BOTSWANA – House Sitting by the Okavango Delta: Dog Walking with Crocodiles…

 

 

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I came to the Okavango Delta by coincidence….

While road tripping all over South Africa, I received an offer for a house sit in Maun, the little gateway town into the Okavango.

 

Of course, this was too tempting an offer to decline and so I found myself soon after in this dusty bush town of mostly expats and tourists – my 3rd African house sit!

It was February = dry season – in fact, the absolute height of dry season, meaning there was not much water in the Delta.

February was the one month of the year with barely any tourists and most of the tour companies were shut down.

Dog Walking with Crocodiles

The house sit was nice – in a compound right by the river…

Keep in mind, this is Africa and rivers usually contain crocodiles – no different here.

Dog walking therefore was a bit more challenging as dogs get frequently eaten by crocs when they get too close to the water or even jump in.

We managed fine and the walkway was far enough from the water to not be of danger to humans – at least I hoped so…;-)

Beautiful scenery at any time of day.

“Mokoro tours” were not available: the narrow, long, wooden boats the natives use to move through the Delta – a very popular tourist attraction. One of the things to do when in the Delta!

Helicopter tours still went out though and Helicopter Horizons took me along on a flight to the Mokoro village where they were picking up a group of backpackers for a scenic flight.

I was excited!

A Helicopter Ride over the (dry) Delta

This was our ride…

with Andrew, the owner, as pilot.

And off we went…..

The Okavango looked quite different from what I had expected. Not too surprising given that the big floods hadn’t come in yet, but still beautiful and wondrous. I’ll let the pictures speak…

Approaching the Mokoro village…

An awesome adventure – I always LOVED helicopters!

I will definitely want to return and see the Delta in its full glory. Next time on a horse safari. Those are quite popular here (except in February…;-) and an unusual way to explore this spectacular region.

 

Helicopter Horizons are the only helicopter outfit in the Delta and you can book a flight with them here – Do NOT miss out on this – it is SO much better than a plane ride, because a helicopter can fly right above the water and go much lower. – THAT’s the way to see the delta and Helicopter Horizons are AWESOME!

NEXT: On to Kasane and the Chobe National Park and River…..

More posts on Southern Africa:

ZIMBABWE – My Walk with Lions

ZIMBABWE – The Magnificent Victoria Falls Hotel

NAMIBIA – The Sand Dunes of Sossusvlei

BOTSWANA – One Man’s Quest to Erase Poverty – One Pre-School at a Time

Road Trips SOUTH AFRICA – The Amazing Cape Peninsula

Road Trips SOUTH AFRICA – Whale Coast Road to Garden Route

SOUTH AFRICA – The Nelson Mandela Trail

AFRICA on SassyZenGirl