Hello, Fodorites! I am a new poster. My husband and I are planning a trip to Africa for (probably) June 2008. I know this is a lot of lead time but planning is half the fun! I have been doing lots of research and have been monitoring this board for several months. Our current plan is to do three Wilderness Safaris camps in Botswana.. two five paw and one six paw for a total of seven nights and then two nights at Victoria Falls.

I have a question about the mokoros. It sounds like a really great experience, but we are concerned about taking our cameras on a mokora trip. (He has a really nice high def video camera and I have a Canon 20D.) I have read that mokoros are rather "tippy". How tippy? Worse than a normal canoe? What are the chances you and your camera could end up in the water? Any suggestions for protecting photography equipment?

Welcome to the forum! Lead time is good. Then you will get exactly what you want and not what is left over.

That's a nice amount of time on safari. Any ideas on which camps you wish to visit and what time of year you are going?

I have never heard of a visitor or their gear fallling out of a mokoro that is guided by an experienced poler. When I've gone in a mokoro, it was sufficiently stable. As a passenger, you did not have to do anything that could add to the instablility. You just sit, look, use binoculars, and take photos. As I recall, I left my bigger camera with the long lens back at camp and took my point and shoot in a camera bag, probably due to some of the same concerns you have. There was no splashing going on that would get water on the cameras. The mokoro provides a slow, smooth, relaxing ride.

You could bring a waterproof river bag in which to store your camera while on the mokoro. The problem is that in the time it takes to remove the camera from the bag, the photographic subject may be gone.

If you try standing up and poling the mokoro yourself, then you'll experience the tippiness. You could do that for fun, under supervision, with the ones that will likely be near your water camp.

Your cameras should be completely safe, but I probably would not take both of them.

Please post as your itinerary takes shape.

Thanks so much for your advice and reassurance. Actually a waterproof bag is a great idea. We can keep our equipment in it until we feel confident that nothing is going to happen.

We are planning our trip for early June to take advantage of shoulder season pricing. We are currently looking at 2 nights at Chitabe, 2 nights at a combination camp - either Tuba Tree or Kwetsani, and 3 nights at Kings Pool. Of course we want to see the predators but I am also really excited to see elephants. We are in our late fifties and, like so many of you, this a our "trip of a lifetime". While at times I wish we could leave tomorrow, I am having a blast doing the research. I am so glad I found this forum and I'm sure there will be more questions as the time gets closer.

We have taken the exact same kit (20D plus accessories and a video cam) on a mokoro without any worries - they are pretty stable (unless you're planning on hoola dancing in them!). Because we're large individuals we each travelled in our own mokoro rather than sharing one between us which makes it a lot easier to access one's accessories. Just take a little care getting in and out and, if you're worried, follow Lynn's suggestion of a waterproof outerbag to pop your other bags into.

While in Botswana in 2000, we met a family from the Netherlands who had been at one of the water-based camps. They were out in several mokoros and two were up-ended by a hippo. It had been submerged and the lead mokoro disturbed it. No one was injured, but they definitely got dunked. We had just stayed at Kwetsani and I had taken all my camera gear on our mokoro tour. You shouldn't have a problem tipping over on a normal tour, but there is the possibility of that "hippo experience."

Blimey - how scary! Definitely a case of using a waterproof bag but... to be honest, you'd have the camera in your hand and not zipped inside the bag most of the time anyway...

You can either look at a dedicated waterproof camera bag (we bought the Lowepro Dryzone 100 for a trip to Antarctica which definitely saved our gear but does add a layer of inconvenience in terms of accessing one's gear) or one of those large waterproof sacks (available from outdoor/ camping stores - much cheaper and you just seal your regular backpack inside of them - better for situations when the danger of gear getting wet is short lasting such as island tours when it's just the zodiac trip to and from ship to shore that's the risk).

Scary, indeed! My fellow traveler on that trip won't get anywhere near African waters in a small boat, anymore (canoe or mokoro). On that same trip, we flew from Chikwenya camp to Vic Falls with the man who was killed by an elephant a few days later in Namibia. My friend still gets a bit nervous when the eles get close to our vehicle. Still, she loves Africa and continues to return.

I think what I would take in a mokoro is my "backup" point-and-shoot digital camera. It's a Canon A80 and only cost me $150 earlier this year. I might miss a shot or two, but it would be worth the peace of mind. I always have a still camera and video camera, so there would be "double jeopardy" for me.

That camera came in handy in February. My 28 - 200mm Canon lens "died" on me at Vic Falls. I had planned to use it in the Cape Town area, as my wildlife zoom lens wouldn't work for the landscapes. I used the A80, instead.

ShayTay,

Ok, so now I have heard of someone being dumped by the mokoro. For the guy being killed in Namibia by an elephant--if it was within the last few years, he left the vehicle to take pictures.

How disturbing to have seen someone obviously enjoying themselves on a trip of a lifetime, just before tragedy struck.

slsmith,

Back to the original question, as an extreme measure, you could take one of those underwater point and shoots and have it always ready to go. When I look at my mokoro pictures, most were of wide angled landscapes, not requiring a telephoto.

Looks like a good itinerary for June. And 2008 will be here before you know it.

Enjoy, I absolutely love Kings Pool.

Enjoy,

Sounds fun.........since you mentioned elephants, expect to see them but, not in their huge numbers that early in the season in the linyanti

Mokoro.....just chill out and enjoy the experience......it's not really for the big game experience......you may see the odd animal on the banks but not nearly as many as from the jeep.

Hari

I actually didn't even think about this problem until we were at Little Vumbura in May 2005 and saw a blurb in the room that said something to the effect of that they could not guarantee that the mekoro would not turn over. That made me very wary, but I took my good camera anyway. I am not normally a scaredy-cat, but the mekoro made me VERY nervous!!! Any time the poler moved, I was afraid the thing was going to turn over and I was going to dunk my camera! I hated the whole mekoro trip, as I was so nervous. If you have a cheaper camera to take, I would definitely consider taking it, if you think you will be nervous. I don't recall, but I don't THINK I had ever been in a canoe before that. I know that if and when we go back to Africa, I will NOT be doing a mekoro trip..
Carol

Wow, Carol, I'm so sorry to hear you were so uncomfortable during your mokoro trip. Even with my camera I felt really serene during my first one - it did take a few minutes to get used to the unique rythmic rocking that the poler created when he pushed us forward but I quickly settled into it.

I think my several mokoro trips are amongst the most peaceful episodes of my life!

My mokoro trip was one of the most peaceful moments of my life as well. Nothing to worry about.

And yes, you will love King's Pool. The staff and managers are so very friendly.

Kavey--yes, I have never heard of anyone other than me that did NOT enjoy their mekoro. Everyone describes it as 'peaceful', etc. I know that the guides probably thought I was crazy, as they were talking between themselves, but I couldn't help it.

Carol
Different strokes for different folks - the fact that we all love different things is what makes travel such an adventure - even if we're travelling a well-trodden path we never know how we'll react to each new experience ourselves!

Carol,

Thanks for your honest input. Sorry you did not enjoy the mekoro. Like the others, I found it to be quite peaceful. But then I did not care for the balloon over the Mara and others raved.

The wealth of opinions here is very helpful.

I didn't find the balloon over the Mara that incredible either but to be honest I did it at a time when there were few animals on the land below - I'm sure it's a different experience when the migration is unfolding beneath you! And I only paid £50 so I still felt it was worthwhile!

On our last safari we met an obnoxious man, his long suffering wife and a single gentleman they'd dragged along with them on holidays ever since his wife had died... I recall him saying that they had just come from 3 or 4 nights in Jao and that he'd gone out alone on a mokoro trip on arrival to assess it for the other two, had decided on their behalf they would both hate the experience, and had insisted that they did nothing but game drives (from this magnificently situated water camp) for the rest of their stay!

Sigh!

Hi, the mokoro is not a canoe as it has a flat bottom and therefore isn't nearly as 'tippy' as a canoe. I found the 2 mokoro rides that I took rather too peaceful, almost boring. I too hesitated to take my 'good' camera but I did. Personally I think it's a good idea to have the telephoto capability on the mokoro ride because often game will be seen rather far away from you on the banks of the islands. For example we had a great photo op of a herd of elies crossing one of the channels, but rather far off. Also there are some macro opportunities such as tiny frogs on the reeds, lovely spider webs, and of course the malachite kingfisher if your camera can catch him!

Bonnie,

I bumped this thread........i think this is what u are looking for.

Hari