Sunset cruise







 Saturday


After a siesta, we had “high tea” featuring stuffed mushroom caps, lemon meringue tarts and iced tea or coffee. Then we got ready to board mokoros - dugout flat bottomed boats that are propelled by polers. Sue was really sweating entering and exiting the boat, but with some helpful hands, she settled in back with Julie in front. Mkebi was our adept poler, standing in back and pushing us along. Unlike what was advertised, it was not like a Venetian gondola. Ona propelled his own mokoro - forging out ahead watching for hippos. Nick rode with poler MJ. We circumnavigated the island on which the camp is based, and with the lack of motor noise, we were able to get closer to the wildlife. We saw many birds, small fish and grazing lechwe. At one point, Mkebe captured a small frog for us to admire. When he tried to release it, it hopped around the boat and settled near Julie’s elbow. She couldn’t see it, and Sue’s new worry was that it would startle Julie and she would capsize the boat. Luckily the frog stayed put for the rest of the journey. Mkebe explained various things about the trees and plants. One tree was tapped to make wine. He also gave the history of the mokoros themselves, which were used to travel all the way from Angola. We saw 2 kinds of plover and a fish eagle up in a tree with a large fish   We were rounding a small bend when we heard a rustling in nearby reeds. Mkebe said it was a Sutunga, a rare antelope. Suddenly it bounded across the channel, within 2 feet of the front of our boat. It was quite large with distinctive horns. It was very exciting. Ona said it was a very uncommon experience. The sun started setting and the sky was brilliant pink and orange. We returned to camp and clumsily but successfully climbed out of the mokoro. After watching the rest of the sunset, we had a yummy dinner of steak and chicken and turned in for our last night’s sleep at Pelo camp. It seemed much quieter than the first night, although that could have been the Ambien. Tomorrow we set off for Khwai Reserve - Hyena Pan Camp. 

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