Okavanga Delta and Chobe National Park in Botswana, Africa - Exciting opportunities for wildlife adventures!

Photo. The Okavango Delta in Botswana. © Travel Explorations.

Our tour in Botswana was in 1996. The infrastructure was poor, roads was bad, but the most important is that the country is still unspoilt and wild! Chobe National Park Chobe National Park, is located 90 kilometres west of Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), and has got its name after the Chobe River.

It has an exciting variety of large mammals and over 450 bird species. Chobe is renowned for having the highest concentration of elephants in Africa with truly impressive herds. This national park covers 11,000 sq. km (4300 sq. mi) and has a greater variety of wildlife than anywhere else in Botswana.

My travel mate Geir and I were picked up early in the morning at Elephant Hills Hotel by the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, and got a road transfer across the Zimbabwe and Botswana border to Chobe. We checked in at Chobe Game Lodge, which is a luxurious hotel built along the banks of the Chobe River, and is the only lodge situated within the boundaries of Chobe National Park.

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It is also possible to start the safari in Kasane, at the northern tip of the park. You find there the park's gateway and its administrative centre. The town itself doesn't offer much to see, but it's a good place to base yourself for quick visits to the park, and it's also where you'll arrive if you fly into Chobe. In Chobe we attend both excursions in motorboats and so called game drives in wheel drive vehicles.

Guides told us that numbers of elephants have been reduced to half after all the poaching. Today there are around 35.000 of them. Elephants can be in herds of up to many hundred, they are the main attraction, and the most memorable thing about a visit to the riverfront is seeing just how much damage a herd can do. The place looks like it's been bombed.

The Elephants song
It`s fascinating to hear elephants singing. When they sing along it sounds like a big orchestra of thrumpets. It`s a book called the Elephant Song written by the world famous author Wilbur Smith from Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia. His story about the elephants is real thouching. It takes the readers on a journey deep into the heart of the African wilderness, and here elephants are threatened by greedy humans. 

Elephant Song is an African tale following the trail of evil poachers and greedy corporate business men, who kill poor elephant for obtaining ivory. From the peaks of Ethiopia's Mountains of the Moon and the deep forests where the Nile rises, to the teeming streets of Taiwan and London's city boardrooms, a man and woman fight against the forces of greed, evil and corruption to save a people and a habitat from extinction. The story is sad. It brought up my emotions, and start thinking of all the big majestic elephants we observed on our way in Botswana.

Here you also have an excellent opportunity to spot lions, cheetahs, hippos, buffaloes, giraffes, antelopes, jackals, warthogs, hyenas, crocodiles, otters, zebras and any number of species of bird. Unfortunately rhinos have been extinction due to poaching, but a guide told me that they probably would import some few later from another area or another country. By observing the wild life, there always something going on. Chobe National Park is the place for suspence thrill. Especially when the dark set the rythms and sounds from the animals change, the hunting instict wake up in the predators and then we knew there will be action.

We also took our time to take a boat tour on Chobe River. Zambesi River is also something to experience. This river is Africa's fourth largest river system after the Nile, Zaire and Niger Rivers. It runs through six countries, many areas along the river banks are protected and therefore offer a range of safe habitat for wildlife species. The river itself is remarkably free of pollution, mainly due to the lack of human development on its banks, and opportunities for water sports and game viewing along its 2700 km length are exceptional. The river forms the border between Zambia and Namibia and Zambia and Zimbabwe before it flows into the Kariba Dam. If you like to enjoy watersports, you better look up for the crocodiles. We heard many stories about locals who have been taken by hungry crocodiles.

Photo. Elephants stay together in big herds by the riverfront.  © Travel Explorations.

The nature has many mysteries. On of them is that the lions eat up their babies sometimes. Another mystery is that approximately every 20th year an albino (white) lion becomes born.

Okavango Delta - a one of the greatest natural wonders of the world!
This delta is probably Africa's finest wetland and is one of the great natural wonders of the world. The Delta's wildlife diversity and concentrations is not so impressing as Chobe or other places in the country, but Okavongo has absolute qualities that are unique. Okavongo is described as "the river which never finds the sea". The delta covers 15,000 sq. km (5850 sq. mi) areas of lagoons, channels and islands in north-western Botswana.

We started late in the afternoon when the sun still was shining, but it didn’t took a long time before the dark set. We started to wonder how our boat captain could find our way to the camp through all these narrow labyrinths of water channels. It was so dark that we couldn’t see anything. When the boat speeded up, we could feel all the insects hitting us in the face, and there was no way out than using glasses for protection. With a headlight our captain illuminated way ahead us, and he made carefully turns trough curves. I hope the best that the boat would stay in balance. If we crashed against a big log or something, our boat could be turned upside down, and then we would end up as a meal for crocodiles and water snakes. I also heard that it was electrical ales there. It was definitively a water pool I wouldn’t swim around in. Fortunately our boat captain took us safe back with several experiences richer in life.

