Later in the arvo I had another crack at the mokoro and in another 15mins I could go further than where we were allowed to go, in a straight line without hitting any reeds, and do manoeuvres like U turns in open water and parking on the shore. Great to have another skill to add to my resume.
In the late arvo West and Frank took three of us on a mokoro cruise. It had just showered so the other girls didn’t want to come for fear of getting wet (…). It was great – soon we spotted a single bull elephant and West took us towards him. We pulled up and stood in the boat and watched him drink and graze and wander right across our field of view hardly 50m away. As West was explaining about single bulls that somehow know where to roam to find females and how agitated they usually are when they do, the bull decided he wasn’t going to let us watch him any more, and he turned to face us, and opened his ears at us. West quickly called “get down!” and we all dropped in the boats, Frank and I first because we were wearing white and yellow – not good to wear in front of an elephant. At this the bull was satisfied and he turned back around, resumed munching and strolled away. A memorable first encounter with a wild elephant!
We pulled back into camp and not an hour later the sky fell. It was great thunder and lightning and masses of rain that just wouldn’t let up, so we had to make a run for the tents in the rain and try to best sleep through such a storm in a tent. I think someone said it stopped at 3am, but the campsite was flooded in the morning. Welcome to the Okavango Delta.

Sprayview Hotel, Victoria Falls
Zimbabwe