Presumably the crème de la crème of African safari locations, the Okavango Delta has an attract and thriller about it that pegs it as a favorite on many a bucket listing. It’s actually one in every of my prime locations to go to for a safari. It’s the proper place to take a look at and tune in to the rhythm of nature.
You’ll quickly end up being seduced by rosy sunsets, quiet remoteness and a stunning array of wildlife. The winding waterways, huge grasslands and lots of palm-fringed islands of the Delta teem with birds and recreation. It’s a spot the place vivid blue sky meets shimmering water, tiny reed frogs hang around on papyrus and African Jacana expertly hop between lime-green lily pads. It’s an opportunity to listen to the decision of an African Fish Eagle and glide by way of the reed-lined channels in a mokoro (dugout canoe). I discover the Okavango Delta a very enchanting place.
Visiting a number of safari lodges within the Okavango Delta, I received to soak up this Botswana oasis from many angles. Listed here are the most effective methods you possibly can expertise this distinctive wilderness, in addition to when to go.
1. Fly-in safari
By far the preferred and handy possibility is to go for a fly-in safari to one of many many safari camps dotted within the Delta. It’s not at all times the most cost effective selection, however I discover it does afford one a fast and simple passage to this distant location. It additionally works nicely when linking totally different areas in Botswana collectively. The Okavango Delta, Savute and Chobe is one such itinerary. With a number of modestly priced camps now obtainable available on the market, a fly-in safari makes it the primary selection for many travellers. Moreover, it allowed me to mix lodges that had water-focused actions, like boat and mokoro rides, with camps that had land-based actions, like recreation drives and walks. I received an actual style of the Delta by becoming a member of a number of of the actions on provide at every camp.
Bush walks
Strolling in an space you recognize was the stomping floor of a satisfaction of lions the night time earlier than can certain get the heartbeat racing. It’s an actual privilege to have the ability to do a strolling safari within the Okavango Delta. There’s a scent of thriller that hangs within the air about what lies across the subsequent nook. Seeing one of many Huge-5 on foot or just being near nature makes this one in every of my favorite wilderness actions in Botswana. Our strolling safaris had been interlaced with bush tales and fascinating information from our educated information.
Night time and day drives
With 1000’s of hectares of personal Botswana wilderness to discover, you not often see every other automobiles. An awesome combine of various wildlife species – from frequent hippo, elephant and buffalo to distinctive purple lechwe and sitatunga – might be seen out of your open recreation drive car. It’s additionally an incredible exercise for eager photographers. Your afternoon recreation drive usually morphs into an evening drive in your means again to camp. It’s a good time to identify your crepuscular (nightfall and daybreak) and nocturnal animals. I ticked off Verreaux’s eagle-owl, nightjars, springhare, civet, feminine leopard, scrub hare, bushbaby, lion and noticed hyena.
Boat cruises
Provided seasonally, it’s depending on the water ranges within the space. An excellent exercise for recognizing birds, it means that you can transfer shortly from one sighting to the following. The Pel’s fishing owl is a grasp of disguise and search, and I so badly needed to see one, not simply hear its unmistakable low hoot at night time. I wasn’t as optimistic as our enthusiastic information who ensured me that this was top-of-the-line instances to see the shy chook, because it emerges at nightfall to an open perch. Zooming in with my binoculars from the safari boat, I managed to tick off three separate people. Happy I had sufficiently ticked the Pel’s fishing owl off my listing, we headed out once more, whizzing by way of the waterways till we noticed our subsequent fascinating wildlife sighting.
Scorching air balloon
Think about gliding silently over a herd of elephant or flying simply above a snaking waterway dotted with hippo? Few experiences can prime a sizzling air balloon journey over the Okavango Delta. Though I didn’t handle to tick this off my bucket listing, there’s an opportunity you possibly can in your subsequent journey. Scorching air balloon journeys run from Could-30 Sep annually and are climate dependent. You’ll have an opportunity to {photograph} the Delta from a complete new perspective and expertise the fun of floating within the air. It’s not an inexpensive expertise, however it’s a once-in-a-lifetime alternative that few get an opportunity to do.
