Okavango Delta: Land of contrast and hippos
Bame Piet | Friday February 19, 2016 15:42
Day oneShakawe Gudigwa and back
Driving from Maun to Shakawe is not a totally remarkable experience although one is greeted by carcasses of cattle along the road between Maun and Sehithwa.
It is clear that the area is badly affected by drought, as did happen two to three years ago. The areas along the 100-kilometre road do not seem like it could ever provide pasture for livestock. Between Sehithwa and Nokaneng villages the vegetation is green, but not as abundant as it should have been around this time of the year. The drought has really hit the country hard.
Our first stop is Etsha 6, which is totally different with green vegetation and fresh evidence of recent downpours. The village has a low crime rate and human/wildlife conflict is rare with isolated incidents once in a while.
Here we interview Kgosi Tshepo Forose, deputy to Kgosi Seemeko, about the recent Child Birth Registration exercise conducted in December 2015 and what a confident man he is. He shares information on the successes of the campaign and the challenges they faced in the village.
“The registration will definitely help young people to acquire National Identity cards on their own and compete in school sport competitions. “Others will be able to access government programmes,” Forose says.
He adds that there are some people who grew up until they were in their 20s without the National ID. The Kgosi shares a childhood experience in which they used to travel 34 kilometres to Gumare for their secondary education. Forose expressed appreciation for the Children’s Act and how important it is for the welfare and future of a child.
From Etsha 6 we head to Etsha 4 where the headman also confirms that he is happy with the recent registration of childbirths.
Arriving in Shakawe at sunset, we head straight for Shakawe River Lodge on the banks of the Okavango River. There are a few stories to share among ourselves.
The bartender relays how the river water level is rising due to recent rains and reveals that in good times, it could even go up by one and a half metres. “The water level was very low a few weeks ago, but it is rising now after recent rains,” he says. There is also a warning about a roaming hippopotamus that we are told to keep our distance from. As night draws close, a colleague suggests that we walk to the main hotel. I cannot imagine what would happen if we encounter the hippo, especially since the nearest place of refuge is the crocodile-infested river.
That is one risk I am not prepared to take, especially since I am not a good swimmer, let alone at night in crocodile-infested waters.
On Monday morning we head to Mohembo West village where we cross over to the other side using the pontoon. Our destination is Gudigwa village, about 200 kilometres away on a gravel and muddy road.
Stories abound about the famous pontoon and the Mohembo crossing. The story goes that one day a pontoon broke down and a grieving family had to spend a night on the riverbank with their corpse.
However, there is hope as the construction of a bridge is at tender stage and construction work is set to begin some time this year or the next.
Across the river are many settlements along the Gudigwa road with the main villages being Seronga and Sekondomboro.
Gudigwa is dominated by Basarwa and came into being as a result of their relocation from other places in the area. The source of income in the village is primarily farming as well as handouts from those employed in safari lodges in the Delta and other places.
Although the crime rate there is very low, some young people do cause havoc after inhaling glue.
We head back and just before leaving Seronga, our guide wants to show us something special. He leads us into a bush where we find a fleet of boats and a makeshift BDF camp.
“There is a settlement deep in the Delta called Jao Flats. It is about four hours by boat drive and the people have resisted government efforts to relocate them into the mainstream villages,” our guide says. He adds that he had also heard shocking stories about the journey to Jao Flats. He narrates: “Someone once told me that while travelling there, their boat broke down in the middle of the river and they could see plenty of crocodiles passing by.” We depart Seronga and branch off at Sekondomboro village to Tobera settlement (pronounced Tovera) on a sandy road where only 4x4 vehicles could make it.
Tobera is a classic example of poverty and it is hard to imagine that the people could afford three meals a day. The people are friendly despite the harsh conditions under which they live.
“In fact, there is a special provision for the people in this area and they survive on the Okavango Special Basket dispensation,” reveals one colleagues who is familiar with the area. At 6pm we board the pontoon and make our way back to Shakawe. The captain has no time for delays as he is preparing for the last journey before knocking off at 6.30pm.
Day two
Leaving Shakawe
We have to check out, but cannot walk to the main hotel because the hippo we were warned about is leisurely grazing on the path we are using. We make noise to alert it of our presence hoping that it would give way, but unfortunately the hippo seems to prioritise its grass breakfast. Thus, in the end, we take an alternative, but long winding 300-metre long road.
We head to Mohembo West for office keeping before proceeding to Shakarawe, a settlement about 20 to 30 kilometres southwest of Mohembo. There, we visit a satellite primary school for Standard One and Two pupils. The Village Development Committee chairman statea that they came up with the satellite primary school after realising that their children travelled a long distance to attend school, which was taking a toll on the young ones in lower classes.
Some children were forced to go to boarding schools at very young ages. They would spend a few days, only to sneak out of the school to go back to their parents.
Before leaving, we meet the Okavango Sub District Council chairperson, Mbaha Kambimba who is also visiting on a mission to assess the level of service delivery in the area.
“What I realised is that we supply each school with two gas cylinders (cooking gas) and once they are finished these take at least three months to replace, meaning that the children would go for months without food. I think we should start supplying them with four cylinders, so that when the other two are finished, the other two can keep things going,” offers Kambimba.
Day three, four
After leaving Shakarawe, we head to Gumare via the Tsodilo Hills route where we pass through villages such as Gani, Chukumuchu and others. We arrive at Tsodilo Hills at around 2pm and find the vegetation still sodden from recent downpours.
Apart from a few office-like houses, there are no schools or lodges at the Tsodilo Hills settlement.
An hour later we are back on the road to Gumare where we are confronted by a serious challenge-of hippopotamus proportion- of lack of water in the lodge.
Gumare is also headquarters for the Ngamiland Sub District and also hosts the Rural Administration Centre, primary hospital, and a junior secondary school.
The internal roads are not as bad as in some parts of the country and in fact, Gumare will be counted among the country’s urban areas in the next five to 10 years.
An estimated 3,000 children were registered for Birth Certificates during the December 2015 joint campaign between the Botswana government and UNICEF and there are still calls for more campaigns for registrations.
After visiting the 20 or so villages around the Okavango Delta, it is still a mystery how last year’s declaration of the area as a UNESCO World Heritage Site is going to improve the lives of Delta inhabitants.