After checking out my room and taking some pictures of birds, I headed to the dock to be fitted for some lovely rain boots. It took awhile for all of the group to find a size that fit, but we did.
Then since it was quite warm and humid we all jumped into the lake. So who cares if there were piranhas in them. After a few minutes one lady started shouting, look Caiman. They were only about 4 feet long and could care less about us. When I got out of the water I counted and I still had all my toes and fingers.
At six I met my guide Julio and my native guide Evon. I was the only one in the party, since the rest of my group would be arriving tomorrow. We went in the canoe down a lagoon to see wild orchids and bromeliads. They were beautiful and so was the sunset. We also saw a great many birds.
We the headed to the main lounge for dinner. The buffet was wonderful a large variety of food and all wonderful. Each meal was this way so I won't go into it except it was all good and varied and people would be hard put not to find something to satisfy their palates. I especially like the deserts. There were always four to chose from, and the most wonderful watermelon, grown on the coast of Ecuador. They even had a tree tomatoes fluff. I know about tree tomatoes since we had them in Hawaii.
After dinner I met my guides for a hike through the jungle. I was truly amazed how the native guide would go running off in to the bush and come back with a poison tree frog about and inch big. How did he see them? We saw lizards, heard all sorts of creatures and when we came upon Conga ants was told to stamp our feet and move quickly. I sure did, since the bite can lay you up for a week with a high fever.
After the hike I was happy to head to the Cabin for a shower and a good night's sleep.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.