Botswana
Botswana is considered one of Africa’s premier wildlife countries and is the first choice for many African wildlife safari connoisseurs. With a broad range of habitats Botswana offers varied safari experiences. Experience this in an open game vehicle specially converted, allowing one to absorb and experience sightings with all of your senses when up and close to wildlife. Your experienced game ranger will teach you about all aspects of nature and interpret wildlife behavior to you in a unique way. He will also receive updates from other rangers in the area determining animal movements.
Okavango Delta
The Okavango Delta is a unique pulsing wetland. More correctly an alluvial fan, the delta covers between 6 and 15 000 square kilometers of Kalahari Desert in northern Botswana and owes its existence to the Okavango (Kavango) River which flows from the Angolan highlands, across Namibia’s Caprivi Strip and into the harsh Kalahari Desert.
Each year the Okavango River discharges approximately 11 cubic kilometers (1.1 × 10¹³ liters) of water into the Okavango Delta. Most of this water is lost to transpiration by plants (60%) and by evaporation (36%) with only 2% percolating into the aquifer system with the remainder finally flowing into Lake Ngami.
The Okavango Delta is affected by seasonal flooding with flood water from Angola reaching the Delta between March and June, peaking in July. This peak coincides with Botswana’s dry season resulting in great migrations of plains game from the dry hinterland.
Generally flat, with a height variation of less than two meters across its area, dry land in the Okavango Delta is predominantly comprised of numerous small islands, formed when vegetation takes root on termite mounds, however larger islands exist with Chief’s Island, the largest, having been formed on a tectonic fault line.
The 1000th site to be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2014, the Okavango Delta is an important wildlife area protected by both the Moremi Game Reserve, on its eastern edge, and the numerous wildlife concessions within Ngamiland.
An oasis in an otherwise dry environment the Okavango Delta is known for its superb wildlife, with large populations of mammals and excellent birding particularly in the breeding season.
Moremi
The Moremi Game Reserve initially consisted mostly of the Mopane Tongue area, but in the 1970s the royal hunting grounds, known as Chief’s Island, were added. Let us share a few more facts about this area to introduce it properly. The Moremi is home to the most endangered species of large mammals: the cheetah, white rhinoceros, black rhinoceros, African wild dog and lion. Over 500 bird species (from water birds to forest dwellers) and over a 1.000 species of plants are also recognized in the Moremi. This ecosystem is amongst the richest in Africa. And thanks to effective protection, the flora and fauna is relatively undisturbed. Moremi Game Reserve rests on the eastern side of the Okavango Delta and was named after Chief Moremi of the Batswana tribe.
The Moremi Game Reserve covers much of the eastern side of the Okavango Delta and combines permanent water with drier areas, which create some startling and unexpected contrasts. Some prominent geographical features of the Reserve are Chiefs Island and the Moremi Tongue.
Moremi Reserve is the best place to experience excellent views of savannah game as well as bird-watching on the lagoons. There are also thickly wooded areas, which are home to the rare African wild dog and leopard. To the northeast lies the Chobe National Park which borders the Moremi Game Reserve.
The Reserve covers 5,000 square kilometers (1,900 sq mi) in extent, it is a surprisingly diverse Reserve, combining mopane woodland and acacia forests, floodplains and lagoons. Only about 30% of the Reserve is mainland, with the bulk being within the Okavango Delta itself.
Moremi is the home to nearly 500 species of bird (from water birds to forest dwellers), and a vast array of other species of wildlife, including buffalo, giraffe, lion, leopard, cheetah, hyaena, jackal, impala, and red lechwe and African Wild dog.
Savuti and Linyanti
Savuti is famous for its mysterious and fascinating channel. It runs a distance of 100 kilometers from the Chobe River, through a gap in the sand ridge, to the Mababe Depression. Falling only approximately 18 meters, this channel brings water from the Chobe to Mababe, creating a small marsh where it enters the Depression. Flowing in Livingstone’s time, the channel was dry in 1880, and remained dry for about 70 years. It flooded again in 1957. Savuti Marsh has been dry for the past 18 years.
Savuti is famous for its predators, especially its resident lion and spotted hyena populations. Only 38 kilometers northwest of Savuti and off the main tourist track lies Botswana’s best kept secret: Linyanti and the western reaches of the Savuti Channel. The Linyanti and upper Savuti areas are among the most beautiful in Botswana. The game-viewing can be exceptional, and the wide variety of activities make this an area not be missed. Linyanti hosts large herds of buffalo, zebra and elephant. Because this area is a private game reserve, the vehicle concentrations are very low and the wilderness experience is one of the best in Africa.
Chobe
Chobe National Park is in northern Botswana near the vast, inland Okavango Delta. It’s known for its large herds of elephants and Cape buffalo, which converge along the Chobe Riverfront in the dry months. Lions, antelopes and hippos inhabit the woods and lagoons around Linyanti Marsh. The floodable grasslands of the Savuti Marsh attract numerous bird species, plus migrating zebras.
