Northern Botswana - The Okavango Delta

Botswana's Okavango Delta is rightly considered one of the most incredible wildlife and wilderness sanctuaries in Africa. It is the largest inland delta system in the world, an area of 15,000 km2 filled with water channels, lagoons, swamps and islands.

The Okavango lies between shallow fault lines at the end of the Great African Rift Valley that cuts through the length of Africa. What makes this area most remarkable is that it is a wetland paradise located deep within the arid Kalahari Desert. Deserts are low on annual rainfall and the Kalahari is no exception. But each year, floodwaters flow from their source - catchment areas in the moist central African highlands over 1000kms away - into the Delta to create the miracle that is the Okavango. Apart from the outstanding beauty of the wetland habitat, this unique area supports and sustains a huge diversity of fauna and flora, so that game viewing is excellent right throughout the year.

The heart of the Okavango is the Moremi Game Reserve, where all the major habitats and ecotones of the Okavango are conserved. Around the Moremi Game Reserve are large private reserves or concessions that are leased out to safari companies under strict guidelines and carrying capacities. These concessions offer the very best safari experiences with massive tracts of pristine parkland and privacy encountered in very few other places in Africa today. In some of these areas, you can go out all day and not see another soul - except the animals of course.
Safaris by boat and dugout canoe (mokoro) are ideal ways to see the water areas, while game drives and night drives by vehicle are best for tracking the animals. Walks are unsurpassed experiences for being in touch with nature. Wildlife 'hides' offer a great way to enjoy wildlife viewing and birding, especially during those midday siesta hours.

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