Our daily routing was such: early morning canoe ride at 6am, followed by breakfast at 8:30am, followed by a forest walk at 10am, lounging on the boat in the afternoon (usually up on the top deck, sometimes sleeping in a hammock up there), followed by a village visit or canoe ride at 4pm. About half the nights we also had canoe rides at night, looking for wildlife in the dark. Those were my favorites. The guides, Edgy & Sosa, would shine big spotlights on the shore and we'd look for red eyes looking back at us. We spotted a bunch of caiman (an alligator-type creature), some frogs, a boa constrictor (in a tree, so camouflaged he was hard to spot). One night, we came across a mother caiman and 20 babies. So cool! On our first night canoe ride, we'd only been out about ten minutes when a fish jumped right into our boat. Later, our guide started pounding on the canoe, making the fish start jumping all around us, and another fish jumped into the boat right at Robyn's feet.
By the second day, I'd given up all attempts at looking good. It was just too hot. Makeup? Forget it -- it would just melt off your face within a half hour (or be wiped off on your sleeve as you tried to wipe the sweat off your face). Forget about styling your hair -- just pull it off your face and neck with barrettes and rubber bands. When I got dressed, I just grabbed the first thing I came to in my bag, whether it was clean or dirty. I've never looked worse!
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
1 day ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.