For centuries, the Bayei and Banoka people of the Okavango Delta navigated the papyrus channels using mokoros—dugout canoes carved from the trunks of sausage trees or ebony trees.
Today, modern fiberglass mokoros protect indigenous trees, but the technique of the poler (ngashi) remains unchanged. Polers stand balanced at the stern, using a long wooden pole to propel the craft quietly through shallow waters, pointing out small reed frogs, water lilies, and river birds that motorized boats miss.