Chitabe to Vumbura, Okavango delta, Botswana 24 - 25 Oct 07

Little Vumbura, an island resort

On the way from Sandibe Lodge to Chitabe airstrip we spotted two male lions having a siesta in the shade of a tree.
After the short flight across the delta, we were met by M.D. who transferred us by Landrover and then powerboat to Little Vumbura Safari camp set on a small island. All the staff came to the jetty to welcome us with singing and dancing.
Little Vumbura was more manicured than Sandibe and they had installed a boardwalk passageway to the luxury tents. Judging by the elephant droppings on either side of the boardwalk, I wondered how often they had to replace the boards, and the answer was ‘quite frequently’.
The luxury tent – set well apart from the few other ones and therefore private - was very plush and we even had an outside bath tub that we bathed in by moonlight after our sunset boat cruise.
The sunset cruise by powerboat on one of the main channels in the Okavango delta was a very different experience from the morning’s silent electric boat ride. The noisy, fast boat was not very ecological and we must have scared most of the wildlife away. However, we did see a large number of birds: black crowned night heron, rufous-bellied heron, reed cormorant, African darter, black winged stilts, yellow billed ducks, purple heron, egrets, grey lourie, martin and pied kingfisher. The channel was surrounded by high reeds and papyrus, so it wasn’t a suitable habitat for large crocs. Still, we spotted a small croc disappearing into the water and a number of hippos raised their heads briefly as we zoomed by.