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It was the most amazing, unforgettable, best travel experience I've had so far.
We left Maun, the gateway to the delta early in the morning and were driven by a 4x4 in about an hour to a mokoro bording point, where our local guides and polers had already been waiting for us. Mokoros ar dugout canoes used in the Okavango delta. We loaded our quite limited personal belongings (I had a backpack and a camera bag only) and our supplies, camping equipment, food and water purchased in a Spar supermarket in Maun aboard the mokoros. It took two hours for our polers to propel our mokoros to our campsite. The scenery was amazing. The mokoros were pushed by the polers through narrow lagoons among the
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papyrus. The lagoons ocasionally opened up onto large open areas, where the surface of the water was covered by water lilys. Only the sound of the poles, water dripping from them, the tiny waves along the sides of the mokoros, the rustle of the papyrus, birds' calls could be heard. These were the real sounds of silence. Being November the weather was very hot, at midday the temperature reached 40 degrees Celsius. Our suncream served really good throughout this two hour mokoro ride.By the time we reached our campsite, some of our local guides had already got there, put up the tents and prepared the campsite. They had already got a fire going, a teapot sitting on it with boiling water, and with a large heap of elly poo close to the fire. This remained there for the rest of our stay, for some people it provided a convenient tool to prop their feet up. Our tents were not large but quite sufficient for two persons. We did not intend to spend to much time in them in that heat anyway. Our water supplies heated up quickly. In 40 degrees one has to drink a lot, so we drank hot water. The clever ones made tea saying if it is hot they have to drink let it be tea. In the heat of the day we walked to a lagoon of the Okavango, where the water was clean and we dipped in it. It was magnificent.
Late afternoon, when the heat had ebbed and animals were supposed to be more active we went on a game walk on the island. We hardly left our camp, it was perhaps less than 30 meters we had walked, when our local guide, Dolphin said he heard an elephant in the bush. An then suddenly the elly appeared. About 30 meters from where we stood a lone bull elephant walked out from behind the trees. It was an experience words are hard to find to describe. We could hear the deep rumbling sound he gave while chewing on the twigs and leaves of the trees, and he was coming closer and closer. Eventually there was only one single bush between him and us. Though we held our breath I did not forget my camera and took photos of him. Only when the elly had been long gone did we move on to our game walk. We saw all sort of wildlife: zebra, impala, steenbuck, lots of beautiful birds, more elephants, more zebra, and on and on. There were plenty of termite mounds on the island, some of them reaching 2-2,5 m high, and many of them dug out and foraged by aardvarks, these nocturnal pig-looking mammals.
As we all learned it from the books, it gets dark really fast in Africa. It was almost dark when we got back to our camp. To our surprise our guide welcomed us with the question: does any of you want a cold beer? We could hardly believe that after a whole day of drinking hot water we could have something cold. It turned out that he secretly stocked a few cans of beer in the icebox where he kept our food. It was probably the best beer we had had on our tour. The night in the delta was incredible. It was hot, so the sides of our tents were rolled up, thus we basically slept in the open, only a mosquito net around us. The sounds of the night were exciting. Millions of insects buzzing, thousand of frogs croaking, zebra calling, fighting hippos roaring. A night I will never forget. The sky was clear, millions of stars illuminating the night, with an occasional firefly flying through.
Next morning we got up early at five o'clock, so that after a quick snack and coffe we left for another game walk. The scenery was as beautiful as the day before, however the island was illuminated by the rising sun from a different angle, so as a photography enthusiast I could take photos of the wildlife and the scenery with different lighting conditions. This walk was longer than on the previous day, we were walking for three hours. We could get quite close to some of the animals, especially zebras, who were wary, but did not run away. Late afternoon we went on a mokoro ride in the Okavango delta. We could see the beauty of the river, enjoy the peace, and watch the striking colors of the sunset. Late evening, after dinner prepared on the fire next to the elly poo, the local people had a little performance for us, they sang local songs and danced. In return we also sang some of our folk songs.
After another African night under the stars with the buzzing of the dark, early in the morning we had another game walk and then we it was time to break camp. We packed our stuff on the mokoros and were poled back to civilization. As I told my travel companions afterwards the Delta did really good to my soul: it had been a long long time that I felt so relaxed.
Patrick Smith
Visited:
May 2001
Reviewed: Oct 12, 2011
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
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Square, the roller is a brilliantly appointed avian with iridescent, powder blue wings.
lfostvedt
US
Visited:
July 2011
Reviewed: Oct 2, 2011
20-35 years of age
The Water level was the highest in 50 years and we were not able to get deep into the delta.
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
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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.
David Barnett
GB
Visited:
November 2023
Reviewed: Dec 3, 2023
Email David Barnett | 65+ years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
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.
Magone
LV
Visited:
November 2023
Reviewed: Dec 2, 2023
Email Magone | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Michael
GB
Visited:
October 2023
Reviewed: Oct 13, 2023
Email Michael | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Beautiful wilderness, peaceful and unspoiled.
Excellent birding and wildlife.
Jack Qu
ZA
Visited:
September 2023
Reviewed: Oct 10, 2023
Email Jack Qu | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Angels
ES
Visited:
August 2023
Reviewed: Aug 31, 2023
Email Angels | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
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.
Steven Oberman
CA
Visited:
July 2023
Reviewed: Aug 27, 2023
Email Steven Oberman | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Alina & Andrzej
PL
Visited:
July 2023
Reviewed: Aug 21, 2023
Email Alina & Andrzej | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
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.