A mokoro (also spelled ''makoro'', Setswana-English-Setswana Dictionary, Macmillan Botswana, 4th edition) is a type of

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

commonly used in the

Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the en ...

and on the Chobe River in

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

. It is propelled through the shallow waters of the delta or the river by standing in the stern and pushing with a pole, in the same manner as punting. The plural in

Setswana Tswana, also known by its native name , and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It belongs to the Bantu language family within the Sotho-Tswana branch of Zon ...

is ''mekoro''. Mokoro are traditionally made by digging out the trunk of a large straight tree, such as

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...

and African sausage tree. Modern mokoros, however, are increasingly made of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

, one of the advantages of which is the preservation of large trees. Mokoro safaris are a popular way for tourists to visit the delta and river, much of which is located in protected areas, but the boats are still a practical means of transport for local residents to use to move around the swamp. The boats are very vulnerable to attack by

hippopotamus The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

, which can overturn them with ease. Hippopotamus are reputed to have developed this behaviour because mokoros and other boats have been used for hunting.

References

Canoes {{ship-type-stub

See also

References