Have You “Mokoro’d?”

A safari is usually all about the animals, but we took part in a “Mokoro” outing in the Okavango Delta of Botswana that was the most serene moment of our trip!

Welcome To Wilderness Qorokwe!

We were staying at the really terrific Wilderness Qorokwe lodge on the Okavango Delta…those are wet marshes right in front of the lodge – and this was the view from our room the morning we had guests stop by unexpectedly:

I’ve said this before, but there are NO fences of any kind: all the animals have complete free reign, and we were told to exercise caution when walking from our room to the lodge – on a raised walkway – in this video I explain why it lowers to the ground at times:

Yes, the Elephants have the right of way! We loved this lodge for two reasons: the entire staff was incredible, and we met some other terrific guests!

We made great new friends at Wilderness Qorokwe. That’s Alex on the left, our Guide Jacob, Sangeetha and her husband Karthik, me and Sangeetha’s sister Aravinda! We did a number of terrific safari drives together, but today we were all going on a Mokoro together!

A “Mokoro” is a traditional dugout canoe primarily used in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. It’s a shallow, flat-bottomed boat, traditionally made by hollowing out a single tree trunk, and is a key mode of transportation for exploring the Delta’s waterways. 

Let’s get started:

The mokoro is not just a mode of transportation but also holds cultural significance for the people of the Okavango Delta, with legends and folklore surrounding its use.  It’s a stunningly beautiful way to experience the Okavango Delta while gliding through it:

I love the reflection of Aravinda’s Mokoro gliding through the water, and here are Sangeetha and Karthik with another cool reflection:

The entire trip was an hour: an hour of serenity, spectacular scenery, and a deep appreciation of the power of nature….we were followed from the shore by our good friends:

Those Elephants were not a surprise: this area has the most concentration of Elephants in the country!

But some of the wildlife is smaller…much much smaller – check this out and keep an eye on the reed in the water:

To give you an idea of just how peaceful it is, I shot our Guide slowly pushing us along – you literally hear nothing except for small pockets of conversation:

We finished out Mokoro trip right as the sun was setting…

Then, it was back to the Jeeps, where a sunset feast and drinks were waiting!

For those of you who are really interested, here is a 9 minute mini-documentary showing all aspects of our Mokoro adventure, with some beautiful music attached…sorry, but a few of you may not be able to watch due to some of the music – but it’s everything you saw above just a lot more!

This safari adventure was the trip of our lifetime – to see wildlife up close, in their environment…here is a look at the “magnificent seven” we saw and more!

I will have stories on each of these incredible safari creatures, like I did when I shared our Leopard sighting:

You can see more video and inside info on this amazing cat…see that here:

I already shared a story about how they greeted us at Singita Boulders in South Africa on our first night, plus a look at the festive food welcome we got when we arrived…see it here!

And most importantly: South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe are all working hard to fight animal poaching – see more on how they work to use our tourism dollars to save these wild animals and their way of life!

I also shared some of the highlights of the trip, including video of a very noisy Lion who went very close to me as he was griping about something…you can see that v video and more here:

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Categories: Africa, documentary films, Exotic Travel, Memoirs, nature, Pop Culture, safari, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir

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