18th Sept. 3rd Bridge.

18th Sept. 3rd Bridge, Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana.
We had a bit of luck in Maun when we tried to get a place in one of the camp sites in Moremi GR. Usually bookings have to be made up to 12 months before but the 3rd Bridge camp site had availability for 3 nights commencing 2 days hence. We also wanted to stop off at Chobe NP but the camp at Savuti was full, there is a privately run one nearby and hope to make that tomorrow when we leave here.
Moremi GR is smack bang in the middle of the Okavango Delta and is the only place where you don’t have to pay exorbitant prices although, now that the campsites have been privatized, AU$105 per night for the two of us for camping and park fee is not what you would call cheap. Still, the lodges here charge what they like and when you include the fly-in price as well, it is very expensive. We have been here two nights now, the drive from Maun was an experience, watching a variety of wildlife in the waterholes we drove near and yesterday we took a loop to the west that included an hour’s paddle on a mokoro poled by Action. The mokoros are slim flat bottomed river craft, holding a couple of people and poled by a bloke standing in the back. Before paying our money Action pointed out that we won’t see any animals but the vegetation is interesting and the tranquility of the water passing by. He was honest and we appreciated that. It will be one of the highlights of this trip; reeds on both sides, water lilies along the edges, clear water, silence apart from the birds and the pole slipping into the water. So relaxing.
This loop is noted for its elephant herds and on the way to the river we passed a couple, one fairly close to the road. But after the cruise we headed back and soon ran into a big herd that were feeding and wallowing in the nearby mud. Unfortunately three of them decided to feed on the road ahead of us. We had to back track a couple of times to give a couple of younger ones room when they showed their dislike of us being so close. But these three just ate on, 50 minutes later one by one they decided to browse elsewhere and we were at last able to get by. We checked later and were told that what we did was correct. Driving up to them and tooting the horn would be asking for disaster I would think as they are capable of flipping a car with one trunk tied behind its ear.
The camp site here is what is called a walk in site. There are no fences and the animals just walk in. We were warned against the baboons and hyenas helping themselves to food left out but last night we watched a lion about 500 metres away and the crowd in No 7 next door had a hippo sleep the night a few metres from their caravan. Two elephants were feeding near the reeds about 50 metres away yesterday morning and this afternoon the baboon troupe have been entertaining us with their antics in the tree above us then over at a vacant site where they spent hours playing and cavorting tne the trees.
The staff here have been excellent, helpful in advising us on viewing routes and up to date info on the road ahead. The Okavango Delta has had the best rain in the last 12 months for many years and flooding has only started to lessen. Many of the roads have been closed and others have had bypasses around the worst areas. Bit like Australia, when the rains come, everyone smiles.