Nkasa Rupara (Mamili) National Park

Exploring Namibia’s Only Conserved Area of Swampland

Nkasa Rupara is just across the Kwando River from Botswana, and its ecology of flat floodplains, swamps and seasonal channels reminds me a lot of the Okavango Delta further south – and so it should as it’s part of the same vast river system. But there’s none of the development and no facilities other than one lodge inside the park, with more nearby. On our visit, a four-wheel-drive was essential, we were the only people in the park, and the ‘entrance gate’ was a long bridge built of fragile-looking mopane branches that we crossed from Mudumu. Except for a reasonably large herd of buffalo and some giraffe in the woodlands, we didn’t see much wildlife; after the rains there tends to be more, but that’s when most of the tracks are likely to be impassable. However, like neighbouring Mudumu, antelope that favour this swampland environment are present, including red lechwe, sitatunga and waterbuck.