Under no uncertain terms were we to leave after 12:30 pm for our intended destination on Chief’s Island in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. With that in mind, our four boats set out for the 3 ½ hour drive around 2:30 pm. The boat with the luggage and experienced bush driver sped ahead of the other three boats to set up camp before our arrival. The boat I was traveling in contained the majority of the packs and nine adults. The other two motorboats were smaller and contained four to five people apiece along with some gear. From the minute we attempted to direct the boats across the fishing wire that was strung out underneath the water at the edge of the Delta, our progress was choppy at best. Even at full throttle, our top heavy motorboat strained to increase its speed through the waterway that was long ago carved out by hippos. Stopping for the umpteenth time, Brian and Jonathan reached over to pull the weeds off the propeller that were instantly sucked back when the engine roared to life. Thus was the progression of our trek from Maun to our camp on Chief’s Island dotted with occasional glimpses of wildlife.

This pattern subsisted for almost four hours with our boat consistently falling behind the smaller two boats. Around six o’clock, as complete darkness was quickly overtaking the fading light, the drivers switched boats so that Mike (another person knowledgeable about driving in the Delta) took over the helms of the big boat. Thus far, the boat ride had been extraordinary with water lilies dancing along and underneath the surface of the water and tall grasses stretching out across the horizon. Tree islands dotted the horizon and occasional wildlife could be seen off in the distance.

 

However, as dusk faded completely away Mike refrained from giving an actual arrival time to camp (arrival time had been about an hour for the majority of the ride even though we were heading into the sixth hour of driving), and people began to get nervous. And cold. Putting on all the extra gear available, people bunkered down into their seats and attentively watched as pitch darkness slowly surrounded the boats.

With Mike leading the way out boat shot out in front of the other two. We had to double back shortly after complete darkness b/c neither of the other two boats had headlamps. I was standing on the left side of Mike in the bigger boat illuminating the path ahead with the headlamp that I had tucked into a pocket at the beginning of the trip. Distributing a few other headlamps to the other two boats, the three boats stuck close together as we meandered our way slowly through the hippo channels. Mike had to navigate in complete darkness with the constant sweeping of the headlamp to light the path ahead. While the stars were unbelievably beautiful, it was not quite bright enough to steer by starlight.

Keeping a steady but fair pace our boat came out into a slightly open area. Still in the lead we cruised ahead towards where the channel narrowed down again. The other two boats were about 150 yards behind us. Suddenly someone at the front of the boat yelled hippo! Before anyone could react, the boat broadsided the hippo, with the starboard side of the boat lifting up as we went over the hippo. I was positioned on the left side of the boat and my next conscious thought after the boat struck the hippo was, how the fuck did I get in the water? When the boat struck the hippo on the starboard side, I was immediately knocked off the portside into the water. Landing on my back, I came up sputtering and gasping for breath in the frigid water. Almost immediately I looked towards my boat and started to swim towards it. The absolute last place I wanted to be was in the water. I realized within a couple seconds that I would not reach my boat quickly as they were continuing to move away (even while Mike was trying to reverse). I turned myself around and started swimming towards the next boat coming down the channel. It’s a surreal feeling…I could hear voices yelling across the water about hippos, Andrea in the water, Get Andrea out of the water, Don’t hit Andrea – she’s in the water…Personally, I didn’t really care if the next boat hit me straight on so long as they got me out of the water. I was swimming as hard as I could and yet felt like I was moving nowhere due to the waterlogged clothes and boots that were still on my feet. I did not consciously realize while I was in the water that my boat had hit a hippo – I only knew we hit something hard and that I did not want to be in the water when hippos and crocs were around.

The second boat swerved away from me to avoid front on collision and I desperately attempted to catch the front end where hands were outstretched to grab me. However, the connection never occurred and the second boat was rapidly slipping away. I was catty-cornered to the back right side of the second boat, already getting ready to aim for the third boat that was coming up fast behind, when someone managed to grab my outstretched right hand. I was hauled aboard and landed with a thump. I was still gasping for breathe and realizing just exactly how damn cold it was outside. Meanwhile, people were swirling around above and around me asking if I was okay. I heard someone else yell out wanting to know if I had been bit. Calmly I replied I was fine, but inside I was shaking. Then I realized I was shaking on the outside too – someone commanded me to strip out of my wet clothes and as I did so, dry clothes materialized from those around me. While this was going on the other two boats had pulled up along side the boat I had been hauled into…someone looked down into the water and noticed a light shining back up at them – my headlamp. While I was getting dry, a mission to retrieve the headlamp from the bottom of the Delta (not super deep) was carried out. The headlamp was retrieved and continues to work to this day.

The rest of the night was spent wrapped up in a couple coats and a sleeping bag sipping on Amarula. Everyone one in each boat was incredibly tense and quiet as we continued to slowly progress towards our camp. We finally did make it (after eight hours) and everything worked out (obviously) but it’s one adventure I still would have happily allowed another to experience.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 at 11:04 pm and is filed under Africa 06, travels. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.