Same morning routine time wise, but bush breakfast held around the campfire at the front of the camp instead of in the inside dining area. On our way from the tent to breakfast, Iris and I spotted a female bush buck about 10' ahead of us at our second ground crossing. I remembered Julius told us most antelopes were freezers, so I shone the flashlight into her eyes so she would freeze and we could safely pass, which she eventually did.
Shelly and Iris enjoy breakfast around the campfire.
While Vitalis and I were enjoying our coffee around the campfire, we were coming up with all the African expressions for going to the bathroom in the wild (I know, it didn't take us long to get to know each other well enough to start exchanging potty jokes). He gave me some really good ones:(1) Toilets outside in the bush are referred to as green doors;(2) Men may go behind the bush/jeep/tree to mark their territory;(3) Outdoor toilet is a loo with a view;(4) When you pee, you are raising the water table;(5) For the men, "watch out for the snake eagles."
Special impala.
Mom and babies approach our jeep.
Majestic kudu and their incredible ears.
Crimson-breasted Gonolek
After breakfast, I was lucky enough to be in the first group to explore the Gomoti River by mokoro, a rustic fiberglass canoe with seating for 2 people, guided by a poler (like a gondola). GB was our poler/guide and he was excellent, although he did have a bad habit of going "off-road" through the reeds instead of between them. I was still picking little seed pods off my stocking cap hours after we finished.
We prepare for our mokoro safari. (Iris and I are in the 2nd mokoro from the right).
Georgia and Don head to the hippo pool.
We enjoyed many animal sightings - a painted reed frog (AKA bell frog) that was as large as a fingernail, large insect skaters, small insect badges, the African jacana bird (AKA Jesus bird), hippo grass, hadeda ibis, reed cormorant, white-faced whistling ducks, day water lilies, white-backed duck nest, fan palm trees with coconut clusters that looked like grapes, and a sycamore fig tree (used for making the wooden mokoro).
Painted reed frog.
White-faced whistling ducks.
A hippo hairy eyeball.
A stunning water lily.
White water lily.
Fan palm tree.
GB explained more about the delta, explaining that we were currently in peak season (April-August), with over 18,000 square kilometers of water. (14,000 square kilometers in off peak). As we glided through the water, he pointed out knot weed, day water lilies (which were in various stages of opening as the sun grew stronger), and kareba weed (a new, dangerous weed introduced in the area by Brazil, that had nothing that fed on it. So it grows and takes the oxygen from the water, killing insects who stick to its roots and plants who are shaded from the sun because of it. Botswana imported beetles from Australia to kill the weeds, but unfortunately these beetles live only 48 hours and don't reproduce. They also get eaten by aquatic birds. But, despite all odds, these beetles are managing to consume some of this kareba weed and are beginning to improve the delta ecology).
As always, another fantastic lunch and dinner. Lotta was working the bar when we returned from the evening safari. Since Martha and Joan, 2 retired teachers from Rhode Island, were constantly checking the size of the wine glasses to make sure they got their money's worth, and they were sitting at the bar when I was getting ready to order wine for Iris and myself, I asked Lotta to give me the largest wine glasses she could find. She not only came through, but she poured me a glass that was so full there was no way I could walk away from the bar without spilling it! Of course I had to rub it in with Joan and Martha, so we had a great laugh about it. (Most of the time we were drinking "a smooth, easy red wine" from Overmeer Cellars, so we have no idea if it was Cabernet, Shiraz or Merlot. That was all the information we could find on the box - OK, OK, it was in a box - but it was still delicious.
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