The adventurous life of the Okavango

'But where do you think he would go?'

'Anywhere. Straight ahead of him.'

Then the little Prince said earnestly:

'That doesn't matter. Where I live everything is so small.'

And, with perhaps a hint of sadness, he added:

'Straight ahead of him, nobody can go very far...'

There are no easy ways getting to the Okavango delta, that is becoming painfully apparent. Both our trips there have been filled with challenges and bumps in the road. And literally, the bumps in the road were a crucial part of the last one. 

We started the drive in Namibia and drove through the border to Botswana. The highways in Namibia are generally good and despite the many cows, ostriches and warthogs, we were quite relieved about both the traffic and the quality of the road. It was quite okay right after the border, as well. We stopped in a smaller city to fuel up and realised with 200 km left of 700, that we would most probably make it to the Okavango before sunset, which felt safe. And exactly there, the bumps in the road started. In this case the bumps were more like enormous potholes in the actual road, which made it necessary to drive extremely slowly and sometimes beside the road. When we after hours finally reached the city of Gumare, which also contains the airstrip where we made an emergency landing two years ago, we did some grocery shopping for the upcoming days of camping in the Okavango and had a look at the directions. We knew it was 50 km to the campsite, but we also knew the last bit was supposed to go through bad roads.

Well, the directions said: Look for the signs to Etsa and then follow the sign boards to the campsite. It was a bit strange that the sign to Etsa came already 20 km after leaving Gumare. We almost missed it, but managed to turn off the main road and continue on small gravel roads to the village, where we asked for further directions. The sun started to set and we still didn't see any signs to the campsite, but everyone seemed to know where it was and continued pointing us in the same direction. Then we came to another village, called...  ...Etsa. We decided to follow the gravel road back to the main road, but our map weren't so specific and we had no internet available, why everything more felt like qualified guesses. We reached the main road again and the sign said Etsa 6. But which Etsa? 

We tried to find the phone number to the campsite, while deciding to go back to the village and look for the signs to the campsite. After asking more people for directions, the sun was setting and we found ourselves driving in the dusk, on a very dusty gravel road in the middle of Africa, feeling the panic coming that I suppose is a very natural consequence of not knowing where one is nor where one is supposed to go. Two elephants suddenly crossed the road and that eased the panic for a while. There is something very comforting with elephants... 

We eventually got hold of the campsite and they asked us where we were. I said that we are a few kilometers outside Etsa. 'Which Etsa?', she asked. 'Well... I don't know.' So there were apparently more than one and how could we know which one? I said that we had passed the second one, coming from the South. She said that the second village is Etsa 6, which made sense, due to the road sign, and asked us to go back to the main road and drive to Etsa 13. There we will find the signs for the campsite. If we didn't find the way, she promised to send out a rescue car to search for us.

It felt safe knowing there could be a rescue car sent out for us to search, but I think we both thought to  ourselves that it at least felt better if we managed to locate ourselves and then ask for support. We drove to Etsa 13. It was probably 15 kilometers and it took us one hour in the dark. We then spoke to the campsite again and they said that we could try to go by the signs, however, the last 13 kilometers are off-road and there was a risk to get stuck in the sand. So, we asked for support. And they came, deflated our tires and did their best to show us the easier way through what felt like a jungle covered in sand. It was a completely exhausting drive, even for the one who didn't drive. I was impressed that my husband didn't get stuck even once, and I believe he would describe that last drive as far beyond exhausting. 

So, we arrived, prepped our tent in the complete darkness and cooked our food on the fire. We climbed the ladder up to the tent, which was safely placed on the top of the car, and fell to sleep while the hippos were making sounds in the water close to us.

It seems to be a headache getting to the delta, but always worth it. We hade amazing days out on the river with birds, elephants and crocodiles. And we had lovely nights in our own little campsite, preparing the food by the fire and hanging out with the house owl. The Okavango is a truly hidden paradise and will always be my favourite place on Earth.

Straight ahead, no one can go very far...

Quotes from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince