Traveling through Southern Africa (Part 3) – Getting to Maun and the Okavango delta

Formed where the Okavango River empties onto the Kalahari Desert, the Okavango Delta in Botswana is the world's largest inland delta covering an area of over 16,000 square kilometers.  It goes through a yearly flood/draught cycle that begins with the Angolan rainy season in October and carries on as the water crosses the border between Botswana and Namibia in December.  The flooding in the Delta won’t end until the waters reach the bottom of the delta near Maun in July.  As the Okavango dries, it will shrink to an area of less than 9,000 square kilometers until, once again, the floods return.

With the water, wildlife also returns to the delta. During its flood, the Okavango is home to large numbers of hippopotamus, crocodile, red lechwe, sitatunga, elephant, wild dogs, buffalo, lion and all manner of African mammals and birds.  The early flood period is the best time for game viewing.  As the surround bush begins to green it attracting the grazers and browsers and along with them predators.

 The village of Maun is the jump-off point for almost all excursions going into the Okavango Delta, but driving there from Kasane is an adventure of its own.  It's about 360km of bush along a sand roadway, not recommended for vehicles without 4-wheel drive.  The going is slow and bumpy, but the scenery is well worth it.  We passed farms, huts and small villages.  There was a point when we were stuck driving behind an elephant that didn’t want to give us the right-of-way.

Maun is a mix of office buildings and huts.  There is really not much there other than tour companies.  However, it does have an airport where we took a 1-hour scenic flight over the delta.  It is beautiful from the air, although the combination of hot air in a small plane meant we experienced a good deal of turbulence (and a bit of nausea).  The area was a web of lush green waterways separating islands of sand and brown dry vegetation.  From overhead, we saw herds of elephant and wildebeest.  We couldn’t wait for the following day when we would be entering the Okavango by boat for a few days of camping.