the the dunes changing colour as the sun rose more. 

We got airborne and set course to Windhoek for an immigration stop and also to refuel our aircraft. These stops take a bit of time. We have to pay the landing fees with a certain person, then file a flight plan with another and call someone else for the fuel. And also need to get a stamp in our passport because we are leaving Namibia and our next point of landing will be Maun in Botswana. So all in all this usually takes around 1 hour. 

We got all we needed and departed for our longest leg of the trip to Maun. It was a 3:30 hrs flight to Main and this is a longgg way in a small aircraft. There was an airport just across the border in Botswana but there weren't any immigration facilities. So technically it would't be legal to land there. But halfway we decided to continue to Maun and skip the stop. It would also save a bit of time. 

We arrived safely in Maun and had to go through the same procedures again; Landing fees, flight plan, fuel and immigration. We finally were ready for our last flight of the day to the Kanana Camp. Only a 30 min flight overflying the Okavango Delta. It was absolutely beautiful and the landing on this sandy strip was amazing. We were picked up by the staff and driven to the camp http://www.kerdowneybotswana.com/camps/camp/4/kanana

We then went for a sundowner drive into the park. We saw a lot of wildlife and had a stop for a beer and a glass of wine before returning for a nice dinner in the camp with the other guests that were also staying there. After a long day we were all in bed by 10 PM and ready for an early morning start on a safari boat into the delta. Lots of birdlife to be seen. 

Sunrise

Ready for departure

Bush 1

Windhoek from base leg 

Namibia - Botswana border with Bush 1 crossing

Busy Maun airport

Kanana camp strip

Short finals into Kanan

Pick up truck

Kanana camp entrance

The tent

The tent inside

View from the tent

Sundowner

Wednesday 24 October - Day trip around Sossusvlei

After breakfast we continued looking for a guide to take us to the dunes. Finally we got some luck and at 11 AM we set off in a nice Toyota Hilux with our guide 'Seven'. We had a great time around the park and Seven was a great guide. We saw lots of wildlife and climbed a small dune. Quite a challenge to get to the top of the ridge. For every step you sink back more than half. With our shoes properly filled with sand we walked back to the car. It was an exhausting climb, but lots of fun. We had some snacks under some trees and on the way back to the lodge we stopped at a million year old canyon. It was quite cool down there. We just finished dinner and met a French family that we had met in Fish River canyon 2 days ago. Great to catch up again.

Tomorrow is going to be a long days flying. We will be starting super early. Aiming for a 6 AM departure. Our route will takes us to Windhoek to clear immigrations and then into Botswana to the town of Maun followed by a short flight into the Okavango delta to our Camp 'Kanana'. There won't be any internet connection there and our next blog update will be when we reach Victoria Falls on Saturday. 

Our guide 'Seven'

Ostriches

Springbok

A Hawk

Springbok Family

Oryx

Ready for the dune climb

We made it to the top of the ridge

Lots of sand in our shoes

The canyon