The Okavango Delta, widely regarded as one of the world’s premier safari sites, is renowned for the sheer variety of animals that can be found there. Visitors may discover a sparkling oasis controlled by dryness and drought, where animals travel in thousands of numbers, resulting in a game density that is unmatched anywhere else in the world.
Other options include exploring the lake from a dugout canoe or aboard the Kubu Queen houseboat, followed by a stay at a luxury resort in the Moremi Game Reserve, such as Wilderness Safaris Mombo Camp.
When is the ideal time to visit: The greatest time to visit them is from May to September, during the Dry season and winter when temperatures are more reasonable.
The greatest time to visit Botswana is during the dry season. Is there anything I should bring with me? What kind of animals am I likely to see? You almost certainly have a slew of questions.
As you read more about your safari vacation in the areas below, start compiling a bucket list of things to do. Do you have a question that has not been answered? Please contact us using the form provided below, and we will be pleased to help you!
A comfy bed for the night is required when one’s brain is full of wonderful recollections. All of our lodgings are magnificent, environmentally friendly, and designed to provide you with the best possible Okavango Delta experience. We take great pleasure in assisting you in finding your home away from home.
This classic safari location in northern Botswana is home to the world’s biggest inland river delta, the Okavango Delta, which is the world’s largest inland river delta. Exploring the Okavango Delta is best done by mokoro (traditional dugout canoe), by boat, on foot, and on game drives. The Okavango Delta is a tangle of shimmering lagoons and flowing canals, as well as islands filled with animals.
The Moremi Game Reserve, which occupies the eastern and central regions of the region, provides a haven for over 500 species of birds as well as a dense concentration of plains game that attracts a variety of predators.
The reserve is home to over 500 species of birds and a dense concentration of plains game that attracts a variety of predators. It is extremely typical to encounter lions, leopards, hyenas, wild dogs, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, wildebeests, and a variety of antelopes, among other animals, in the area.
Luxury and tented lodging choices are available in the Okavango Delta, and an exceptional safari experience is available throughout the year.
The Okavango Delta’s wildlife is diverse and abundant due to the abundance of habitats and protection provided by the government. The Okavango Delta is home to high populations of wildlife throughout the year, as well as during certain seasons. Because of excellent wildlife management, it has emerged as one of the most rewarding destinations in Africa for wildlife viewing.
A dynamic seasonal change occurs in the movement of animals between the dry area around the delta and the Okavango Delta itself. The vast majority of big animals migrate out from the delta during the rainy season to take advantage of the abundant grass that surrounds it. As the grazing on this land starts to dwindle in the winter, the animals return to the delta.
A diverse range of species can be found in the Okavango Delta including the African Bush Elephant, African Buffalo, Hippos, Lechwe (Topi), Blue Wildebeest, Giraffe (with its young), Crocodile (with its young), Lion, Cheetah (with its young), Leopard (with its young), Greater Kudu (with its young), Sable Antelope (with its young), Black Rhinoceros (with its young), Plains Zebra (with its young).
The Okavango Delta, in particular, is home to the critically endangered African Wild Dog, which has one of the densest populations of its kind anywhere in the world.
The incredible diversity and richness of the eco-systems found in and around the Okavango Delta attract a diverse range of species to the region. It is because of the tremendous diversity and concentration of animals and birds that it has gained the reputation as one of the best safari destinations in the world.
The Okavango Delta would not exist in its current form without the assistance of a number of keystone species that contribute to the shaping of the ecology and habitats in and around the Delta. The elephant, the hippopotamus, and the termite are examples of ecosystem engineers.
In part, this is due to the Okavango’s watery environment, which has contributed to the development of a diversified and complex eco-system, which includes hundreds of tree and plant species that provide habitat for the region’s diverse animals.
The Okavango Delta and its neighboring surroundings are awe-inspiring in terms of their variety. There’s everything from papyrus-lined canals studded with lilies to broad grass plains dotted with palm trees and wild sage, mopane forests, and old baobab and acacia trees to explore in this region.
Acacia hebeclada, Leadwood (combretum imberbe), Jackalberry (Diospyros mespiliformis), Marula (Sclerocarya birrea), Sausage Tree (Kigelia Africana) and the Knobthorn tree are some of the most common trees found in the area, as well as other species.
