Okavango Delta

Be Sure to See It From the Sky!

The Okavango Delta is truly a special place but to truly appreciate it nothing beats a flight tour offered by any number of charter companies operating out of the Maun airport. On our flight, we flew over herds of elephants, Antelope and Impala grazing at sunset. Hippos and Crocs bathed in swampy grassland ponds. Lots of wildlife and an incredible view from a couple thousand feet in the air. We took in this region and flight experience while on a three-week 2,200+ on and off-road motorcycle ride from Victoria Falls to Cape Town. We rented BMW
GS800s and stayed at a dozen or so places along the route. Incredible "bucket list" trip and the Okavango Delta was a special part of it.

Beautiful, absolute serenity and once in a lifetime experience

Experiencing the delta through the mokoro boats is an incredibly peaceful and beautiful experience. I did the boat trip as well as a helicopter ride to see the vastness of the delta itself and it was stunning. Our mokoro guide was personable and even let us practice rowing ourselves. Camping inside the delta was great and morning bush walks allowed us to see elephants, wildebeast, giraffes, and zebras. Nature at its best.

The Okavango Delta

The Okavango Delta
Henk Reitsma
Some years ago my wife and I made a roundtrip through a number of countries in Southern Africa. We travelled with a group from Cape Town to the Victoria Falls. The absolute highlight was our visit to the Okavango Delta in Botswana. It was March, so in the wet season with the Delta completely filled.
We slept two nights on a houseboat placed on the edge of the Delta area.
We departed in the morning to the Delta and first had to drive a few kilometers with a truck (Photo 1), passing a small village with rondavel huts (photo 2). Along the road laid the carcass of an elephant (Photo 3), probably shot by the village people to protect their crops.
There were 10 boats (mokoro’s ) and 10 guides (Photo 4) waiting for our group with 20 participants and subsequently we started our tour over the Delta through high grasses and reed. In each mokoro two persons were sitting. The guides were very careful to avoid the hyppo’s and asked us not to make noise. We heard elephants in the distances and saw a glimp of the herd when standing in the mokoro. However I almost lost my equilibrium and almost fell in the water.
After two hours we entered a small island to have lunch (Photo 5) and subsequently made a walk (Photo 6) over this island guided by two guides. We found the remains of a buffalo, probably killed by a lion (according to our guide), which reminded us again that we walked through a terrain with wild animals.
On our way back we saw some deer in the distance. After 1 ½ hour we arrived at our point of departure. It was a splendid tour through a wonderful water world. Even after a couple of years I still have vivid memory of our visit to the Okavango Delta.

Amazing scenery

Both from the water (kokomo) and from the air (helicopter) the Okavango is an amazing landscape. We weren't lucky with the weather during our bush camp but it was still a good experience to see the canals an islands.

Fantastic

A safari on foot in the Okavango Delta is an unforgettable experience.

On foot, spotting elephant. On a mokoro, looking at hyppos

I loved spending 2 nights in the Okavango delta, camping and navigating with the traditional mokoros. Tracking animals on foot and spotting them from the mokoros has been the highlight of the trip. The food (prepared on a campfire) and the local guides were excellent!

It was very wet while we were there, which sometimes made travel challenging, but even so, the safari vehicles navigated through the water over the sandy bottom. We didn't see quite as much wildlife here as in Chobe, probably because of the water levels, but had great looks at hippos and numerous birds.

Beautiful and exciting destination!

The Delta is a photographer's dream come true. The wildlife (elephants, hippos, crocodiles, etc) and birds are abundant and accessible. The guides were respectful of the wildlife and tried not to disturb them. All of our guides were knowledgeable about the local flora and fauna. The first part of November was an excellent time to visit. The crowds have died down and the rains haven't really started yet (although it was HOT). Our small group of 9 stayed on a houseboat. The food was good; the houseboat was in need of a good scrubbing, but it was easy to overlook its shortcomings with the beauty surrounding us. Elephants walking through the grass at sunrise while hippos swam by in the river. We spent hours in a small boat in the Delta, weaving in and out of the inlets, spotting birds. We saw crocodiles eating a buffalo! Sunsets were simply stunning.

The nature, the animals, - one of the best journeys of mine

On the road with the tent, but there was nothing missing. Very good kitchen. Good teamwork within the group, experienced guide, transport in open landrover, therefore good opportunities for taking pictures. The temperatures were very high, 44 degrees, very dry, but many animals at the water places. Landscape not very varied. Very few tourists. Highlights? For me the whole trip.

Botswana and the Okavango Delta

I spent one month in Botswana and from the moment we crossed the border from Namibia we were greeted with incredibly warm and friendly people and a whole host of amazing wildlife everywhere we looked! Its Africa so the weather was sunny and hot but not unbearable at all.

Our base camp was the Old Bridge Backpackers in Maun which is just on the edge of the Okavango delta and the Moremi Game reserve which made it easier to access the Okavango Delta. The backpackers backs directly on to the Thamalakene River and Hippos, Crocodiles, Elephants and amazing birds such as the Lilac-breasted Roller, Malachite Kingfisher and Fish Eagles were often seen. We stayed in a tent in the backpackers which opened directly onto a balcony overlooking the river with a group of Pied Kingfishers using our balcony rail as a perch to fish from which made for some excellent breakfast viewing!

The Old Bridge Backpackers was a perfect base camp with extremely friendly and knowledgeable staff who helped us to organise Safaris, scenic aeroplane rides, boat trips and other activities very easily and at competitive prices. This backpackers has to be up there for best location award! Plus the food was excellent!

The Okavango Delta was the main reason we took a trip up to Botswana and we were not disappointed! With cheap eco friendly safari operators who employ very knowledgeable and experienced guides to choose from you can be sure to have an amazing experience in the Okavango and in Botswana. We also took an scenic aeroplane ride over the Okavango before and during sunset which was an experience I shall never forget. You were able to see the beautiful delta as a whole and see the animals from a unique perspective and offered some incredible photographic opportunities. I am a keen bird watcher and for me I wanted the opportunity to get closer to the beautiful birds of Botswana, so I had to take a boat tour through the delta water ways. This was also an amazing experience which brought you face to face with hippos, crocodiles, herds of elephants and of course the all important birds!

Start to finish an amazing trip and I cant wait to go back!