KarenWe visited Eselbe Camp on the Nata river in February, and since the river level was still high, being at the tail end of its seasonal flood, we decided to join Rupert on a canoeing expedition. We overnighted at the camp, where, as usual, we met up with a varied group of travellers and backpackers! Helena, Milan and Bettina, wonderful youngsters from such different places and backgrounds, were joining us the next day on our adventure on the river!
Jim, arrived on his motorcyle from Namibia, and decided very sensibly that the following day he was just taking a chill day. The rest of us were up for a crazy day paddling out on the river in the boiling hot sun, and agreed with Captain Rupert that we would start moving things along as close to 7.30 the following morning as possible, to try and avoid the worst of he heat of the day.
After a pretty late night, a heroic effort was made by all to mobilse in a fairly timely fashion, and we loaded ourselves and our goods into vehicles, with the iconic orange VW campervan towing the trailer full of canoes which we put into the water at Maphosa village – 10km upstream from Nata by road.
As we set off, we had to navigate over a few sandbanks, which was a sign of things to come! In the upper reaches of the river, we managed to float and paddle for a while until we would come to a halt and have to get out and push through the shallows. There were actually signs of the water level subsiding during the day, as we cruised downstream.
We realised it was almost 28 years to the day, since we two nomads had last been canoeing together on this very river. (Valentine’s day of 1994). Interestingly, at the time we were just friends and the day itself was merely a coincidence – but that’s another story altogether!
Here are some comparison photos from 1994, and 2022! Not much has changed on the Nata river itself in the intervening years, but the 2022 photo probably features the descendants of the local kids who posed with us and our canoe in 1994….
For geographical interest: The Nata river originates in Zimbabwe, crosses the border into Botswana, flowing towards the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, and empties itself into the Nata river delta, inside the Nata Bird Sanctuary. The pans are filled up seasonally with water from this and a few other rivers, as well as local rains.
This river is completely unspoiled and remote, with stretches in between villages where you do no see a single soul. We enjoyed the riverbank cliffs, mini rapids and the most beautiful trees along the way.
A small video clip ….
“Wildlife” along the river is made up of cows and donkeys, who looked at us with curiosity as we floated by…
The expressions on these cows’ faces as we appeared randomly in their space, was just priceless!
Milan took some aerial shots – the old fashioned way, by climbing up to the top of the riverbank!
A typical scene in he shallows…
We took a refreshment break or two in the shade, where we tried to figure out exactly how far along the river we had progressed! Turned out at this point we were almost half way. Time is very fluid out on the river, and he scenery is all pretty similar, thus we turned to Maps.Me to provide us with the necessary location information!
Cooling off break! No crocodiles here… to answer the question we get asked most frequently!
At the end of a long and physically tiring day, we happily paddled in to shore at Eselbe, and worked out we had done a 14km stretch, in just under seven hours, out in the blazing sun! It was so good to be out in nature, and enjoying one of northern Botswana’s unspoiled gems, with great companions and laughs, all the way! Many thanks to all involved, for making this such a special, and different experience 🙂
Watch this space, as ever, for more adventures!
