Day 14: Kosi Bay

This morning we drove to the Parks Board site at Kosi. From there we took a pontoon trip around the lakes. I love being on water, it's one of my most favorite things, I don't care if it's ploughing through rough seas in a dinghy or paddling gently around  a lake. One of my best holidays was a dhow trip around the Bazaruto archipelago. We spent 4 glorious days sailing, snorkeling and exploring the islands. Even cooking was done on the boat over an open fire.

So in my happy place, we headed off for a 3  hour trip, in perfect conditions, to tour the lakes. We set off from Lake 3, an area surrounded by raffia palms, which are known for the palms having the longest fronds in the world. Lake 3 is the largest of the lakes, we crossed it and eased our way through  the 2.6km channel linking it to Lake 2. 

The channel is really beautiful, the water channel curving its way through reeds and palms. The bird life was great and we saw a good variety of water birds, including a giant kingfisher, that patiently sat on a branch, while we took pictures. This area reminded Gray and I of our mokoro trips through the Okavango Swamps. 

There are lots of the reed fishing catchment areas in Lake 1 & 2 as they are much shallower. This type of fishing in these lakes, is a tradition that has been used for hundreds of years. Vasco da Gama made note of it while exploring the area in the early 1500s. 

We caught mud prawns in the shallow waters and watched the small shoals of fish attack them as we agitated the water.  We then came across a pod of around 10 hippo, some swam after the boat. 

 One would think after this encounter we would stay in the boat, but we found a nice channel in the mangrove swamps and went for a snorkel. I tried out one of the ‘new’ full face masks with a built in snorkel. I'm not sure that I don't prefer the old school mask and snorkel. We saw some great shoals of angel fish and some parrot fish. 

It really was a pleasant way to spend the morning. Certainly better than being at work, sorry school friends. 

We spent the afternoon reading and then drove down to the Kosi Mouth for sundowners on the beach.  When we arrived at the estuary, it was high tide. Getting to the sea would have meant a really long swim across the channel … with a bottle of gin. We decided to sundown right there, on the waters edge.

 We watched the sun set and the full moon rise, we were the only ones there, it was so tranquil. Eventually we left paradise.

It has been a while since our last shop and what was left of our makings for a salad and a braai were very sad to say the least. We discovered that the lodge does food, if you order it early in the day, this we did. I wasn't expecting the really nice 3 course meal that arrived, it was delicious. So this turned into a late night, we were in bed at 8:30. The sun sets so early, its dark by 6, so it feels much later.