Coffee call was well before dawn, then we set off to explore our new island. There had been god rains and there was LOTS of grass that undoubtedly concealed lions peering at us. Okavango Delta trees are simply magnificent: fan palms, sausage trees, leadwoods, jackalberries, rain trees, knobthorns….
The birders birded and I took photos of spider webs on dewy grass. We did see the necks of two giraffes in the distance. After four hours of this we were whacked and the temperature was creaming up past the mid 30s. We stumbled into camp for brunch then lounged around thinking of all that col water around us.
We consulted Julius. Could one swim here? Oh yes, he said, as long as it’s on white sand. Crocodiles don’t cross white sand in daylight. Something about they were scared of being spotted by herons when they were young. Hovering heatstroke can make one incautious. Could Julius find white sand? Oh yes, in the Boro River. After much humming and hawing we all got in the mekoro and poled over to see. Sure enough, there was a clear patch between dark walls of aquatic plants. Who’d be first croc bait? Torben leaped overboard with a splash and we were soon all in, keeping a watch for logs with eyes. An hour later we were still there, all uneaten.
Could we have a night swim, I asked. ‘You wouldn’t last three minutes,’ said Julius. After that it seemed a good idea to get back into the mekoro.
