Okavango Delta
Welcome to Okavango Delta
The insider's travel guide to Okavango DeltaWorld-renowned as a mecca for wildlife, this year-round watery paradise is sustained by rainfall in the Angolan highlands which arrives in the form of an annual flood just as natural rain-filled pans are beginning to dry out. The 16,000 square-kilometre wilderness is divided into a number of fenceless private concessions which surround the publicly accessible Moremi Game Reserve and its neighbour, Khwai Community Concession. The game can move freely throughout (and even outside) the Okavango Delta.
In both Moremi Game Reserve and Khwai Community Concession, self-drives and mobile safari operators share the game drive networks with a handful of permanent camps, so you’ll encounter a few more vehicles, particularly in the peak season in Khwai. Walking safaris, off-road and night driving are prohibited in Moremi as it is a national park.
Almost all camps offer game drives, on which you can expect to see large herds of trampling elephant and buffalo mingling with legions of zebra, wildebeest and antelope. There are plenty of predators too – it is one of the best places in Africa to spot endangered wild dogs. The pools and channels are home to gargantuan crocodiles and chortling hippos, and keen birders can tick off some of the 460-plus avian species.
The most intimate and exclusive camps (which usually accommodate a maximum of 20 people) are in the private concessions, where the only traffic you are likely to encounter apart from your fellow guests will be of the four-legged variety. Here, unlike in the national parks and game reserves, you can also drive off-road and at night, making it easy to get as close as you want to the wildlife.
The Okavango Delta atlas
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This is a world without fences and, because of the water levels, human settlements are mostly restricted to the Delta’s perimeter, leaving the rest to wildlife. In the southern part of the Delta, including in Moremi Game Reserve and Khwai Community Concession, expect a mix of luxury tented camps and budget campsites catering mostly to those on self-drive safaris. The deeper you go into the Delta, the more the crowds thin, with entire concessions given over to the exclusive lodges and tented camps that are such a feature of a safari in Botswana. For most of the tourist season, many of these camps and lodges can only be reached by small plane. Out here, I’ve had the wildlife entirely to myself.
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Best for: Mid-range value for money If you’re watching your budget but don’t want to compromise on wildlife, this is the camp I’d go for: Rra Dinare offers serious value for money. It’s not top-end luxury, but in my opinion, it delivers an experience that comes surprisingly close – at a much more accessible price. Every time I’ve visited, the wildlife has been phenomenal. I’ve seen wild dogs on every trip, witnessed a lion kill, and once even had a leopard climb down from a tree and fall asleep on the canvas roof of our game vehicle. That kind of moment stays with you. The camp’s name means “Father Buffalo,” and that’s no accident – when they were building it, buffalo would wander right into camp and even sleep under the bridges and decks. It’s a stylish place, with eight ensuite tents, each well furnished and raised on wooden platforms. The shared spaces are open and relaxed, with a thatched dining area, a swimming pool, a small curio shop, and raised walkways connecting everything. The concession itself is pristine, and the guiding team knows it inside out – game drives here are a highlight.
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Best for: walking safaris If you’re up for something a bit more adventurous, but still want a high level of comfort, I’d really recommend Beagle Expeditions. It’s a mobile setup, but you wouldn’t guess it from the camp itself. The tents are surprisingly lavish for something that moves with the season, and there’s a real attention to detail in how everything’s put together. What sets Beagle apart is the walking. This isn’t just a short stroll after breakfast – they offer proper multi-day walking safaris between their two private camps, led by some of the best guides I’ve come across. You’ll cover real ground on foot, and for me, that completely changed how I experienced the Delta. It’s one thing to drive past a leopard – it’s something else entirely to see one while walking. The camps themselves feel like semi-permanent outposts in the wilderness: comfortable, beautifully run, and set in truly remote areas you’d never get to on a vehicle-based safari.
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Best for: Ultra luxury I’d recommend Jao for anyone who’s willing to spend a bit more for something extra special. The main area is a two-storey wooden structure that looks out over the surrounding floodplains, but it’s what’s inside that really stands out. A spiral staircase wraps around a giraffe skeleton and leads up to a space that’s part museum, part wine cellar – it’s like walking into a mad safari lab, and in my opinion, it’s insanely cool. The rooms are over-the-top lavish – larger than most apartments – and each one is decorated in its own style, with an old-world safari feel and ornate colonial touches. Outdoor showers, big views, and serious attention to detail all come as standard. You can explore the area by mokoro, boat, or game drive, and the mix of water and dry activities makes it a flexible option depending on the season.
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Best for: High-end style If you’re looking for a high-end option and don’t mind the price, I’d recommend Vumbura Plains. The rooms here are some of the most impressive I’ve seen anywhere – not just in the Delta. They’re beautifully designed, with an open-plan layout that includes a central shower and wide, 270-degree views over the floodplains. Each suite also has a private deck with a generously sized pool, and the whole setup feels surprisingly homely for something so luxurious. The lodge is split into two separate satellite camps, each with its own dining and lounge areas. You’ve got year-round water and land activities on offer, and the food is consistently excellent.
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The African wild dog, also known as painted dogs, are an endangered species with a wild population that has plummeted to just 6,500. They are found in sporadic and isolated patches across southern and east Africa, but by far their biggest concentration is in my backyard, the Okavango Delta, and watching a pack call and 'rally' before embarking on a hunt is one of the most enthralling safari experiences you can find anywhere in Africa. Just like its domesticated relatives, the wild dog are extremely social and highly verbal: communicating with each other in clicks and whistles that sound more like birdsong than a dog growling or barking. This helps them achieve impressive feats of coordination as they take down impala, or sometimes even wildebeest. Trust me – you have to see a wildebeest up close to understand how daunting an undertaking this is! You can see wild dogs throughout the Okavango Delta, but my recommended spot is around the Linyanti area in the north. Some camps are located close to resident packs of wild dogs and you can hear them crying, jostling and playing in the morning and evenings. The wild dog's main threat is habitat encroachment by agriculture, and farmers who engage hunters to protect their livestock. Thus, well-managed tourism and conservation is an excellent bulwark to help conserve their habitats and this is an experience I'd recommend to anyone.
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Splash Camp is a small camp in the private Kwara Reserve. Operated by Kwando Safaris who have better responsible travel credentials than most: locally based, no greenwashing, and supporting valuable community projects.
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Pretty much every Okavango tour itinerary will include a paddle on a traditional mokoro canoe. For something very different, set out on a multi-day, camp-to-camp kayaking expedition through the Delta. Paddle the gentle water spotting the planet's greatest wildlife and camp each night under the stars. Truly unique.
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In 25 years of African travel, I’ve never seen as much high-quality wildlife as I have in these fabulous Okavango concessions. Over two recent days, I saw leopards, nearly 30 lions, dozens of elephants, a pack of 20 wild dogs, and a cheetah mother with six sub-adult cubs.
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The Okavango Delta
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Rra Dinare
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Beagle Expeditions
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Jao Camp
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Vumbura Plains
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See African wild dogs in the Okavango Delta
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Splash Camp
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Okavango kayaking expedition
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Chitabe & Qorokwe concessions
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