Day 4 Okivango Delta

By this day my body is up before the 5 am wake up call. I'm getting used to the 10-5 sleeping schedule. We drove to the launch point on the delta. The village that we launched from also provided the Mekoros(little canoes) and drivers (Pulas) They are live in that village which is about 15 km from Maun. If they want to go to school they have to take a taxi, so most kids don't and none of our Pula could read. They learn English by speaking with the tourists, which also helps further their careers in the tourism business.
We hopped in the Mekoros (2 to each) and paddled to the island where we would be staying for the next 3 days. The drivers used long sticks to push us along the water. It was covered with reeds and it felt like our own little African Queen experience. LB was our Pula and was great. He is married with 2 kids and he goes on these little excursions once a week for 3 days.
It took about 1.5 hours to get there and then we set up the tents. There were other groups nearby, but there is a limit on how many people can be there at one time. Also, we couldn't bring soap or shampoo. They want to protect the habitat as much as possible. After setting up camp, we got some practice time on the mekoros. It's harder than it looks to guide one of those things. LB was very patient was must of have said "julia, put your stick here" or "julia, where are you going" a 100 times. Tamara was much better at it.
After that we went on a little evening safari. Best was our guide. He's about 30, not married, but does have 4 cows. He's getting ready for that certain lucky lady. He was hilarious. As he was telling us what to do he just had a huge grin on his face. He's the one in the picture with the safari shirt on.