Flying into the Okavango Delta
Staying in Maun is just the stepping stone for us, the first step towards staying at a private camp right next to the National Park. We have booked a couple of nights at Moremi Crossing, and today is the day we fly out to the camp.
First order of business: parking the car at the headquarters of the company owning the camp. It is called Under One Botswana Sky, and is situated a short distance from Maun International Airport. We parked the car, with plenty of time to spare for our 10:10 flight. The shuttle to the airport proved to be the car of the manager, and we were soon after this in the capable hands of a porter who was going to get our luggage into the right plane. For us, this was a storable bag of 10kg, and my backpack containing all our photo gear. Just shy of 20kg, we were pretty much maxed out on our 10kg per person maximum.
Checking in was a breeze, we were actually given our hand written ticket by the porter without even mentioning our names or showing our passports, and the security check was equally swift. We told the porter which bags contained liquids or knives, and they were immediately taken away and transported in the baggage compartment of the plane (under the belly). Our own bags had to go through a security scanner, we passed through a metal detector and we were in the holding area. A short while later, we were directed into a car, which lead us to our 4 seat plane, with a total of 5 passengers. Kirsten was the lucky one to sit in the seat of the co-pilot, I got the seat on the last row. The flight was short, bumpy and it passes over a fantastic scenery.
The camp has a rigid schedule: wake up call at 06:30 in the morning, breakfast at 7, and the morning activity starts at 07:30. It returns at 11, after which lunch is served at 11:30. This is where we arrived at the camp. After lunch, the siesta commences and lasts until 15:00 when a high tea is served. The evening activity starts at 16:00, and you come back at 18:00. You are then escorted to your safari tent, and are picked up by the guide at 19:15 for pre dinner drinks. At 19:30 dinner is served and a guide escorts you back to your tent. As elephants roam free in this camp, walking after dark alone is prohibited and a guide must accompany you at all times. The next day the exact same schedule is kept, and everything starts over.
