The Delta
MAUN: On the southern edge of the Okavango Delta, nearly 950km northwest of Gaborone, Maun is the main jumping off point for most tourists visiting Botswana. It is a sprawling, scruffy little town, founded in 1915 as the administrative centre for the Batawana people. It has an international airport and a number of reasonable hotels, including Riley’s Hotel, Sedia Hotel and Maun Lodge while lodges include Crocodile Camp, Audi Camp and Island Safari Lodge. Okavango River Lodge is a campsite. Most hotels have a swimming pool as well as bar and restaurant. This is also the best place to book safaris, with many tour operators’ offices, a National Park office and the only banks for several hundred miles.
There is an 8 sq km game reserve with several pleasant walking trails along the Thamalakane River near Riley’s Hotel.
OKAVANGO DELTA: Undoubtedly the most striking region in the north of the country, situated in the Kgalagadi (or Kalahari) Desert and easily accessible from Maun. It is the greatest inland delta system in the world. The region is extremely beautiful, covering an area of about 15,000 sq km (5600 sq miles) and composed of vast grass flats, low tree-covered ridges and a widespread network of narrow waterways opening into lagoons. The thick reeds and grasses which thrive in these waters make much of the delta section impenetrable except by dug-out canoe (mokoro), which is the local people’s traditional form of transport. The waters are clear, and crocodiles, hippos and hundreds of fabulous birds can be seen, as well as elephants, zebras and giraffes.
The few people who live here are mainly fishermen, in the west. The only part of the park that is officially protected is the Moremi National Park in the east (see below). Most of the land in the delta is carved up into giant private concessions, scattered by luxury lodges and camps, including Mombo, Xigera, Kwetsani, Xudum, Rann’s, Gubanare, Chiefs Camp, Khwai River Lodge, Eagle Island Camp, Xaxanaxa, Shinde, Camp Okavango, Camp Moremi, Xugana, Tsaro, Nxabega and Sandibe. Bizarrely, with the channels and lagoons shifting every season, these lodges, as the only permanent landmarks, have become an integral part of mapping and navigating in the Delta.
The Delta has three main areas – the Panhandle, a 9 mile (15km) wide fault in the northwest, where the fishing is superb but the game-viewing less spectacular; the central permanent swamp, with its maze of pans and watermeadows; and the arid seasonal swamps to the south and east.
Although the Delta is home to about 36 species of large mammals, 480 species of birds, 80 species of fish and a wealth of flora, it is not the best place in Africa to find big game – there is plenty there, but it is often hard to see.
The Delta has its own micro-climate with three main seasons. It is warm to hot and dry in August to November, which is when the game-viewing is at its best, but the water is too low for many mokoro trips. December to March is hot and wet, the game vanishes into the undergrowth, but the bird and plant life is at its best. Many lodges close. April to August is cooler and dry, but with flood waters from the Angolan Highlands still fuelling the river channels.
MOREMI GAME RESERVE: This beautiful park covers 1812 sq km (700 sq miles) in the northeast corner of the Okavango Delta. It comprises permanently swamped areas, seasonally swamped areas and dry land. It not only offers water activities such as boat trips but also top game-viewing and incredible scenery, with giant bullrushes fringing hidden lagoons shining blue between the solid trunks of the baobabs, tottering termite mounds and the cracked red mud plains. Small boats travel around the delta, visiting lagoons like Xaxanaxa, Gcobega and Gcodikwe with their abundance of birdlife. Elephant, hippo, buffalo, lion and most other game can be viewed in abundance. Fishing, walking and night drives are possible outside the park boundaries. South of here, the Gcwihaba Caverns, about 240km (150 miles) from Tsau, contain beautiful stalactites. The name means ‘Hyena’s Hole’ in the Quing language of the Bushmen.
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