Okavango Delta
Okavango Delta
tips & insightsWater levels
Understanding waters levels can significantly influence your Okavango Delta safari is critical.
The Okavango Delta waters are highest in the late rainy season, lowest in the late dry season.
Key to my animated map:
- Blue area
It illustrates the Okavango Delta shape during its annual high-water flood period.
- Green area
It shows the Moremi Game Reserve, which overlaps the Okavango Delta. Moremi ranks #2 in my Best Botswana Safari area ratings.
Which is best,
the rainy or dry season?There is no universal answer. It depends on your safari priorities.
Below and on the next page are my run-downs on the advantages of each period to help you decide when to go.
Rainy season advantages
Landscape
The vegetation is beautifully lush, not dry and brown.
Birding
Migratory birds come in mass in the winter to nest and rear their offspring.
Sunsets
Sunsets are spectacular this time of the year.
Lower tourism density
You enjoy a greater sense of the wilderness because there are fewer safari tourists, vehicles, and boats around.
Costs
Lodging is often 20 to 30% lower than standard rates.
Dry season advantages
Game viewing
The safari animals are much easier to spot because tree and bush foliage will be minimal. And when water becomes scarce, waterholes become magnets to thirsty animals - this creates outstanding viewing opportunities.
Temperature
Although nights can be cold, days are wonderfully mild. (Note: Rainy-season days can be uncomfortably hot and humid.)
Passable roads
It's unlikely that rainstorms will wash out the dirt and gravel roads that safari vehicles rely upon.
Sunny
The skies are appreciably clearer. This enhances your safari photos.
Map
More Okavango Delta helpful pointers
Where the water comes from
It comes from the highlands in Angola (north of Botswana), When heavy rains hit the highlands, it's only a matter of time when the water flows down the Okavango River and inundates much of the Okavango Delta floodplain.
Visual changes
The newly arrived water changes the dry landscape into a beautiful waterscape. Greenery and flowers abound.
Okavango Delta
lodging insightsBest lodges and camps in the Okavango Delta area
Each delivers a luxury experience. My listings are alphabetical.
- Chief's Camp2
On Chief's Island. 12 tents.
- Chitabe Camp
On an island. 8 tents.
- Eagle Island Camp2
On Xaxaba Island. 12 tents.
- Khwai River Camp2
Overlooks river. 15 tents.
- Jao Camp
On an island. 8 tents.
- Mombo Camp
On private island Mombo. 9 tents.
- Nxabega Okavango Safari Camp1
Borders Moremi Game Resv. 9 tents.
- Sandibe Safari Lodge1
Okavango Delta. 8 cottages.
Virtually all safari lodges and camps in the Okavango Delta and other Botswana areas are upmarket, by design.
- Goals
The Botswana government desires to preserve and protect its vulnerable wildlife environments. At the same, it needs to maximize long-term safari tourism income for the benefit of its citizens.
- Solution
The government is limiting tourism lodges and camps mainly to those geared for upscale tourists (Bhutan also uses this approach).
- As a direct result
Nearly all the lodges and camps in Botswana are high quality with correspondingly high rates.
Commonalities
- Location
All are strategically located for bird and game viewing.
- Quality accommodations
Guest units are small and intimate with quality furnishings and ensuite bathrooms.
- If tented
The units sit on wooden platforms with solid floors.
- Sun protection
Both tent and cottage units are shaded by dense tree canopies.
- Empoyees
Guides and service staffs are well-trained and caring.
Landscape and wildlife
The Okavango Delta is a mosaic of waterways, marshes, lagoons and islands inhabited by a rich and diverse collection of animal, bird and plant life. Waters are crystal clear and are home to a variety of fishes.
Although the Okavango Delta has an outstanding population of big game including lions and elephants, its finest aspect is birds.
Getting there
You reach private camps and lodges by road and/or by air (using airstrips). Sometimes watercraft are used for the final leg.
Getting around
You explore the Okavango Delta by foot - or in a dugout canoe or small boat - or on a horse or elephant.
Which is best,
the rainy or dry season?There is no universal answer. It depends on your safari priorities.
Below and on the next page are my run-downs on the advantages of each period to help you decide when to go.
Rainy season advantages
Landscape
The vegetation is beautifully lush, not dry and brown.
Birding
Migratory birds come in mass in the winter to nest and rear their offspring.
Sunsets
Sunsets are spectacular this time of the year.
Lower tourism density
You enjoy a greater sense of the wilderness because there are fewer safari tourists, vehicles, and boats around.
Costs
Lodging is often 20 to 30% lower than standard rates.
Dry season advantages
Game viewing
The safari animals are much easier to spot because tree and bush foliage will be minimal. And when water becomes scarce, waterholes become magnets to thirsty animals - this creates outstanding viewing opportunities.
Temperature
Although nights can be cold, days are wonderfully mild. (Note: Rainy-season days can be uncomfortably hot and humid.)
Passable roads
It's unlikely that rainstorms will wash out the dirt and gravel roads that safari vehicles rely upon.
Sunny
The skies are appreciably clearer. This enhances your safari photos.
Map
Okavango Delta
lodging insightsBest lodges and camps in the Okavango Delta area
Each delivers a luxury experience. My listings are alphabetical.
- Chief's Camp2
On Chief's Island. 12 tents.
- Chitabe Camp
On an island. 8 tents.
- Eagle Island Camp2
On Xaxaba Island. 12 tents.
- Khwai River Camp2
Overlooks river. 15 tents.
- Jao Camp
On an island. 8 tents.
- Mombo Camp
On private island Mombo. 9 tents.
- Nxabega Okavango Safari Camp1
Borders Moremi Game Resv. 9 tents.
- Sandibe Safari Lodge1
Okavango Delta. 8 cottages.
Virtually all safari lodges and camps in the Okavango Delta and other Botswana areas are upmarket, by design.
- Goals
The Botswana government desires to preserve and protect its vulnerable wildlife environments. At the same, it needs to maximize long-term safari tourism income for the benefit of its citizens.
- Solution
The government is limiting tourism lodges and camps mainly to those geared for upscale tourists (Bhutan also uses this approach).
- As a direct result
Nearly all the lodges and camps in Botswana are high quality with correspondingly high rates.
Commonalities
- Location
All are strategically located for bird and game viewing.
- Quality accommodations
Guest units are small and intimate with quality furnishings and ensuite bathrooms.
- If tented
The units sit on wooden platforms with solid floors.
- Sun protection
Both tent and cottage units are shaded by dense tree canopies.
- Empoyees
Guides and service staffs are well-trained and caring.
