Okavango Delta in Botswana
In the Kalahari Desert, where the Okavango River forms a basin, lies the Okavango Delta or the Okavango Swamp. It is the largest delta in Botswana and indeed the largest freshwater land in Africa. Instead of draining into the sea most of the water of this delta is lost due to evaporation and transpiration. On the east side of the delta lies the Moremi Game Park. In the middle of dry and arid Botswana, it is an oasis of wild and bird life.
History of the Delta
This area was once part of the ancient lake Hymakgadikgadi. This lake had dried by the Holocene (a geological era which began 12 000 years ago)
Accommodation in the Delta
Accommodation around the Okavango Delta comes in the form of standard, luxury, land based, water based and tented camps. Whilst land based lodges/camps boast and focus on game drives, water based lodges/camps focus on boating activities such as canoeing, motorboats, and fishing
Wildlife in the Okavango Delta
The delta offers a range of large wildlife, such as thousands of elephants and buffalo, white rhino, antelope, prides of lions, hyenas, crocodiles, cheetahs and leopards, monkeys, baboons, giraffes, honey badgers, porcupines and genets.
500 species of bird life have been recorded in the delta.
When is the best time to go
Botswana has a dry climate, despite the ‘oasis’ of the delta. In December and March there are heavy afternoon thunderstorms. December to February are hot and wet with very high humidity levels and the temperature reaching 40 C, March to May the temperature cools down and rarely reaches above 30 C during the day and the nights are much cooler. The winter months, (June to August) are mild/ warm yet the nights are very cold. In September, the rainy season starts again.
The seasons
The dry season is May to October. This is the best time to go for wildlife. Herbivores are concentrated around the water sources, attracting the predators. There is hardly any rain thus hardly any mosquitoes and the days are warm and sunny.
In the rainy season, some camps are forced to suspend their boating/ moroko activities. Many animals retreat back to the interior; thus game viewing is significantly harder (this is not to say that there are not still plenty of animals to view). In the rainy season some of the roads become impassable. There are mosquitoes, and some lodges close in the very heavy rains. The arrival of migrant birds makes this the prime time for bird watching.
How to get there
From Maun, air charter companies ferry people to and back from the delta. This is necessary because the landing strips in the delta are very short, and small planes are needed, but this flight is usually included in the itinerary and is itself very short. Flights to Maun are usually via Johannesburg, Cape Town, Gabarone, Windhoek and Zimbabwe.
