The Okavango Delta is the reason we are in Africa (and to celebrate her birthday). Some time ago, Susan discovered a documentary film, "Animals Are Beautiful People," which chronicles the rhythm of the delta, from flood to re-desertification as the dry season progresses. With the receding water, prey and predator are forced to congregate around shrinking water holes. The film is at times humorous and other times tragic. So in a way, we have come to Botswana to see if the animals are truly converging on those shrinking water holes and witness their either tragic or comic stories.
The Okavango Delta is alleged to be the world's largest inland river delta. Rain falling on Angola's highlands in November and December flows some 500 miles south-east until it hits the flat Kalihari desert in north central Botswana where the water fans out into the delta and eventually sinks into the desert sands. The water courses through ancient channels where it overflows and fills every low depression and recharges ponds, marshes, sloughs and lakes. The flood is coming and expected to arrive sometime in early to mid May.
We flew from Johannesburg to Maun, Botswana via commuter jet and then by single engine Cessna into our safari camp, at Nxabega. The Botswana government has chosen to keep the delta as pristine as possible by limiting access to this immense wilderness. There are some thirty safari camps scattered around the delta, reached only by small aircraft with the camp typically located on the edge of a permanent water hole. Each camp can accommodate about 20 visitors at a time, exposing those visitors to the wildlife and their life struggles via morning and afternoon game drives, boating trips through the permanent waterways, canoe trips and walking safaris. The camps we visited have exclusive lease access to about 30 square miles of terrain, encompassing the water, grasslands, mixed grass/forest and dense forests of the delta.
The rainy season is ending in Botswana and although there appears to be a lot of water from above, at ground level the water holes are shrinking.
The islands and higher ground apparent from above will eventually be diminished by the coming flood, but right now is a pretty good time to see all the animals Botswana has to offer.
It quickly becomes apparent, the Okavango is all about water. Where it exists, life is good, where it has disappeared, life becomes more perilous.
Wherever it occurs, it mirrors the overwhelming beauty of the Okavango Delta
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