Tomorrow we say a sad goodbye to our intern Masego Maruping. Masego is a student at the Botswana Accountancy College and has been with us for three months, gaining practical experience in the tourism industry. During that time she has worked hard in across the organisation, but found time to visit Desert & Delta Safaris’ Camp Okavango.
Camp Okavango – Masego Maruping
Despite living in Botswana all my life, the first time I set my eyes on the magical land of the Okavango Delta was from the air as I headed to Camp Okavango. I was amazed by its beauty and sheer scale.
That evening I went for a boat cruise and the first creature I saw was a very big crocodile lying of a bunch of papyrus. At first, I thought it was an alligator, but the guide told me that “No, it is not an alligator, they don’t exist in Africa’’. I also saw hippos playing in the water and that was fun to watch. After the boat cruise, I went on a mokoro safari during which I saw many birds, red lechwes, an antelope that live both on the land and water and they are herbivores. The guide told me that a common tactic that these lechwes use to escape from its predators is by running deep into the waters.
The following day, early in the morning, I went for a bush safari walk and I saw more red lechwes and antelopes again as well as herds of buffalos from a distance. I told the guide that I wanted to see an elephant because I have never seen one before he searched but we could not find any during our safari bush walk. In the evening we went on a boat cruise activity I saw a sitatunga, it is such a very beautiful and shy creature and it ran away before I could even take a picture. However, the search for an elephant continued and the guide scoured the bush for one till I saw them, it was an elephant mother and her calf. Baby elephants are so cute and funny to watch, I even took a picture of myself with an elephant behind me. Later that evening, we sat around fire and talked about what we saw and our experiences for the day. The best moment was when we went for a sundowner and had drinks and snacks right in the middle of the waters of the Okavango Delta.
It was such an amazing experience for me and I really had the best time of my life-one of the best moments that I will forever cherish. I enjoyed every bit of it.