The Okavango Delta or otherwise known as the Okavango Swamp is an entanglement of spectacular lagoons, lakes and hidden channels covering over 17,000 square kilometers, in Botswana, this is the world’s largest inland delta. The area was once part of Lake Makgadikgadi, an ancient lake that dried up many years ago.
The waters of the Okavango Delta are surprisingly crystal clear due to the slow moving waters and the natural filtration of the dense reeds and papyrus lining the riverbanks. Boasting a surprising array of flora and fauna, a cruise along the channels in a mokoro (dugout canoe) completes your Okavango Delta safari. Today the Okavango Delta is trapped within the parched Kalahari sands and empties out onto the sands as there is no outlet to the sea.
The Okavango Delta is a magnet for the wildlife that depends on the permanent waters of this unique feature. There are more than 400 species of birds swarming the Delta and on the mainland and among the islands in the Delta; lions, elephants, hyenas, wild dog, buffalo, hippo and crocodiles congregate with a teeming variety of antelope and other smaller animals such as warthog, mongoose, spotted genets, monkeys, bush babies and tree squirrels. The Okavango Delta is nothing short of miraculous.
Very few of the camps found in and around the Okavango Delta can be reached by road and visitors will be flying by light aircraft from Maun (or Kasane) to the camp of your choice. There are a number of established safari lodges and camps in and around this watery wilderness for those that want to explore the land and wildlife. These Parks and Reserves such as, Chobe National Park or Moremi Game Reserve, offer the best of several worlds, appealing to the game-viewer and bird-watcher, the sporting fisherman, the explorer of hidden places and the lover of African culture and its untouched treasures. |
