The eastern section of the Okavango has been preserved by the Batswana tribe at the Moremi Game Reserve. Moremi is a seamless extension of the Okavango Delta both as an eco-system and as a tourist destination. Moremi extends well into the permanent delta and covers the extraordinary Chief’s Island. Despite what you might imagine, many areas within the Okavango Delta are largely dry. Chief's Island is huge and perhaps the Okavango's most famous island. It was once the royal hunting reserve of Chief Moremi, the traditional leader of the local tribes and it is now one of the region's best areas for game. Although part of the Moremi Game Reserve, Chief's Island is private. Though camps here do still abide by the national park's rules on walking and driving at night, you will have a very personal, undisturbed time here. Although the Delta in general is a marvel, Moremi is where all its elements are best concentrated, and it’s one of the few safari destinations where you are almost guaranteed to see large numbers of game on almost every outing.
The Moremi’s pristine wilderness of water and land, renowned for its beauty, shelters a profusion of wildlife, including enormous prides of lions and herds of elephants as well as buffalo, leopards, and rarer species of wild dogs and cheetahs. Rhinos, which no longer exist naturally in Botswana, are being slowly reintroduced and closely monitored as the possible nucleus of a breeding program for the area. Within the park boundaries, at the Mombo or Little Mombo camps you are limited to morning and late-afternoon game drives, as reserve rules prohibit drives after dark, walking safaris and boating. If you stay outside the reserve borders, at Xigera Camp or Camp Moremi, your range of available activities expands to include night drives, mokoro and powerboat trips, walking with a guide and watching game from several hides that have been erected in the area near water holes and rivers. Fishing is also and option and some lodges specialize in fly-fishing for tiger fish and pike. Birdlife is prolific and varied, ranging from water birds to shy forest dwellers. There are many species of ducks end geese, as well as an amazing variety of heron.
Moremi rates as one of the leading wildlife areas in southern Africa and must certainly be one of the most beautiful. Where land and delta meet, a mosaic of pans, grasslands, rolling parklands, forests, lagoons and floodplains combine to provide a richly diverse habitat in which wildlife can flourish. The Moremi comprises an area of 3 900 square km and is dominated by a mopane tongue that penetratesdeep into the eastern section. As you get closer to water, the mopane give way to floodplains and riverine forests and it is here that game is most visibly abundant. Permanent structures are not legally permitted in the reserve and none of the camps are fenced. The roads are sandy in the dry season and muddy during the rains, this in keeping the parks as natural as possible.
Moremi Game Reserve is bestvisited in the dry season and game viewing is at its peak from July to October, when seasonal pans dry up and the wildlife concentrates on the permanent water. The winter months of May to August can be very cold at night, but pleasantly warm during the day. From October until the rains come in late November or early December, the weather can be extremely hot - both day and night
Moremi has four major camping sites, which are fairly developed with basic facilities like ablution blocks, picnic tables and standpipes. It is advisable to use only 4X4 vehicles while driving in the reserve since the roads are rough and sandy. The safari camps are based on small islands along the Boro river. Very few of these camps can be reached by road and, where they can, it is usually impractical as it is too time consuming. Virtually every visitor, then, will be flying by light aircraft, from Maun (or Kasane) to the camp of their choice.
Apart from affording spectacular views of the Okavango and the only chance to appreciate its size, such flights are also the best opportunity to photograph the Delta. |
