Okavango Delta

The Okavango River pours into northern Botswana from Namibia and Angola, then fingers into an immense sprawl of ephemeral marshland and forest containing one of the continent's most spectacular and diverse concentrations of wildlife. The geography is wondrously ambiguous -- deeply tropical at one turn, dryly wooded at the next.

Perhaps most startling of all the country's wildlife, if lacking the glamor of the larger mammals, are its birds, and the Okavango is the best place to see them. The country is held in high regard by birders worldwide, but the sheer volume of species in the Delta is overwhelming. Tent-side one morning, a scan of shallow riverfront resembled a field guide into which one of each endemic species had been dropped by an overanxious illustrator: storks, eagles, hornbills, vultures, and no fewer than a dozen of Botswana's prettiest creature (and also its national bird), the liliacbreasted roller. No less common here than a pigeon in Trafalgar Square, the roller is a brilliantly appointed avian with iridescent, powder blue wings.

The Water level was the highest in 50 years and we were not able to get deep into the delta.

I went to the delta in July 2011 and there is nothing more peaceful than a makoro ride through the delta (as long as you are not arachnophobic). I think I had too high of expectations for the safari after seeing the planet earth footage. It is important to remember that all of the planet earth footage is aerial footage and a Okavango Delta safari is a non-motor vehicle safari. Unfortunately for my trip, a pride of lions had come to the island we were camping at two weeks earlier, made a few kills, and scared most of the animals away. So don't be too surprised if you don't see much of the larger safari animals. It is really just luck of the draw. We did see some really interesting birds including a saddle-billed stork, a Hoopoe, and a Scimitar-billed wood-hoopoe.

That said, one of the most amazing parts of my trip in Africa was an flight over the delta. During the flight we saw all of the tracks in the delta where animals crossed from one island to another. We saw groups of elephants, giraffes, buffalo, tons of different types of antelope and many other wildlife which we didn't see while in the delta. The flight over the delta is an essential part of any trip to the Okavango Delta.

In conclusion, I definitely want to go back to the delta. I think there were many parts of my trip that were just the result of bad luck.

Only flew over the delta but it was spectacular even in the drier season. Saw lots of game and birds and got a very good idea of the importance of this world class biosphere.

Beautiful nature, many animals and birds.

Beautiful wilderness, peaceful and unspoiled.
Excellent birding and wildlife.

nice

You feel closer to nature than anywhere else by doing a walking safari. We felt very secure at all times with our guide, even when seeing animals very close, like giraffes, elephants, crocodiles and even lions (we saw two males eating a buffalo at 20m distance).
The permanent presence of water everywhere makes the experience completely different, and navigating the natural channels with the boat (both mokoro and motor boat) was really refreshing.

Saw lots of animals on safari, wonderful

We have seen lions, buffaloes, lots (!) of elephants, warthogs, herds of antelopes (different species), hippos in the water and grazing, crocodiles, w wild nature. Mokoro trips and walking safari was exciting.

Delta on the Maun side was very dry!