The Okavango Delta, Africa’s last great unspoiled wilderness, is situated in the northern reaches of Botswana. It is a vast ecosystem created as the Okavango River spills over onto the shifting sands of the parched Kalahari Desert.
It then fans out to form the Okavango Delta, a 16 000 square–kilometre wilderness of papyrus swamps, shallow reed–beds and fertile floodplains, dotted with islands and laced with a network of channels and lagoons.
The Okavango Delta is therefore an unexpected oasis in an otherwise dry environment. It is known for its superb wildlife, with large populations of mammals and excellent birding particularly in the breeding season. Major species to be seen include: elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, hippo, crocodile, red lechwe, waterbuck, reedbuck, impala, kudu, wildebeest, tsessebe, lion, leopard, cheetah, along with an immense variety of birds – land and water, resident and migratory, some of which are rare and endangered.
