Out of all the places we visited in Botswana, the Okavango Delta was definitely my favourite. It’s such a beautiful and unique landscape and the range of wildlife we saw was amazing! I hadn’t heard of the Okavango Delta before booking my trip, but some people visit Botswana just to see it. Now I’ve been there, I can definitely see why. In this post, I’ll be telling you about why you should go too!
You’ll discover the most relaxing mode of transport!
The best part of our trip to the delta was probably the getting there and back. Which sounds weird when I just write it like that… We travelled from a small village to our campsite by mokoro. Mokoros are dugout canoes used in the Okavango Delta and Chobe River regions of Botswana. They can easily move through the shallow waters of the delta and are a super relaxing mode of transport. Each pair of us had a local guide who used a long pole to push the boat along. At one point we were told we could stand up to see some antelope and I almost fell in! So I wouldn’t want to be the person pushing the boat… But just sitting in it and watching the scenery go by was incredible!
The wildlife of the Okavango Delta
Yeah I know what you’re thinking: another post about wildlife!? Maybe one day I’ll write a post with no references to animals but not today! The Okavango Delta was one of my top 5 places to see wildlife in Southern Africa, after all!
We got to see wildlife on our mokoro ride as well as on two guided walks out of our campsite. Of course the whole Botswana Land of Elephants theme continued and we saw elephants everywhere! I do have two favourite elephant moments, though. The first was shortly after we arrived in camp. As we were finishing lunch we spotted a line of elephants parading into the distance! Then the next day as we were heading back in the mokoros, we canoed right past an elephant! How cool!
But it wasn’t just elephants we saw. On the way to our camp, our guide pointed out two gorgeous little frogs to us. At first we didn’t know what she was talking about but once I spotted them I fell in love. To be honest, at first I thought we were looking for crocs!!! Thank goodness it was just cute little frogs, right?
On our guided walks, we saw a huge range of wildlife! From hippos swimming in a pool, to a couple of monkeys up a tree; from huge flocks of birds to the odd zebra and antelope… We saw it all! The evening walk was more exciting in terms of wildlife but it was quite hot. I’d highly recommend taking plenty of water and slathering yourself in sunscreen.
The landscape of the delta
The Okavango Delta is such a cool and unique landscape, especially considering its location. While most deltas flow into the ocean, this one is in the middle of a desert! How crazy is that? Really it’s no wonder it got listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
While travelling in the mokoros, we were surrounded by bright blue water and tall green grass and occasionally we’d pass a patch of beautiful flowers. We also got to watch an amazing sunset as we headed back to camp after our evening walk.
The Okavango Delta from above
Once we returned, we could go up in a plane or helicopter to see the Okavango Delta from above. Unfortunately I couldn’t afford it and missed out. However, a few members of the group went and had a really great time! So if you have the money definitely look into it.
But to be honest, I don’t really think I missed out. I mean I got to sit at the camp bar in Maun drinking slush puppies! Jokes aside, I didn’t really think it looked as impressive from above as it did being in the delta. No offence to the people who took the photos or anything… But from above it kind of just looked like a heap of long grass interspersed with water.That said, apparently they did see some elephants from the air which would have been pretty cool. But anyway I guess you’ll just have to go and decide for yourself!