Okavango Delta

It's not really a "safari" destination, but a great destination for river enthusiasts. Elephants, hippos, monitor lizzards and spider nests gallore!

Other than crocodiles and hippos, land animals are hidden by the papyrus lining the banks of the delta. Abundant birdlife.

Ok now, Im rating this as a three ONLY because I am absolutely terrified of spiders now because of my trip there :D. The animals hadn't migrated the way they usually do during the dry season so our mokoro boats had to cut through the reeds. What they didnt tell was that there are thousands (probably millions) of orb weaver spiders that build their webs at eye level (when you are sitting in the boat) in the reeds so we spent 3 hours there and 3 hours back ducking, weaving, and basically freaking out trying to avoid them. I know they aren't poisonous but who wants a spider in their face! Despite that our polers were wonderful and they even fished out my notebook when I threw it into the water after getting a web stuck on it. It was definitely the most "bushy" part of our trip.

The delta is beautiful, scenery wise it is amazing. We didn't see as many animals though because it's mostly water there and when we were on foot the animals would run from us. You are able to get a lot closer to them in a truck.

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.

The natural beauty and diversity of the Okavango Delta can't be beat anywhere in Africa.

We traveled August 13-28 and included Cape Town, Victoria Falls/Livingston, Chobe National Park, Moremi Reserve and the Okavango Delta. We booked through a gay African Holiday Specialist - Savvy Navigator and Southern Destinations - because as gay travelers to Africa, it was important to us to stay at gay-friendly properties. We stayed at Chobe Under Canvas, Baines Camp, and Eagle Island. The sheer volume and diversity of wildlife in Chobe can spoil the rest of a holiday. Wildlife is so abundant that I'd recommend going to Chobe at the end of a safari trip, rather than the beginning. You will be blown away. We went to Chobe first, and then had such high expectations at Baines and Eagle Island, that we felt let down. If you do the other direction, and go to Chobe last, you will experience the wildlife of the Okavango and Moremi and appreciate those environments and then get hit with a climax at Chobe. That said, and as this is supposed to be a review of Okavango and not other parts of Botswana, Okavango did NOT disappoint. It is remarkably beautiful. I grew up in South Florida and there were parts of Okavango that reminded me of the Florida Everglades (except that the Everglades doesn't have elephants, giraffe, leopards, antelope, jackal, honey badger, etc.). We were in Okavango in August so it was Winter, and the dry season. There were NO mosquitoes and the days got into the 80s F. No rain, in fact, no clouds the entire trip, (even in Cape Town, which is supposed to be rainy in August). Eagle Island is a luxury camp with wonderful accommodations and good, not great, food. All of the other camps allowed for communal dining, a feature I enjoyed because you can interract with people from all parts of the world, or you can eat alone. Eagle Island doesn't encourage the communal dining and is more like a "hotel" in that respect. Eagle Island gets high marks for its guides (our guide, Chris, has been transferred to another Orient Express property), and activities, which include, motor boating and makoro, fishing, walking safaris, village tour (recommended), and relaxing. The focus, though is on water activities. Eagle Island also provides a helicopter ride for guests included in the price. What a treat to be able to see the animals from the air, and to see the Okavango islands and waterways from a vantage point you could not get otherwise. Bird viewing is quite special in Okavango. Birding - excellent in Okavango, various varieties of storks, egrets, bee eaters, kingfishers, vultures, herons, bustards, and the beautiful starlings, rollers, etc. I would have liked to have seen more eagle species, e.g. Martial, Crowned, etc., but missed them and only saw the Fish Eagle.

Outstanding area, especially if you decide to take the unique experience of a mokoro tour. But if you want to see the thousands of animals living in this area you'd better take a scenic flight (flight can be easily booked in Maun)

Even during a low water time, the mokoro and walking tours are great.

Varies according to time of year and how much water is in the delta. Very scenic

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.