The delta is probably the best known area of Botswana. This area is one of the world's largest inland water systems, an unique oasis of life in the centre of the Kalahari desert. It has a great variety of animal, plant and bird life. The water is once thought to have reached the sea, but this is no longer the case. After a series of tectonic uplifts and earthquakes running along geological fault lines, the land at the edge of the Delta lies now lower than that of the surrounding area.

There are two fairly distinct areas of the Delta; the permanent swamp which is inundated with water all year round, and the seasonal swamp which is flooded annually and dries gradually with the onset of summer in October.
 
Photo. The beautiful delta seen from an aeroplane. © Travel Explorations. We enjoyed having a bird’s eye view of Okavanga`s breathtaking landscapes in a aeroplane.

Okavongo has the largest inland delta in the world, and it surrounded with wildlife. Most obvious are the birds, but there are also elephant, zebra, buffalo, wildebeest, giraffe, hippo and kudu. In the centre of the delta, the Moremi Wildlife Reserve totals around 3000 sq. km (1170 sq. mi) and is officially cordoned off for wildlife preservation.

The wildlife in the Delta is rich and varied. Many of the larger herbivores are present and include elephant, buffalo, giraffe, hippo  and antelope species as well as numerous smaller animals. The carnivore populations are healthy and widespread including lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, spotted hyena, crocodile and jackal. In addition to the animal populations, the Delta is home to a great variety of birds; some 450 species exist within Northern Botswana. 

Outside of Moremi you won't see much in the way of wildlife, but there are fewer tourists and the landscape is no less lovely. About 60km (40mi) south-east of Moremi, Maun is the administrative centre of the delta and home to the main airstrip. The cheapest area to visit is the Eastern Delta, as there aren't as many controls on operators here, and at the time we where there, it was reported that most of the guides and boat pilots were unlicensed freelancers.

Photo. Local people in the Okavango Delta were very friendly. © Travel Explorations.

If you want to stay where the wild things are, a number of campsites are available in Moremi. Don't camp outside them, or you may end up a midnight snack for a lion. There are also plenty of camps and lodges elsewhere in the delta and in Maun.

For safaris there are several options as we experienced:

Mokoro (canoe) and boats safaris:
Are you good at keeping the balance? The best way to see the Okavango Delta is by thin boats, so called mokoros (dugout canoes). Experienced guides use poles to move through the waterways. The best time to visit this area is in July to September, when water levels are high and the weather is dry. Dugout canoe trips are synonymous with the Okavango Delta.

The best places are in the permanently flooded zone of the Delta are Little Vumbura, Jedibe and Xigera. There is also possible to rent a boat or canoe both in the Okavango Delta and on Chobe River (the Chobe National Park), but watch up for crocodiles and hippopotamuses. There are also big snakes in the water.
 
Photo. Night safari in the Okavango Delta.

We used glasses as protection against the insects. Fortunately we found our way back in the dark to our camp through a labyrinth of waterways.

Photo. Okavango Delta.

Locals poling their way through the bush in a Mokoro (canoe).

Walking safaris:
If you are in good shape, and intend to get a closer look at the animals, there are plenty of walking trails at most of the camps and lodges. Very often is it terrible hot to walk in the sun, and you can also risk to walk for along time without seeing anything. You will at the same time be more exposed for danger animals, but it is well worth it if you will experience the real life. Don't walk without an well-experienced and armed guide. This is definitely not an ordinary Sunday trip in your hometown.

Guided drive or self-drive safaris:
Botswana has a poor road infrastructure compared with Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. But rent a car with 4WD so you can drive almost everywhere, and you can see many things in a short while. Regarding the predators you will also be safer to stay in a car. The disadvantage is that you can't come so close to all the animals.

Night safaris are probably the most interesting because predators are most active hunting at that time. Regarding the heat lions, leopards and cheetahs, relaxes much of the daytime.

Watching animals isn't much rewarding in itself. You have to see it all in a broad view. If you take the time to observe the relationships between the animals, threes, plants, soil, atmosphere and people, you will find safaris more exciting. There are many interested details you shouldn't miss. So what are you waiting for? Go now for a safari thrill!

Stein Morten Lund, 21 July 2000

Additional information
Read our article about "Surrounded by 30 lions" on our website. This dramatic incident happened in Savuti Bush camp in Botswana.

Presentation of our associated partner in Botswana - sponsored presentation & link:

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Get an unique adventure of spiritual exploration in Botswana! Voices of the Ancients is a tour operator and consultancy that provides sacred workshops of inner healing in spiritual places with the Bushmen.

 Voices of the Ancients offers travellers a psychological and spiritual journey into the depths of their own souls, surrounded by dramatic landscapes and the guidance of Bushmen wisdom and insight.