Lodges and Safaris
The Okavango Delta carries the title of the world’s biggest inland delta. It was born during the early Holocene, a geological period that started almost 12 thousand years ago, when geological activity and tectonic shifts caused the ancient giant Lake Makgadigadi to dry up. Although the Okavango Delta is in Botswana, the source of its waters starts in the western part of Angola. The Cubango River flows into Namibia (where it’s called the Kavango River) and then into Botswana, where we know it as the Okavango River.
The ecology of the Okavango Delta is fragile, and revolves around Angola’s annual rain season from October to April. The resulting flood water is fed into the Delta, but because the terrain is relatively flat, it is a slow process. The floods therefore only reach the lower part of the Delta, near Maun, in July. Eventually, the water flows via the Botetle River and ends up in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, where most of it evaporates.
With the coming of the floods, life returns to the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Elephants, lions, wild dogs, hyenas, buffalos, rhinos, hippos and crocodiles, as well as antelope such as sitatunga and red lechwe join the smaller animals (bush babies, monkeys, warthogs, tree squirrels and spotted genets) on the mainland and on the various little islands of the Delta. The best time for game viewing in the Okavango Delta in Botswana is from May to October, while birding is at its best from November to April. See the African Fish Eagle (with its evocative cry), crested crane, sacred ibis and many more in their natural habitat. The Okavango Delta is also a fisherman’s paradise, with approximately 71 species occupying its waters. Here you can land a prize tiger fish or bream and experience the annual barbel run.
Accommodation and safaris in Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve
