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A day trip to the Okavango Delta in Botswana - Botswana Purple Guide
This Backpack and Snorkel Travel Guide (Botswana Purple Guide) provides the highlights of the Okavango Delta and Maun in Botswana and ensures that you will be Making Memorable Moments on a relaxing vacation in Botswana.
Botswana was part of our 2 week Southern Africa vacation. The main reason for me to visit was the Okavango Delta, which was on my bucket list. Due to limited time, I had to cut our Chobe National Park Makgadikgadi Pans.
The Okavango Delta is rightfully one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa and, since June 22, 2014, the 1000th site to be officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
When I was young, one of my favorite TV wildlife documentaries was about the Okwango Delta and how it transforms from a dry barren landscape to a fertile water covered delta that ends in the middle of the desert. This was definitely a bucket list item for me and one of my most impressive Making Memorable Moments.
Interestingly, the Okavango Delta is produced by seasonal flooding with the water coming from the summer rainfall in the Angola highlands (January–February). This water then flows for about one month over 750 miles (1,200km) before it reaches the flat Okavango Delta where it spreads over an area as large as 6,000 square miles (15,000 square km). The flood peaks between June and August which is Botswana's dry season. The water forms extensive waterways, some islands, feeds many plants and attracts tons of animals. When the weather gets hotter, the water disappears and the desert returns until the next cycle.
We stayed in the en-suite tent with river view in Maun. The en-suite bathroom was located in an enclosed area outside the tent and has no roof.
Okavango Delta
We booked a 1 day Okavango Delta boat ride that our camp offered. It took about 1h on a boat to get into the delta. During this hour, we saw mules and cattle grazing in the Okavango river. The scenery was the same inside and outside the delta. Inside the delta, however, we saw tons of elephants, impalas and birds, some giraffes, zebras, warthogs, hippos, kudus, baboons, eagles, other bucks and a crocodile. We got within 30ft of one elephant, but most animals were 100+ yards away. We passed several Okavango game lodges. These lodges are typically very expensive and their guests are flown in. As we were in the vicinity of these lodges, I can only guess that we have had a similar game drive as guests in these lodges…just for a lot less money.
Lunch on Chief Island in the Moremi Game Reserve was included.
