Okavango Delta Safaris
The name Okavango Delta conjures up images of some of the best wildlife sightings on the African continent which on one hand is true and on the other hand is not!
The Okavango Delta itself consists of the renowned Moremi Game Reserve (Chief's Island and Xakanaka regions) and a variety of private reserves and concessions that surround it which are the regions in which you have the best game viewing. The Okavango Delta is in fact the worlds largest inland delta with the Okavango River not reaching the sea, but instead emptying into the sands of the Kalahari Desert. For this reason, wildlife viewig in the Delta itself is fairly limited as it is mainly water based and therefore not ideal for mammals; as a result of this, you will see that camps and lodges are classified into water based camps and land based camps. When planning your safari to Botswana it is essential that you clarify with your tour operator what your requirements and expectations are in order that they can tailor the right camps and lodges to meet your needs.
Okavango Delta Flooding:
This is actually a fairly complex pattern and travellers should not worry too much about this as this is where your tour operator comes into their own! To simplify things, in Botswana you basically hvae the wet season (December - March) when it rains, and then also the floods of the Delta which is when the rains from Angola filter down the Okavango River and into the Delta (May - August). The floods are at their highest/deepest in t
he northern reaches of the Delta (towards the pan handle) in mid-March/May and then slowly move down through the Delta over a period of about 6 months reaching thei rpeak in the south during the month of August.
These floods do affect what activities are possible at each camp or lodge that you are visiting. If the water levels are too low then makoro trips are not possible and if the water levels are too high then game drives are limited! For this reason, often some of the best game viewing is in the private concessions surrounding the Delta or on Chief's Island which is the island in the centre of the Delta itself.