About Destination
Okavango River is a significant river in that it flows to the Delta that creates flooding in March and June to feed the water-starved wildlife of these large parks in Botswana and Namibia.
Exploring the Okavango in the North, taking a traditional canoe Mokoro boat to a lower down in the panhandle of the Delta. Enjoying the peace of the river as birdlife is prolific: egrets, Saddle-billed Stork, cranes, and Scarlet-chested sunbirds and so many more.
Okavango Delta is one of the ultimate wilderness goals in the world which marks the entrance to the spectacle of Wild Botswana that dreams are made of with exciting game viewing, tranquility, deltas breathtaking scenes of nature at its best.
A journey to Okavango Delta is like no other it takes you deep into Africa’s interior exploring from wetlands to dry land. Moving through fringed papyrus waterways, thick woodlands, with lush vegetation and wildlife revealing the many faces to this ecosystem of the world largest inland delta.
The delta is found deep in the Kalahari Basin popularly called the Jewel of the Kalahari. The remarkable Okavango is situated deep in the desert shaped like a fan, fed by the River Okavango which has been steadily changed by the toons of sand carried by the river from Angola.
There are three major geographical areas
The Panhandle
The panhandle starts at the Okavango’s northern reaches, at Mohembo, extending down for approximately 80 kilometers. Okavango’s corridor-like shape is held within two parallel faults in the Earth’s deposit. The river runs wide and deep, and the swamps are perennially flooded. The primary vegetation is large papyrus beds and stands of phoenix palms. Mainly tourist come to see the Panhandle are fishing, birding and visiting the picturesque villages in the west.
The Delta
The fan-shaped Delta appears spilling over the Delta giving life to the landscape creating beautiful lagoons, channels, ox-bow lakes, flooded grasslands and thousands of islands of different shapes and sizes. Moreover, the waters spilling over the Delta. A variety of the small islands are built by fungu termites which are a source of food for very many game.
The region of the Delta and Okavango can vary in size from 15 000 square kilometers in the water season while during drier periods to a staggering 22 000 square kilometers. Its dominant plant species are sycamore fig, sausage trees, reeds, mokolwane palms, acacia, and African mangosteen.
The Dryland
The Major tourist attractions in the delta and the dryland area are game viewing, boating, and bird watching usually done in the traditional mokoro (traditional Canoe). There are staggering numbers of animals and birds. Research shows that Okavanga has 71 species of fish, 122 species of mammals, 444 species of birds, 1300 species of flowering plants and 64 species of reptiles. With a successful reintroduction of rhino initiative that has a population of white rhinos at 35 and 4 for the black rhinos.