The Okavango Delta's Water Camps Reach Their Game Drives by Mokoro, Not Just by Jeep

Most deltas end where a river meets an ocean. The Okavango does not. It rises in the highlands of Angola, crosses into Namibia's Caprivi Strip, then fans out across the sands of northern Botswana and simply disappears into the Kalahari Desert, evaporating and soaking away rather than draining anywhere at all. The result, a roughly 15,000-square-kilometre inland delta of reed channels, lagoons and seasonally flooded islands, was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014, the 1,000th site added to the list. Camps built across its private concessions are among the few in Africa where a game drive can just as easily be a guided glide through still water.

A flood that arrives in the dry season

The delta's defining oddity is timing: rain falls in Angola's highlands between October and April, but the water takes several months to travel downstream, so the flood actually peaks in Botswana's dry winter, roughly June to August, when the surrounding bush is otherwise parched. Camps time their high season around this delayed flood, when channels that may have been dry sand a few months earlier are running full and wildlife concentrates around the available water.

Reached by air, then by water

There are no roads linking most delta camps to the outside world. Guests typically fly into Maun, the regional hub, then transfer by light aircraft charter to a bush airstrip on their camp's concession. From there, some camps sit on dry land reached by open vehicle, while others, particularly in the delta's wetter, more permanent channels, are reached the last stretch by mokoro, a traditional dugout canoe poled from the stern in the manner of a punt.

Private concessions, not one shared park

Much of the delta beyond Moremi Game Reserve is divided into private concessions leased to individual camp operators, each limited to a set number of beds and vehicles. That structure keeps sightings uncrowded compared with more heavily visited parks elsewhere in southern Africa, and lets camps offer activities, night drives and off-road tracking among them, that are restricted inside Moremi itself.

View on Google Maps →

What moves through the water

The permanent channels support red lechwe and sitatunga, antelope adapted to wet ground, alongside hippo and crocodile, while the drier islands draw elephant, buffalo, lion and, in the less-disturbed concessions, painted wolf, also known as African wild dog, one of the continent's more elusive predators. A single stay often mixes water-based game viewing with conventional vehicle drives on the same day, depending on how far the flood has reached that season.

Traveller tips

• Most camps are reached via a charter flight from Maun; build a buffer day into the itinerary either side in case of weather delays.
• The June to August flood season draws the most concentrated wildlife but also the highest rates; the shoulder months either side are quieter and cheaper.
• This is a malaria region; prophylaxis and repellent are standard advice, best confirmed with a travel clinic ahead of departure.
• Park and concession fees are almost always built into a camp's nightly rate rather than charged separately on arrival.