Okavango Delta, Botswana

Okavango Delta Safaris & Moremi Game Reserve

The Okavango Delta, the jewel of the Kalahari Desert, is Africa’s largest and most beautiful oasis - an isolated, lush green paradise with some of the richest wildlife in the world. This exceedingly beautiful maze of waterways, lagoons, vast grassy plains and palm-fringed and wooded islands is home to hippo, elephant, lion, leopard, hyena, giraffe, wild dog, rare antelope and around 400 bird species. But superb wildlife is just one of many elements that combine to make the Okavango delta such a special place. It is the brooding quietness of the waterways, the plaintive cry of the fish eagle, the malachite kingfisher reflected in the waters and the scent of the water lilies that stays with you forever.

The source of the Okavango Delta lies in the extremely wet highlands of Angola. From here the Cubango River flows south, away from the sea, gathering ever more water until it reaches Botswana, where it is known as the Okavango. Here the Okavango Delta forms into a vast, fan-shaped, astonishingly luxuriant wilderness of flood plain and forest, stream and lagoon, with the occasional large expanse of open water – the ideal breeding ground for an incredible diversity of wildlife. With the influx of the annual flood, the delta’s water levels rise steadily from May onwards, with its peak level reached in August.

We have divived the Okavango Delta into four areas;
- the Moremi Game Reserve with mainly game drives
- the permanent waters with water-based safari activities year round
- the seasonal waters which are flooded annually and dry up gradually with the onset of summer. These offer a range of safari activities in season but mainly land-based at other times - the mixed activity camps with access to permanent water channels which are able to offer a range of land and water safari activities through the year.

Typically, we recommend that you stay at two contrasting camps in the Okavango Delta allowing you to enjoy a range of activities, 4x4 game drives, game walks, game-viewing by boat and of course the evocative mokoro excursions, and also experience the contrasting beauty of Okavango Delta.

Outside the Moremi Game Reserve, most of the Okavango delta is divided up into private concession areas, each with only one or two safari camps, thus ensuring exclusivity and tranquillity. These private areas have three other advantages: they allow driving off road (when following big game) night drives and game walks. If you only have three nights, we recommend choosing one camp only.

See our Reasons to Visit pages for more on:
Mokoro trips
Elephant Interaction
Horse Riding
Birding