Because of the Okavango Delta’s people and how they choose to preserve this unique environment, the future of the delta is in their hands. They must strike a balance between the needs of the wild and their own as they transition from a traditional way of life to one associated with modern economics and commodities.
As a result of recent immigration from other parts of Botswana, the population in this area is diversified, both in terms of character and ethnic origination.
The majority of people reside in cities and villages on the borders of the wetlands, with just a few individuals residing inside the marshes themselves. As a result, demographic data for Ngamiland has been compiled in one place.
The origins of human contact with the Okavango Delta are veiled in mystery, with most of it derived from oral tradition. People from a variety of tribes claim sites such as the Tsodilo Hill, which is ornamented with over 4 000 rock drawings and is claimed by various tribes, including the Hambukushu, Bugakhwe, and Xanikwe, among others.
Observations based on archaeological evidence indicate that northern Botswana has been inhabited for at least the last 100 000 years, and most likely for much longer than that.
This early habitation has been documented at a number of locations around the Okavango Delta, and it is reasonable to believe that all of the regions between these sites were populated at some point in the past.
The natural resources of the Delta, such as game, fish, and water, would have been essential to the people who lived here, with those who lived farther away making trips to the marsh to harvest food for their families.
Historically, the Delta’s initial occupants were hunter-gatherers, who may have been the ancestors of today’s Bushmen, San, and Basarwa people. Those populations would have been tiny, and they would have moved about a lot in search of food, which would have come from wild animals and vegetation.
Early Bantu people were responsible for the introduction of livestock and agricultural production, which resulted in the establishment of permanent communities. Despite the fact that some of these tribes may have colonized the region more recently, the BaKgalagadi, Wayeyi, and Hambukushu, Dxeriku, Herero, and Tawana were all descended from these initial farmers, either directly or indirectly.
The history of the inhabitants of the Delta is characterized by repeated movement as people migrated to new sources of natural resources and economic opportunities, or to avoid sickness, both animal and human, war, drought, or floods, or to escape disease, both livestock, and human.
The Tawana people, for example, initially came to Ngamiland on hunting expeditions before settling in their first permanent villages around the year 1800. Over the following 100 years, they relocated their capital no less than eight times, with the most recent relocation taking place at Maun in 1915.
With the rinderpest outbreak of 1896 decimating the cattle population and sleeping sickness in the 1940s and 1950s forcing the evacuation of numerous communities in the Delta, livestock illness has played an important role in the population dynamics of Ngamiland.
For most of history, violence has played a part in the region’s population dynamics, with invasions by the Matabele people in the second half of the nineteenth century causing the occupants of several communities to evacuate their homes.
The German-Herero conflict, which lasted from 1904 to 1906, resulted in a large number of Herero people fleeing to Ngamiland. More recently, in 1969 and 1970, the Hambukushu people were transferred to the Etsha communities in the panhandle in order to avoid confrontation with the Angolan government.
The more gradual and less spectacular migrations caused by the pull of new resources or economic possibilities are less well recorded, but these movements have continued to the present day, with considerable numbers of people migrating to metropolitan areas as a result of economic prospects.
With unpredictable rainfall and floods, as well as natural resources dispersed across huge distances, people have had to be adaptable, with families having a variety of sources of income to survive in this region. Additionally, activities vary according to the seasons or from one year to the next, depending on floods, availability of resources, labor, and money, among other factors.
The Okavango Delta, which serves as one of the few sources of water during the dry season, is home to hundreds of species and has one of Africa’s most densely populated areas of wildlife. That the floodwaters come at this oasis in the desert at a time when the rainy season has finished and water and food are becoming limited in the vicinity is what makes it such a marvel in the desert.
As a result, the waters of the annual flood are truly “waters of life,” resulting in: an extraordinary juxtaposition of a vibrant wetland in an arid landscape; the miraculous transformation of huge sandy, dry, and brown depressions by winter season floods; and spectacular wildlife displays, including large herds of African Elephants, Buffaloes, Red Lechwes, Zebras, and other large animals splashing, playing, and drinking from the clear waters of the Okavango.