2. Mokoro safari
A mokoro is arguably top-of-the-line methods to expertise the swampy, marshland of the Okavango Delta. Springing from the mountains in Angola, the Okavango River makes its means over an infinite 1200 kilometres earlier than coming to relaxation within the dry Kalahari sands of Botswana. By no means current into the Indian Ocean, it branches out into papyrus swamps, lush waterways and round islands dotted with palms. With changeable water depths and tough passes that demand manoeuvrability, it’s no surprise {that a} mokoro makes the proper mode of transport.
I spent virtually equal quantities of time watching birds and wildlife from a canoe as I did on dry land: an enormous bonus in my e book. With no engine noise, my mokoro poler and I spent hours gliding by way of the channels in tranquil silence. I watched darting kingfishers catching fish, buffalo rolling in thick darkish mud and a herd of elephant utilizing trunks filled with water to clean their huge gray our bodies. It’s nice to spend a morning or afternoon exploring the channels and waterways together with your information and studying alongside the best way.
Mokoro journeys are provided all year long by lodges which have entry to everlasting water or solely seasonally if water ranges change within the space. These often take the type of morning or afternoon excursions, exploring the channels and waterways for birds and animals. There are additionally multi-day mokoro journeys on provide.
3. Cell safari
With funds and luxurious choices to select from, cellular tenting safaris provide a singular option to expertise the Okavango Delta. Organising camp in several areas alongside a deliberate route, cellular safaris are a good way of masking a number of areas into one journey. Shorter choices, that solely give attention to one space, are additionally doable if time is restricted. Starting from a few days to two-weeks, cellular safaris promise to ship a wilderness expertise much like these undertaken by early explorers. Surrounded by the unfenced wild of Botswana and sleeping below canvas tents beneath a star-studded sky, a cellular safari places an adventurous spin on the basic lodge safari.
These on the budget-end of the cellular spectrum can count on to be extra hands-on: serving to with making ready meals (usually with a camp cook dinner), pitching dome-tents and even beginning a campfire for the night time. Your skilled information will take you out on each day recreation drives (usually en path to your subsequent campsite) searching for the most effective wildlife the world has to supply. Typically, you’ll even have the chance of doing night time recreation drives and mokoro rides in your safari.
The extra luxurious mobiles provide various levels of creature comforts: absolutely ready sit-down meals, cosy bedrooms decked with Persian rugs, freestanding baths and camp employees that cater to each visitor want. Camps might be arrange previous to arrival, with company solely having to loosen up and toast the sundown with their favorite sundowner drink in hand.
4. Self-drive safari
When you have extra time in your fingers and a 4×4 car, then a self-drive possibility is the best way to go. For those who don’t personal a 4×4, then hiring a car – with or with out tenting gear – is feasible. You’ll be able to converse to a journey guide about placing a self-drive itinerary collectively, together with related automotive rent and park charges. Tenting, at campsites alongside a selected route, is the preferred possibility. You’ll possible be establishing tents, making a hearth and cooking al fresco meals.
Campsites should be booked nicely upfront, so it’s finest to plan not less than six-twelve months upfront. In case you like the concept of a self-drive however would favor staying in camps or lodges alongside the best way, that will also be organized. You’ll be able to then make use of the scheduled actions and ready meals at every camp. Becoming a member of a gaggle on an overland safari can also be an incredible funds possibility for a lot of travellers.
When to go
The Okavango Delta is a year-round vacation spot to go to, with every season bringing one thing totally different. A preferred time for company to journey to Botswana is in the course of the dry season (Could to October). Not solely is it cooler with much less rain, however the bush thins, making it simpler to identify recreation. Water ranges are additionally larger over this time, with actions like mokoro and boat rides doable at water-based camps. It’s additionally thought-about peak season, with extra vacationers and costs at their highest.
The inexperienced or emerald ‘moist’ season in Botswana (November to April) additionally has a number of benefits. The quick afternoon thunderstorms flip the bush right into a inexperienced, scenic panorama. Migrant birds flock again to the world to nest and breed, child animals are plentiful and predators are in good numbers. Temperatures can get very popular, with water ranges receding, exposing extra dry land. That is excellent for recreation drives and bush walks. One also can get good offers over this era, with costs dropping. Finally, your funds, size of keep and pursuits will dictate once you go.